I love the flavours of Indian cooking, but I cannot handle the heat of the spices. After researching different types of mild curry, I decided to try my hand at cooking a vegetarian korma. I combined a couple of different recipes for a more UK-style korma. It turned out really well and was delicious. I served it with brown rice but it would be equally tasty without rice.

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 large potatoes, cut in 1/2-inch chunks
• 4 bulk carrots, cut in 1/2-inch chunks
• 1 can of chickpeas
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

Spices:

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
• 2 teaspoons curry powder (most curry is a blend of coriander, cumin and turmeric)
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more if you want it spicy)

Directions:

1. In the slow cooker, add potatoes, carrots, onions, chickpeas and peas.
2. Pour in tomatoes, coconut milk, garlic, ginger and all the spices.
3. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.
4. Approximately 1 hour before serving, add the bell peppers (optional)
5. Serve with rice, naan bread, pita, or tortillas.

I’ve been craving carrot-orange muffins since I saw them at Tim Horton’s a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, everything at Tim Horton’s seems to be loaded with sugar, so I decided to make my own.

These carrot-orange muffins are made with bran and are low-sugar to boot. If you want them celiac-friendly you can use gluten-free flour.

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This fat-free vegan-friendly recipe will make any soup lover’s tummy smile. I combined a couple recipes to create this bad boy: a carrot-coriander soup that called for milk to make it creamy, and a butternut squash soup with ginger that is next to make on the recipe list!

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium cooking onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 medium potatoes, cubed
• 1 piece (2 inches) fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 4 cups of carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 (32 fluid ounce) container of vegetable stock
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a large pot, drizzle olive oil over onion, celery, potatoes, and ginger. Cook for 5 minutes or until onion is lightly browned.
2. Put in the carrots and pour stock to cover the vegetables. If not enough, use some water to cover.
3. Cover the pot and raise the heat to medium to bring to a simmer.
4. Reduce to low and gently simmer until vegetables are soft when pieced with a fork (20-25 minutes)
5. Remove from heat and let cool.
6. Working in batches, ladle soup into a food processor or blender. Process to make a smooth purée.
7. Return the purée to the large pot and add 1 cup of vegetable stock or water to thin (add more if too thick), salt and pepper to taste.

Notes/Recommendations:

• I would suggest you use bulk carrots. My mom had the pre-peeled and chopped ones left over from family dinner, so they were quick and easy to use. But you’ll get a heartier soup and flavour with unprocessed carrots.
• Either have a suuuper powerful blender or make sure to chop that ginger really fine. I didn’t chop mine very fine (as you can see in the photos) and then my Magic Bullet isn’t the bestest for this kind of work. So there are several “ginger surprises” in my semi-chunky soup. I kind of like the chunkyness with bits of carrot, onion, celery, and potatoe… but the ginger is a bit too flavourful for that.

My Friend Amy recently came up with this idea to celebrate autumn and all the great foods that go with it. I have to say that Autumn and Spring are my favourite seasons (I can never decide which I like more). I love the smell of the leaves, the colours, and the lovely wind. I enjoy bundling up because it’s just a little chilly (not freezing yet) with hand-knit scarves and cowls.

My favourite fall recipe (also the one I’m most proud of) is my Pumpkin Spice Loaf. I absolutely love the pumpkin spice loaf from Starbucks, and I was determined to make it. After many failed attempts and some mediocre loafs, I discovered the secret to Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Loaf. Now, since I already shared that recipe for Tea Talks so I need to share something different.

Then my second thought was my mother’s Oven-Roasted Vegetables. So I went searching for a picture, knowing that I made them when we were living in London. Well, it turns out I already shared the recipe for Oven-Roasted Vegetables as well.

So I’ve decided to share my mom’s lovely Tuna Noodle Casserole adapted from the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook! I love canned tuna and this casserole is perfect straight from the oven, or reheated for lunch the next day. It’s comfort food and a well-balanced meal.

Also, visit My Friend Amy’s blog for a Mister Linky with all the Fall Festival recipes!

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A few weeks ago when I joined Julia at the Steveston Knitting Meetup, one of the gals (Petra, psophia17 on Ravelry) brought these delicious blueberry crumble bars. They are to die for. She posted the recipe link on the Terminal City Yarn Wranglers Group (ravelry link… it’s the Lower Mainland group). So I nabbed it, planning to use my usual batch of blackberries from camp to make these crumble bars instead of the regular ol’ blackberry pie. (I always think the pie is too runny, everyone else likes it).

Here’s some photos of the blackberries this weekend. Unfortunately, due to the wet June over half of the blackberries were not ripe. And of the ones that were, a bunch were over ripe because of the wet August too.

Distracted by the gorgeous Percheron next door to the camp… and her little baby (who was born last summer).

My Our haul (I suppose the BF was helpful and deserves credit):

Mmmm Blackberry crumb bars!