The Book Tour Stops Here: A Review of "Pretty in Punxsutawney" by Laurie Boyle Crompton, Served with Sweet and Salty Whoppers Popcorn

Happy Last Day of January! Where did the month go? Time flies so fast that I often wish I could slow it down, but I wouldn't want to relive the same day over and over again, like Andie in the new YA novel, Pretty in Punxsutawney by Laurie Boyle Crompton. A mashup of the movies Groundhog Day and Pretty in Pink, with a nod to rom-coms and the movies of the eighties, I'm happy to be today's TLC Book Tour stop and to pair my review with some tasty Whoppers Popcorn, a sweet and salty mashup of two concession stand staples.

Publisher's Blurb:

A Groundhog Day meets Pretty in Pink mashup from author Laurie Boyle Crompton, Pretty in Punxsutawney tells the tale of a girl willing to look beneath the surface to see people for who they really are.

Andie is the type of girl who always comes up with the perfect thing to say…after it’s too late to say it. She’s addicted to romance movies—okay, all movies—but has yet to experience her first kiss.  After a move to Punxsutawney, PA, for her senior year, she gets caught in an endless loop of her first day at her new school, reliving those 24 hours again and again.

Convinced the curse will be broken when she meets her true love, Andie embarks on a mission: infiltrating the various cliques to find the one boy who can break the spell. What she discovers along the way is that people who seem completely different can often share the very same hopes, dreams, and hang-ups. And that even a day that has been lived over and over can be filled with unexpected connections and plenty of happy endings.

Hardcover: 304 Pages

Publisher: Blink (January 15, 2019)

My Review:

I am not the demographic for YA fiction (by a few years...cough...) but I like to dabble in it occasionally, especially when it ties in to movies I love. I have expressed before my fondness for John Hughes teen films and rom-coms and Pretty in Punxsutawny makes the most of them. Andie's mom is a Hughes fanatic, leaning to the movies as part of her parenting, pulling them out to bond with Andie, and make a life point when necessary. Andie's name even comes from her mom's favorite, Pretty in Pink, although like me, Andie prefers The Breakfast Club and doesn't like the way Pretty in Pink ended.

Anyway, Andie's parents have moved the family to the busier Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania so her psychologist dad can have more patients. Forced to start over at a new high school in her senior year, Andie spends the summer hanging out at the local movie theater crushing on handsome Colton and plotting how their "meet-cute" can turn into a romance and her first kiss. Unfortunately the first day of school has Colton falling for the resident mean girl and Andie happy the day is over with...but then it isn't. Punxsutawney's magic seems to have left the movie screen when Andie must relive her first day at school again and again, with no end in sight. Andie hopes that a kiss with her true love will start the time clock moving and starts trying different things to make it happen. 

I enjoyed the fun, humor, and sweetness of the story, even though I identify more with Andie's parents than Andie. Still, it's not hard to be taken back to the days of teenage angst and remember it all--the high points and the horrors of high school. Andie is a great character and I loved the balance of her awkwardness and snarky humor. It's not just the eighties and John Hughes movies that show up, there are classic movie mentions as well as other popular movie mentions. One of my favorite moments is Andie calling on Drew Barrymore's short-term memory plot points from Fifty First Dates (2004) as an excuse for her awkward behavior with some new friends. This book works well today for a YA reader, but is also great for the movie buff and those of us that were in high school in the eighties. It definitely put me in the mood for a classic rom-com movie binge and I'd recommend it if you want a light, enjoyable escape.
 
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Author Notes: Laurie Boyle Crompton is the author of several YA books, including Adrenaline Crush and Love and Vandalism. Laurie graduated first in her class from St. John’s University with a BA in English and Journalism. She has written for national magazines like Allure, survived a teaching stint at an all-boy high school, and appeared onGood Day New York several times as a toy expert. And yes, “toy expert” is an actual profession. She grew up in a small town in western PA and now lives near NYC with her family and one enormous and very fuzzy “dog toy expert” named Baxter Bear.

