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Hi.

Welcome to This Awful/Awesome Life! My name is Frances Joyce. I am the publisher and editor of this magazine. We'll be exploring different topics each month to inform, entertain and inspire you. Meet new authors, sharpen your brain and pick up a few tips on life, love, entertaining and business. Enjoy and please share!

November 2021 in The Twelve Months of Soup by Fran Joyce

For our November soup, I went with Butternut Squash paired with a turkey sandwich.

The soup is perfect for cooler weather and Thanksgiving. Here is the link to the recipe I selected, https://www.loveandlemons.com/butternut-squash-soup/

This recipe has ingredients found in most kitchens, so it’s easy and inexpensive to make. I made my own vegetable broth and the only change I made to the recipe is that I roasted the butternut squash before adding it to the soup instead of sauteing it with the onions and garlic. Also, for my garnish, I went with spinach leaves, a dollop of plain cashew milk non-fat yogurt, and a sprinkle of ground ginger.

I use my emulsifying blender instead of a standard blender. It saves on clean up and works wonderfully.

What’s in your perfect turkey sandwich? Growing up our turkey leftovers became sandwiches on white bread with mayonnaise and yellow mustard with tomato and iceberg lettuce. My mom rarely splurged on sliced cheese or fancy bread. I became a bit more adventurous with age preferring to add bacon, avocado, pear or apple slices, spinach, Swiss, muenster or provolone slices on wheat bread or buns. Since I gave up eating meat last year, I left the choice of sandwich fixings up to my son, James. To give him and my readers a few ideas, I’ve included this link with nineteen turkey sandwich recipes,

https://www.delish.com/holiday-recipes/thanksgiving/g29371295/turkey-sandwich-recipes/?slide=19

James looked through the recipes and decided to put his own spin on a few of them. Here are some of the ingredients at his disposal:

Sourdough Bread            Swiss Cheese                   Stuffing

Slider buns                       Provolone                         Mashed Potatoes & gravy

Croissants                         Avocado                           Cranberries

Turkey                               Zesty Dill pickles              Apple slices

Apple-Smoked Bacon     Vegan Mayo                     Pears

Spinach                             Kale                                    Iceberg lettuce

When I was putting out the ingredients, I was reminded of the Disney show, Even Stevens and the Gooey Gobbler Sandwich that had turkey, cranberries, Mashed potatoes, gravy, and I think marshmallow fluff. It sounded horrible, but to each his or her own.

James made several different sandwiches over and let me snap a few photos. Get creative with those leftovers and enjoy!

Our December soup will be Split Pea with a ham sandwich.

The Twelve Months of Soup

January – Chicken Noodle Soup and Mandarin Orange Salad

February – Seafood Bisque and Strawberry Spinach Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette Dressing

March – Potato and Leek Soup and Beet Salad

April – Vegetarian Vegetable Soup with a Vegetable Panini

May – Black Bean Soup and Mexican Kale Salad

June – Italian Wedding Soup with a Chicken Wrap

July – Minestrone Soup with a Hoagie

August – Broccoli Cheddar Soup with Quinoa Salad

September – Tomato Basil Soup with a grilled Cheese Sandwich

October – Slow Cooker Black Bean Chili and Pomegranate and Wild Rice Salad

November – Butternut Squash Soup with a turkey sandwich

December – Split Pea Soup with a Ham Sandwich 

Q&A with Local Artisan Tracey Lewis

Celebrations and Gratitude by Fran Joyce