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The new road home, and pumpkin bread recipe.

Pulling Up Roots. Again.

It's been brewing for awhile now- our dissatisfaction with LA and the film business, the slow, dawning realization that living out here is simply not sustainable. Every penny I make goes for rent and bills. The financial pressure is suffocating. And I have no space to paint. Physical space, of course. But also psychic space. The energy of LA is so imposing, so invasive. Someone else's narrative is always intruding. Even if that narrative is only a car alarm. Or a leaf blower.

I can't hear my own voice here.

And so I haven't felt like an artist in a long, long time. I hoped Redondo Beach might be different. But I still didn't have the studio I needed. It was healing to live at the ocean for a year. But again, not sustainable.

My husband and I have been empty-nesters now for seven years or so. Pursuing Steve's mid-life dream of writing screenplays. We've been living like gypsies, in a series of small apartments. But it wasn't always this way. We used to both paint for a living. We used to be homeowners, with a house and a studio, a garden. A family. Steve taught painting for extra income, but we lived off our art. We sold work in galleries, and lived well as artists. I met Steve in a painting workshop. And two and a half years later, he asked me out for coffee.

Art and painting have always been our first bond.

Truth is, these last few years I have missed our "life as artists". I miss having a home, a garden, a private studio. And I told Steve, after visiting New England for our son's wedding last year- I miss New England. I miss the seasons- which connect me to a sense of belonging, connect me to the Earth. I miss New England people.

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The pumpkin or squash does need to be baked in advance, but apart from that this soup is ridiculously simple. It didnt taste simple though. It tasted smooth, creamy and rich. Well, there is all that coconut milk, Im afraid.

I used my Galeux dEysines pumpkin for this, but you could use Butternut squash instead. It might be a little denser so you might want to add a little more chicken stock in that case.

8 servings
1 1/4 hours to prepare the pumpkin - 15 minutes prep time
1 1/4 hours to make the soup - 30 minutes prep time


Cook the Pumpkin or Squash:
1 medium pumpkin or squash (1 kilo or 2 1/2 pounds)
1 tablespoon mild vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut the pumpkin in half, and remove and discard the seeds and stringy bits. Rub the cut flesh lightly with the oil, and place the pieces on a baking tray. Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until tender. Let cool and refrigerate (wrapped) until wanted.

Make the Soup
6 large shallots
2 large apples
2 tablespoons mild vegetable oil (or butter if you like)

4 cups cooked squash
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 3/4 cups (a 400 ml tin) coconut milk
1 teaspoon anise seed, ground
2 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger
the finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon
the juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Peel and chop the shallots. Core and chop the apples. (Peel them as well, if you think your blender wont handle the skins.) Heat the oil or butter in a large skillet and cook the shallots and apples until soft and slightly browned in spots.

Meanwhile, put the squash, chicken stock, coconut milk, and ground anise seed in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 30 minutes. Add the ginger, lemon zest and lemon juice, and simmer for another few minutes.

Purée the soup until very smooth. No doubt this will take 2 or 3 batches in the blender. Reheat to serve.




Last year at this time I made Leek & Potato Soup.