Connect with Laurie on her website, Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.

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Food Inspiration:

Since much of the book is about Andie living the same day over and over at high school there is not a lot of food presence in the book and not too much that inspires. Cafeteria pizza keeps giving Andie stomachaches and the switch to "brown goo" didn't tempt. Andie's dad makes pancakes on her loop of days and their were mentions of midnight cookies, Puffs 'o Oats cereal, lemon squares, pudding, cheesy puffs, the mall food court with Szechwan chicken and rice and Cheddar, Bacon and Broccoli Spudz from Spudz World. There's beer at a party, canned bean soup, pineapple and passion fruit mentions and when Andie starts altering her days she heads to the city for a hamburger, learns pancake art and teaches herself to make elaborate fondant art of cakes inspired by John Hughes eighties movies. 

Ultimately for my book inspired dish, I went to a couple of movie concession staples Whoppers and popcorn since Andie's self-proclaimed "meet cute" with the boy she is crushing on involves her smuggling a big box of Whoppers into the theater and getting caught out and made to buy popcorn. Rather than hand in her favorite treat, she stuffs a good portion of the box into her mouth. I decided to combine them with buttered popcorn for a sweet and salty (& malty) combination.

Whoppers Popcorn: This is not a recipe--you just need a box of Whoppers or any malted milk ball candy and an appropriate amount of popped popcorn and blend them together. If you like your chocolate on the melty-er side, make sure the popcorn is hot. For a less messy version, let the popcorn cool a bit before stirring it with the malted milk balls. Either way, it is pretty addicting (she says as she stuffs handfuls in her mouth ala Andie!) ;-)

Notes/Results: I won't lie to you. This mix was my dinner after a long day at work and I really enjoyed it. I have mixed my favorite movie concession stand candy, Rasinets, with popcorn before and that combo slightly edges out this one for me, but I certainly would not mind making this one again. The sweet and malted chocolate pairs well with the salty, buttery popcorn. A fun way to mix up your popcorn. I usually use my air popper when I want popcorn as it's healthier, but for this I bought the full octane "Movie Theater Butter" microwave popcorn. Sure, I might have ingested my quota of chemicals with this mix but it was sure fun going down. ;-)

I'm sharing this post with the Weekend Cooking event at Beth Fish Reads, a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. For more information, see the welcome post.

Note: A review copy of "Pretty in Punxsutawney" was provided to me by the author and the publisher via TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for this review and as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own.  

You can see the stops for the rest of this TLC Book Tour and what other reviewers thought about the book here.

 

Tropical Pineapple Pie for Cook the Books December/January Pick: "Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers" by Sara Ackerman

Yes, I hosted this round of Cook the Books (the best virtual foodie book club going ten years strong!) and yes, I am posting (as per usual), right before the deadline. ;-) Having been on the TLC Book Tours Instagram Tour for Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers by Sara Ackerman last year, I was more than excited to make it our December/January selection. Historical fiction set during World War II is my jam, and the fact that this novel is set on the Big Island of Hawaii made it an obvious pick as I have been long wanting to host a Hawaii-based book for our group. My book-inspired dish, Tropical Pineapple Pie, gave me a chance to crack open a cookbook that was given to me when I started my new job in August.

But first, let's talk about the book. Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers is a touching and engaging story about Violet, a teacher in the small community of Honoka'a, Hawaii (north of Hilo) dealing with the effects of the war on her community and the disappearance of her husband the year prior. Violet is especially worried about her daughter, Ella, who is withdrawn and suffering and seems to know something about what happened to her father. Violet and her friends (roommate and fellow teacher Jean and Japanese Setsuko, whose husband has been taken away to a internment holding area on the island) band together to make and sell pies to the soldiers who are stationed on the island as they prepare to be shipped out to battle.
 

