Although fall does not technically end until the Winter Solstice, it is often felt to end with Thanksgiving, when all things Christmas and holiday ramp up in earnest. Today is Black Friday with all its manic sales and crazy competition, and one day of the year I am more than happy to stay put where I am.
But Thanksgiving was another story, and the perfect time to make a warming soup. Pictured is the Pumpkin Black Bean Soup I made, vegetarian, healthy, and delicious — onions, garlic, spices, black beans, tomatoes, pumpkin, and finished with a splash of balsamic vinegar. And served in one of my very favorite finds – black matte and gloss stoneware by Pfaltzgraff.
Presentation is an important aspect of food as we eat first with our eyes, so I love to photograph food. How rarely you see this in my posts is testament to how little time I have for cooking and baking nowadays, a sad comment as I truly enjoy doing both from scratch. And those lovely dishes? Though now closed, there used to be a Pfaltzgraff factory outlet, a dish-lover’s paradise, in nearby Flemington. A perfect bowl like this might run $8.00, but due to some usually invisible defect, it sold for $1.00, maybe two. Many mourned the outlet closing its doors, though it was a somewhat dangerous place for those who love dishes and cookware.
So while feeling spectacularly fortunate that I was able to buy such beautiful and durable stoneware for a pittance, I couldn’t help but think how fortunate I am in so many other ways — that in a world where people are shivering and suffering in the cold, I am able to have a safe, warm home; where people are dying of hunger, I can make a nourishing soup with the purest of ingredients; where people are in want of clean water – or any at all – I have what I need to make coffee and tea at the touch of a spigot.
And I am fortunate to enjoy the wonderful change of seasons where I live, golden fall easing into the chill and white of winter, so beautiful. For all these, and so much more, I am thankful.
Still A Dreamer 
Your soup looks delicious and shown off so well in those dishes Jeanne!
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Thanks, Andrea. To be honest, almost anything looks great in those dishes. 🙂
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We all have much to be thankful for. That soup sounds delicious!
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We do. It’s one of those recipes I come back to every now and then, and it always comes out perfectly.
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Yes, it’s soup time! We make a lot of it, but I am really bad at presentation.
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If I cooked often, I probably wouldn’t have the time to “play with my food” with photography. Already I’m thinking of my next soup!
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I love this setting, Jeanne ❤ You're so right about the presentation 🙂 The color of the soup matches the decor perfectly too! And I get how you felt about the closing. We had a Mikasa warehouse in Secaucus that closed many years ago, too. The deals were unbelievable! Everyone in our family has glass/crystal platters, etc. from back then 🙂
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Thanks, Donna. There also used to be a Mikasa outlet in Flemington. It was possible to have the loveliest of things – I had a gorgeous thermos for my daily coffee – and then they closed, too. 😦
In my next life, maybe I’ll be a food photographer – I love photographing – well, lots of things about – food!
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well, I can tell you—I LOVE your photos, food or not 😀 ❤
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Merci! I bet you didn’t know that I majored in photography when I went to art school, dod you. 🙂 I was taking pictures at 9 years old when I got my first Brownie camera. And I still have quite a few of them, too.
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Nope! But the training shows!!!
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