Soup and a Song

I have a new kitchen toy. Its fantastic, and I have my mom and dad to thank for it! My parents came to visit Kraut and I back in October, and I cooked a comforting fall meal for us. I made a celery, pear bisque (from Bon Appetit magazine) and also some spaghetti squash with bolognese sauce. When I made the soup, I sauteed all the veggies until soft and then put them in the blender to puree them. My parents commented that I needed an immersion blender and I agreed, but its one of those things I've just not gone out and purchased. A few days after they left, I got a surprise package from Amazon containing my new Cuisinart stick blender. Kraut and I tried it right away and made some potato leek soup.

Today in Memphis it is rainy and cold, and I wasn't really feeling up to visiting the gym like I'd planned. It seemed more like a comfort food kind of night. Soup is my favorite comfort food....well aside from pizza, oh and lasagna, or a big bowl of pasta, or a loaf of french bread (did I say loaf?), or...oh never mind! Soup is probably on the top 10 list of comfort foods for me. On nights like tonight when its cold, soup just seems to warm me from the inside out. It also seemed like a perfect opportunity to utilize my stick blender.

Quick Side Note: For those of you who read my post where I explained the soundtrack of life, tonight's feature is a throwback to 1990. Anyone remember Snap!, "The Power"???? If desired you can listen to it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rO1n8-SuNM

Tonight I was thinking of all my favorite pureed soups but eventually decided on curried carrot soup. I often like to read several recipes looking for new twists or ideas, and tonight was no exception. A quick Google search led me to curried carrot and sweet potato soup. Honestly, I didn't read the recipe, only the title and I liked the sound of adding sweet potatoes to curried carrot soup. Plus I could use my blender (cue "I got the power"). I figured I'd just throw some stuff together and see what I got. Here is the finished product and the run down on how I prepared it:

Spicy Curry Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup:

2 large sweet potatoes, cubed (skin on)
6 or 7 carrots, cut in chunks (mine were size of baby carrots)
1 quart unsalted vegetable stock
2 cups water
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1.5 tablespoons sweet curry powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon

After you've sliced your carrots and sweet potatoes, let them simmer in a pot with water, vegetable stock, and spices until soft, about 20-3o minutes. Then you use your stick blender to puree until smooth. You could add salt, cream, ginger, or whatever else floats your boat, but it was good as is. Also, if your mom hasn't gotten you a stick blender yet, you can settle for a regular blender. Either way you can still jam out to today's song on the soundtrack of life!

~Crawfish