Author Sara Ackerman was born and raised in Hawaii and she paints a vivid picture of wartime life and the impact on the islands. The story is told from both Violet's and Ella's points of view and mother and daughter are likable characters that are easy to root for, as are their friends and the supporting characters of soldiers and townspeople. The book has secrets, drama, romance and friendship, not to mention a pet lion named Roscoe and lots of pie. Since I read a lot of World War II-set novels, I loved this glimpse of Hawaii at war that isn't centered around Oahu and Pearl Harbor (although I am very much looking forward to Ackerman's second book, The Lieutenant's Nurse, due out in March that is set on Oahu and on the attack and its aftermath).

Although the pies that Violet and her friends bake and sell to the soldiers (especially the chocolate honeycomb pies and coconut sweet potato pies) are a focus of the food in the book, there was plenty of other food to be found including coconuts, vanilla ice cream, corn, pineapple, Okinawan sweet potatoes, coffee, banana pancakes, cornflakes, rice balls, mint, sweet potato soup, okolehao (Hawaiian moonshine), rice cakes, poi, chocolate pudding, kale, tomatoes, lettuce, eggplant, cucumber, meatloaf with sauce and sage, sushi made with canned sardines, Spam casserole, passion-orange juice, peanuts, Saloon pilot crackers with chunks of salted codfish, creamed corn, beef stew and white rice, Spanish casserole, roasted fall vegetables, hamburgers, manapua, chop suey, porridge, malasadas (Portuguese donuts), steak fry, tomatoes, musabi, ginger, guava, chicken hekka, honey, sugarcane lemonade, Coca Cola, chili and rice, ham sandwich with pickles, tomato, lettuce and onion, Spam sandwiches, red potato salad, apples, papio (fish), taro, and watercress (slightly steamed and sprinkled with sea salt), opihi (shellfish) ohelo berry pie, mashed potatoes, roast pig,cornbread stuffing casserole, pumpkin pie, frosted gingerbread men, champagne, roasting marshmallows, toast with grape jelly, lemon baked ahi, steak and eggs, and lilikoi (passion fruit).

I'm not much of a baker or a pie maker, but it was what was calling me for this book so I popped open a few of my Hawaii cookbooks and looked for easy, no-bake pies. My team had three cookbooks at my desk when I started my job in August and I found a couple of likely recipes that had the right vibe in Celebrating in Hawai'i: Favorite Recipes for Holidays and Special Occasions by Muriel Miura and the Star Advertiser. I went back and forth between a Guava Chiffon Pie and the Tropical Pineapple Pie which finally won out because of Mr. Macadangdang's trucks full of coconuts and the mentions of pineapples in the book. The pie had a bit of a retro feel to it and I liked the idea of the toasted coconut crust.

Tropical Pineapple Pie
Slightly Adapted from Celebrating in Hawaii by Muriel Miura
(Makes 8-10 Servings)

1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 can (7 oz) flaked coconut (I used 7 oz packed dry coconut + 2 Tbsp coconut condensed milk)
1 can (13 1/2 oz) pineapple tidbits, undrained
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar 
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 tsp salt
1 package (3 oz) lemon-flavored gelatin
2 egg whites
2/3 cup instant nonfat dry milk
1/2 cup water

Brown coconut in butter, stirring constantly over moderate heat. Reserve 2 tablespoons for topping. Press remaining mixture onto bottom and sides of 10-inch pie pan, Set aside to cool.

Drain pineapple and pour syrup and lemon juice into a small saucepan. Set pineapple aside. Beat together sugar, eggs, and salt. Stir egg mixture into pineapple syrup until well-blended. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly until mixture comes to a boil. Add gelatin and stir until dissolved. Stir in pineapple and chill until mixture begins to thicken.

Beat egg whites, dry milk, and water until soft peaks foam. Fold into chilled mixture and pour into coconut crust. Garnish top with reserved coconut flakes; chill until set, about 4 hours. 

Notes/Results: I was drawn to the recipe because of its old-fashioned feel and I love the way it looks, but flavor-wise, it was only okay for me. I wanted a stronger pineapple taste. The toasted coconut crust was my favorite part although I had to improvise a bit when I couldn't find canned coconut at my grocery store. Without canned, in order to get the toasted dried coconut to stick together enough to form the crust I added sweetened condensed coconut milk to it, pressed it into the pie pan and broiled it for a couple of minutes to get it to hold together. It made for a chewy, toasty crust that went well with the filling and that I would use again. 

