About Us

Name: Becca, aka Baking Becca
Age: 30
Origin: A small town in Arizona
Current Location: Somewhere in the mountain west
Role on this blog: Writer, photographer
Superpowers: Baking, child-juggling, playing Christmas songs on her nose.

Name: Peter, aka Mr. Clean
Age: 28
Origin: Utah, USA
Current Location: Somewhere south of Canada
Role on this blog: Photographer
Superpowers: Able to fix nearly anything, art, super-strength.

Name: Special Agent J, aka Niblet

Age: 4

Origin: Somewhere north of Mexico
Current Location: Somewhere east of the Pacific Ocean
Role on this blog: Subject matter

Superpowers: Telepathy, climbing, jumping.

Name: Special Agent C, aka Pudge

Age: 20 months

Origin: Somewhere west of the Atlantic Ocean

Current Location: Way more than 10 miles from New York

Role on this blog: Subject matter

Superpowers: Weather control, carrying a tune, sleeping.

Sweet Potato Soup

My friends, soup weather has officially arrived.  But not the heavy potato cheese soup or beef stew weather.  Not quite.  Those soups don't come into season for me until my tomato plants get frozen, and currently they are still hanging in there.  No, the soup that I'm loving lately is light and fresh and still tastes just enough like summer to help me not miss my favorite season too much.  May I present Sweet Potato Soup.  Mmm, I love this stuff.  I got the recipe from a Relief Society meeting for my church.  You can make it as spicy as you want and since I am such a spice sissy I made it pretty mild using only half a jalapeno and no adobo or chipotle sauce, but it was still lovely.  I hope you enjoy it too!

Sweet Potato Soup
Printable Recipe

1 green pepper, chopped
1 med. onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, diced small (I just used my garlic press)
2 lg. sweet potatoes, cut small
3 cups cooked black beans (I used canned, rinsed)
1 can diced tomatoes
2 cups frozen corn

1 T. adobo or chipotle sauce (optional)

1 whole jalapeno (optional, I used half)
2 t. extra virgin olive oil

1 T. chili powder

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 t. coriander (optional)

1 1/2 t. cumin
1 1/2 t. salt

Peel and chop sweet potatoes into small cubes (keep wet so they don't go brown) and set aside.  Dice:  onion, green pepper, garlic, and jalapeno; place in a large saucepan and cook till onions are translucent.  Stir in seasonings--cook 1 minute more.  Stir in sweet potatoes and add remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Lower heat and simmer 40 minutes or until sweet potatoes are cooked through.  Adjust seasonings to taste.  We garnished ours with a dollop of sour cream.  Although I didn't have any avocados, this would be divine with an avocado garnish too.

Books to Read, Movies to See

I love to read.  I also love movie nights cuddled up with my husband.  This is my place to keep track of the books I want to read and movies we want to see:

Books:
Finish Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Finish Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl

Movies:
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Young Victoria
Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland
How to Train Your Dragon
Blood Wedding
Best Years of Our Lives
Vitus (2006)

Movies I've seen but I want him to see:
Cheaper by the Dozen (1950 version)
Gattaca