When baby girl saw me set this down to photograph it, she made a beeline for the bowl. I get it, because I can’t get enough of it either. I made it last night and ate so much that I had that stomach-bursting feeling that comes from too much soup. I woke up this morning and photographed it and ate another giant bowl. It’s meant to be for Thanksgiving dinner so I’ll have to slow down a bit if I want to have any left for everyone else.

Ingredients
- 2 Delicata squash, halved and cored
- 2 ripe pears, halved and cored
- 1 large sweet onion, diced
- 4 tbsp butter
- 2 1/4 cups stock
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
- 1/2 lemon
- 1 tsp curry
- 1/4 tsp coriander
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- Balsalmic glaze, for garnish

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. Lay Delicata on baking sheet covered with foil or Silpat. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle on salt and pepper, roast at 375 with flesh side down. When squash is soft to the touch (about 40 minutes), pull out of oven and turn over and let cool.

3. Lay pears on same baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper, and roast at 375 with flesh side down. Length of time will depend on ripeness of pears. Don’t overroast or they turn into mush. Pull out of oven when pears are soft to the touch and let cool.

4. Brown butter in large heavy-bottomed pot and add onions. Cook onions, stirring occasionally until they turn golden and start to brown.

5. Scoop flesh out of cooled squash and pears. Add to onion mixture.

6. Add stock, cream, lemon, curry, coriander, and nutmeg. Simmer together for 5-10 minutes. Blend until creamy.

7. Scoop into bowls and garnish with balsalmic glaze.

Look at me, acting like some sort of food blogger leading up to Thanksgiving. I can’t decide if this is the best time to post recipes, because people are seeking them out as they plan their menus, or the worst, because everyone is overwhelmed with recipe posts via the blogs they read.

Oh well. This is really about me wanting to be able to bookmark this recipe on my Make It Again board. I might post another one tomorrow too, the pear and squash soup I’m bringing as our contribution to Thanksgiving dinner (along with the dish below). Each time I remember to look at that board I spot old favorites perfect for the particular season I’m experiencing. Like this coconut curry lentil dish with spinach that I plan on making once I’ve recovered from my post-Thanksgiving food coma.

The thing I love most about this dish is the combination of flavors. The aspect I love second-best is that you can prep your ingredients as you go, roasting your Brussels sprouts while dicing your onion, chopping your sausage while browning your onions.

Ingredients
-1 lb brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
- 2 tsp bacon fat
-1 sweet onion, diced
- 1/4 lb sausage links, chopped
- 2 tbsp honey mustard
- 2 tbsp white wine
-1 tbsp balsamic glaze
- Hard cheese, like Parmesan
- salt and pepper

*Butter can be substituted for the bacon fat. Water or stock can be substituted for the white wine.

Instructions
1. Preheat over to 375 degrees. Prep brussels sprouts while oven warms.
2. Drizzle brussels sprouts with 1 tsp melted bacon fat, salt, pepper and put in oven to roast.
3. Melt remaining teaspoon bacon fat in pan while chopping the onion. Add onion to pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and let carmelize.
4. Chop sausage. Pull brussels sprouts out of oven when outside leaves are a very dark brown ( set those off to the side and eat them like chips, they’re addictive!). Add sprouts to onion mixture when onion is turning soft and golden.
5. Cook onion and sprouts mixture for about 10 minutes more, then add sausage.
6. Cook until sausage starts to brown, then add honey mustard, wine, and balsamic. Cook down for 3-5 minutes. Grate cheese over the top, salt and pepper to taste, and stir it all together. Delicious hot and also just before it reaches room temperature.

I made this at my friend’s house in Houston, based on an old recipe that had a list of ingredients and sparse directions. I improvised a bit, and the result is a staple I plan on making again and again until spring. I wanted to post it now because this soup is good the day of, but great the day after. Which means you could make it on Wednesday and eat it as part of your Thanksgiving meal (or while you’re making your Thanksgiving buffet).

If you’re hosting a Thanksgivvukah celebration this is obviously not a kosher option :).