I'm sharing this post with the Weekend Cooking event at Beth Fish Reads, a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. For more information, see the welcome post.

Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers is my first foodie book entry for the Foodies Read 2019 event. You can check out the January 2019 Foodies Read linkup, hosted by Heather at Based on a True Story, to see what everyone is reading this month.   

 

The deadline for this round of CTB is Thursday, January 31st and I'll be rounding up the entries on the Cook the Books site soon after. If you missed this round and like food, books, and foodie books, join us for February/March when we'll be reading Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan, hosted by Claudia of Honey From Rock.
 

 

Chickpea and Pasta Soup from Mark Bittman for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

When I want something very simple and good, I look to Mark Bittman with his easy recipe sketches and countless adaptations. Trying to adhere to my no-buy rule for cookbooks, I checked his Kitchen Matrix cookbook out of the library and immediately went for the Chickpea and Pasta Soup, healthy and good for work lunches. 

I did double my chickpeas and up the broth, as well as adding a half of a red bell pepper left in the veggie crisper, three cloves of garlic, minced, and smoked paprika and celery salt.  

Chickpea and Pasta Soup 
Slightly Adapted from Mark Bittman's Kitchen Matrix
(Serves 4-6)

Put 1 1/2 cups dried beans, 1 chopped medium onion, 2 chopped carrots, 2 chopped celery ribs, 2 bay leaves, 1 tablespoon hopped fresh rosemary leaves, 1 cup chopped tomatoes (canned are fine) and 6 cups vegetable broth into a large soup pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer until the beans are soft--at least an hour. When the chickpeas are almost tender, add 1/2 cup small pasta. Cook until the pasta and chickpeas are tender. Remove bay leaves, season with salt and black pepper and serve, topped with a drizzle of olive oil and few chopped rosemary leaves.

Notes/Results: Just a good, simple soup--full of veggies, pasta and beans. There's not much more you ask for on a cool (OK, cold for Hawaii) windy weekend. I liked the changes I made to pump the flavor up a bit. I kept it vegan, but some grated Parmesan would be delightful on top too. With olive oil-grilled bread to dip into the broth, this made for a delicious light meal. I would happily make it again. 

Linking up with I Heart Cooking Clubs where it is Potluck week--our chance to make any recipe from our IHCC chefs.

Let's look into the Souper Sundays kitchen and see who is here:

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor says, "I don't know about anyone else but I am continually clipping or copying new recipes I want to try. Unfortunately that leads to an overstuffed file folder with all sorts of recipes, just waiting to get on the kitchen agenda. To clean up my messy cookbook shelf/folders I decided I would pick one each week. Sometimes I thumb through them and wonder why I would even want to try it. Those get tossed. This week I thought I would try Giada's Corn Soup. This was good but I doubt I will keep the recipe. Maybe it was timing - we had just driven back from Quincy, after some shopping, and realized we were ravenous the closer we got to home."

Judee of Gluten Free A-Z Blog shared Beet and Walnut Salad with Pickled Onion and said, "I was first introduced to this interesting salad at a luncheon given by an amazing cook who lived her first 18 years in Cairo, Egypt. She brought many of her family recipes with her. This colorful salad is one of her recipes. It is made with cooked beets, marinated pickled onions, and raw walnuts. The marinated onions serve as the seasoning, although you could add a little touch of vinegar to the beets if desired. The unique combination makes a flavorful salad that is high in fiber and vitamins, minerals, and protective antioxidants."

 Thank you to Tina and Judee for joining me this week! 
 
About Souper Sundays:

Souper Sundays (going since 2008) now has a format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches at any time during the week and I post a recap of the entries the following week.

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here. 
If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to it on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).

An InLinkz Link-up

Have a happy, healthy week!
 

Creamy Tomato & Gnocchi Soup with Spinach: Easy Comfort for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

I have house guests and wanted a soup that was tasty without a lot of time and effort. Gnocchi was on sale this week in the import section of my local grocery store and since I made a gnocchi soup a while back with beans and vegetables and love it, I thought I'd try another version.  I decided to keep this one simple and use tomatoes and spinach. A jar of vodka pasta sauce and a bit of sour cream help keep it rich and creamy.  

This soup was just tossed together from my head and what I had in my pantry so you can adapt it to your preferences--add more sour cream, use vegan dairy products, add more liquid/broth, etc.-it's all good.

Creamy Tomato & Gnocchi Soup with Spinach
By Deb, Kahakai Kitchen
(Makes 6 to 8 Servings)

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 sweet onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp Aleppo chile pepper or chile of choice (if desired)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 (14 oz) cans diced fire-roasted tomatoes and their juices
1 jar good pasta sauce (I used creamy vodka sauce)
4 cups vegetable broth
pinch of sugar
1/2 cup sour cream if desired 
sea salt and pepper to taste
5 oz baby spinach, coarsely chopped
2 (16 oz packages) potato gnocchi
shaved Parmesan and basil leaves for garnish

In a large heavy-bottomed soup pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute for 7-8 minutes, until onion is softened and golden. Add garlic and saute for another 2 minutes. Add dried basil, dried oregano, Aleppo chile, and cinnamon and saute another minute, until fragrant. 

Add the tomatoes and their juices, pasta sauce, and vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Let cool slightly and puree the soup in batches in the blender. (I pureed about 3/4 of it.) Taste and add a pinch of sugar if desired. Stir in sour cream until completely blended. Taste and add salt and pepper as desired. 

Bring soup to a simmer and add the baby spinach and gnocchi and cook for 4 to 5 minutes until greens are wilted and gnocchi rise to the top. 

Serve hot, topped with shaved Parmesan and fresh basil. Enjoy!

Notes/Results: Creamy and satisfying this is an easy and tasty soup to throw together when you don't want to do a lot of chopping or fuss. The gnocchi pillows and spinach are delicious in the creamy soup. Great comfort food, I am looking forward to taking it for lunches this week. I would happily make it again.

Let's look into the Souper Sundays kitchen and see who is here:

A big welcome (or welcome back?) to Elizabeth, now blogging at Literature and Limes and here with a healthy Kale and Pine Nut Salad she paired with a recently read novel. She says, "I have been on a keto journey for half a year now. I have made considerable changes in my health by cutting out the vast majority of carbs. I decided I needed something very green for my dish. They would make me something stuffed with vitamins, packed with flavor despite the lack of carbs, but something light so I could go do some yoga after lunch."

Debra of Eliot's Eats paired her Turning Over a New Leaf Salad with recently read non-fiction, What To Eat When. She says, "There is a bit of playfulness throughout the book. Again, the information here wasn’t revolutionary but it did cause me to re-plan menus. Besides just exercising our brains by jump-starting our neurons, the best food to eat is salmon, ocean trout, leafy greens, walnuts, coffee, olive oil, and blueberries. CUT OUT THE SUGAR!" This salad has several of those healthy ingredients.

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor shared a hearty Shepherd's Pie Stew and we are twins with the gnocchi. She says, "This gnocchi was found in the refrigerated section of the market.  Chop and measure your ingredients ahead of time and it's a quick meal to prepare.  This is the first time we have had a soupy/stew version of Shepherd's Pie. Usually we have beef or lamb or chicken with the massive amount of veggies and cover it all with mashed potatoes." 

Shaheen of Allotment2Kitchen brought Spelt Beetroot Salad with Spinach and said, "Other than it being a dish to eat mindfully, by that I mean slowly because of the chewy nature of the grains, I actually quite enjoyed it. In fact I decided to make another recipe with grains the following week."  

Thank you to all who joined this week! 
 
About Souper Sundays:

Souper Sundays (going since 2008) now has a format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches at any time during the week and I post a recap of the entries the following week.