Ingredients
- 1 lb ground pork
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast*
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 white or sweet onion, diced
- 4 large carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 bunch celery, chopped
- 3 leeks, diced
- 4 cups stock
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups milk
- 5 tbsp Braggs liquid aminos
- 1 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire
- Juice of 1/2 lemon

-salt, pepper, and italian seasoning, to taste

Optional:

- 1 bunch kale, strip leaves from stems and julienne
- potatoes, chopped (add these when you put the carrots in)
- Use italian sausage instead of ground pork and nutritional yeast
- Substitute soy sauce for liquid aminos, taste after each tablespoon to gauge amount needed

Instructions

1. Brown pork. Cook until just done (don’t get it really brown, it will be overdone in the soup if you do) and then sprinkle salt, pepper, italian seasonings, and nutritional yeast over pork.
2. Melt butter in large pot. Add in onions and cook until they start to turn golden. Add in carrots and let brown for a few minutes, then add celery and leeks and do the same.
3. After 10-15 minutes of cooking all the vegetables together with no liquid, add the stock, water, and milk. Add Braggs liquid aminos and Worcestershire.
4. Once carrots are soft, add in the cooked pork and the juice from the lemon. Add kale at this point if you are using it.
5. Simmer together for a few minutes until kale is softened. Enjoy!

*Don’t stress if you don’t have any nutritional yeast. This soup will be good without it, but the nutritional yeast gives it a hint of cheesiness that I love.

HP contacted me and asked if I’d be interested in coming out to their #HPJoy event in Palo Alto to talk to a film crew about some of their products. I got up the courage to watch the video, and I look a little mad — or maybe intense? I wanted to do a good job! While being authentic! I’m going to make a carefree playlist of teeny-bop to listen to beforehand if a similar situation ever presents itself again.

I’ll tell you more about this experience soon, but for now here is the video they put together. T2 makes an appearance in it too!

**I have received two HP Chromebooks for my review and comments. One of those is to give to one of you!**

It is ironic that I use this picture for this post - as it was taken by my husband. We really enjoy the time we do get to spend with him.

I’m not really sure what I should call this thing that I’m doing, existing with a husband who travels for work M-Th every week, and is often working away from home 6-7 days/week. I’ve read enough posts written by actual single mothers to understand why it is hurtful and inaccurate for me to co-opt the phrase single motherhood. My partner provides monetary resources that afford me the luxury to work from home as a photographer and blogger while deciding when and how much to outsource childcare. He might not be physically present, but at the end of a hard day I am able to talk through the highs and lows of my day with him. When our children present challenges I have someone to brainstorm solutions with. We debate together, vacation together, make goals together. It’s been hard for me, but nowhere near as difficult as it would be if I were an actual single mother.

Taking on so much of the parenting load has been really difficult for me though, especially since parenting isn’t really my forte. We have no family in the area, and that means no breaks from the kids unless we pay someone. On weeknights I’m trapped in my bedroom (literally, since my oldest thinks that if I am awake and moving about that gives him license to stay up and move about his room), while my girlfriends in the area meet-up for movie nights and book clubs as their spouses watch the kids. We’re slowly building up friendships in the area, but haven’t made it to that perfect point where you don’t even bother knocking as you walk in the front door.

In short, it’s been challenging for me, with lots and lots of tears.*

The point of this post is to say that I needed something to describe my situation. Adopting consistent verbiage would help me accept where I’m at and give me a way to talk about it with others. I didn’t know of anyone else who had blazed that trail already, so I went with solo parenting. Single is the word our culture uses to describe someone who is not in a relationship, but solo is a word we use to talk about people who are alone. My husband is frequently absent, and so I am alone, though I am not single. Most of the time, I am a solo parent.

It’s important for me to talk about this, because the more I do so the more I realize how common it is. It’s very helpful for me to hear the stories and coping strategies employed by women in similar situations. The idealized 9-to-5 working schedule just isn’t an option for everyone, and I don’t think it is productive to be reductive in our discussions about work-life balance and career strategies.

I am growing daily, getting better at it with time. And I love living here! There is no other location in the world where I would rather live than Silicon Valley. I love the opportunities I have, and the way I’m living my life right now. If I want to have all of those things, traveling husband and solo parenting are also part of the equation.

What do you think, is there a better phrase to describe what I’m doing?

ETA: Lots of comments already about how we should get more help - babysitters, a nanny, maybe even an au pair. I would love that, specifically for one or two evenings each week, but our spending in other areas means we can’t afford it. Maybe you can tell all of your friends to hire me to photograph their weddings or lifestyle sessions, and then I’ll be able to pay to have some girl’s nights?

*I’m in weekly therapy now. No more breakdowns!