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here. 
If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up her in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to it on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (optional).

An InLinkz Link-up

 
Have a happy, healthy week!

Pinto Bean Soup with Fresh Salsa (Simple Brothy Beans) for Souper (Soup, Salad, & Sammie) Sundays

My friend sent me a care package several weeks ago and included a small book of soups since she knows I cook them weekly and figured I'd use the cookbook more than she does. I flipped through it and tagged several recipes to make, and when a description of "soupy pinto beans" in the last book I read caught my eye, I knew I wanted to make the Pinto Bean Soup with Fresh Salsa.

Although the recipe included a recipe for fresh salsa (just tomatoes, red onion, cilantro and lime), tomatoes were not looking great in the grocery store I went too and the red onions were big and tough looking. Because of the lack of good ingredients (and because I am lazy sometimes) I bought a container of good fresh salsa from the deli case.

Pinto Bean Soup with Fresh Salsa
Slightly Adapted from The Little Guides: Soups
(Serves 6)

1 1/2 cups dried pinto beans
7 cups water
1/4 cup olive oil
2 yellow onions, diced
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
(I added abut 1/2 tsp Aleppo chili)
6 cups stock or broth of choice 
salsa and sour cream to serve

Sort through the beans and discard any misshapen beans or stones. Rinse well. Place the beans and water in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until all the beans are cooked through and creamy inside, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove from the heat and set aside. 

In a large pot over medium heat, warm the oil. Add the onions, salt and pepper and saute until the onions are lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 1 to 2 minutes longer. Add the beans, their cooking liquid, and the stock. 

Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally until the beans start to break apart, about 20 to 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool slightly.

In small batches, blend or process the bean mixture until smooth. Return the puree to the pan. Reheat over low heat, stirring often. 

Ladle the soup into warmed shallow bowls and top each serving with a spoonful of salsa and a dollop of sour cream.

Notes/Results:This one hit the spot--simple but good savory flavor. Wanting brothy beans, I just blended about a third of the beans and stirred them back into the soup. I also added some chili powder (Aleppo) for a bit of subtle heat and used low-sodium non-chicken bouillon paste in both  cooking the beans and in the soup itself which also added to the flavor. I used Tofutti Vegan Sour Cream but you could use yogurt or regular sour cream based on your preferences. One quick cooking note, I soaked my beans overnight from force of habit and so they only needed to be cooked for about an hour and then another 15 minutes or so with the onions. Hearty, satisfying and good, I'd happily make this soup again.

 Let's look into the Souper Sundays kitchen and see who is here:

Judee from Gluten Free A-Z Blog brought Instant Pot Red Lentil Vegetable Soup and said, "Red lentils make a hearty soup that can be cooked in the Instant Pot in just 10 minutes ( plus warm up time). Since red lentils do not require pre-soaking, it's a great last minute soup for a cold evening. ... It's a nice thick soup that warms for the inside out. If there are any leftovers, beware that the soup will become thicker overnight. Just add some additional vegetable broth before reheating!"

 
Tina of Squirrel Head Manor shared a healthy side dish she recently enjoyed, Zoe's Fruit Salad. and said, "When we dined there last week we both ordered kabobs and falafel.  I added the fruit salad because I knew it would be fresh fruit instead of the sort some restaurants give you, you know what I mean - crunchy under ripe cantaloupe?  Not this place.  Freshly cut orange segments and sweet cantaloupe, crisp green apple slices and sweet grapes. ... When we eat out, or grab takeaway, there are times I want to recreate the recipes or dishes at home. Sure, fruit salad isn't exactly rocket science but for some reason I don't bother at home. We buy the pre-cut, well we used to buy the pre-cut fruit salads from Publix but they were disappointing."

 
Thank you Judee & Tina for joining in this week! 
 
About Souper Sundays:

Souper Sundays (going since 2008) now has a format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches at any time during the week and I post a recap of the entries the following week.

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here. 
If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up her in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to it on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (optional).

An InLinkz Link-up

Have a happy, healthy week!