Liz Denys

Despite growing up in Chicago where winter is defined as "more traffic" and "delayed flights," the first thing that comes to mind in winter is creamy squash soups. In the haze of moving, Mystery Hunt, and working on writing 6.042 problems this IAP, I somehow neglected making soup this January. To quench my craving and finally use up the three cans of puréed pumpkins sitting in my cabinet, I decided to make curried pumpkin soup.

I usually top this with a bit of pecorino romano cheese, but since I didn't have any in the fridge, I opted for parmesan and crushed red pepper flakes. If pumpkins are in season, toasted pumpkin seeds work even better.

Hopefully, I can subdue my craving for soup with this, but I've already decided that French onion soup is next.

Curried pumpkin soup

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 3 medium chopped yellow onions
• 4 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1/4 cup chopped red peppers (can substitute 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper)
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 3 15 oz. cans puréed pumpkin
• 5 cups vegetable (or chicken) broth
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Preparation:

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions, garlic, and red peppers, then cook, stirring often, until softened (about four minutes). Add the curry powder and coriander (and crushed red peppers if opting for this method), and stir for another minute.
2. Mix the puréed pumpkin, broth, and sautéed vegetables in a large stockpot. Blend well. Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce the heat and let simmer for ten to fifteen minutes.
3. Blend the soup in a food processor or blender until smooth, and put the soup back in the stockpot.
4. With the soup on low heat, add the brown sugar and mix. Next, add the salt. Slowly add the milk and the cream while stirring to incorporate without burning.

Makes eight to ten servings.

Now that I have a weighted-key digital piano in my room, I've been playing a lot more. More like: I've gone from playing the piano only when I'm home in Chicago to playing it a couple hours a day. Over the past few days, I've been alternating between playing pieces from Philip Glass's "Metamorphosis" and more or less messing around with my own creations. The one below is a simple jazz waltz:

Perhaps, I wrote this one down because the beats in it are steady enough to easily transcribe. Additionally, unlike most other music I write, it lent itself fairly naturally to a key. Maybe you'll see some vaguely modal music which is played primarily on the black keys from me sometime soon.

Whether staying up late mandated my love of caffeine or vice versa, I've become hooked on coffee of all forms. My hands-down favorite until a few months ago was the caffè macchiato - not to be confused with the highly commercialized latte macchiato you see in places like Starbucks. But then I got a French press, tasted two new forms of unfiltered coffee, and was in love.

Hot coffee made with a French press is a delightful mélange of drip coffee and espresso: it roughly has the texture and caffeine content of the drip coffee but also develops a crema-like sediment because the mesh filter captures more of the coffee's oils.

To prepare such unfiltered hot coffee, you stir together the same number of tablespoons of coarsely ground coffee beans as cups of hot (never boiling, as you will burn the coffee) filtered or spring water in the French press, wait roughly three to five minutes, plunge the mesh filter the bottom, and enjoy. You can easily produce this form of unfiltered coffee without a fancy-schmancy French press, too: prepare the coffee in a large glass jar or pitcher, then strain through a fine mesh colander.

Unfortunately, hot French press coffee "expires" after about five minutes left with the beans in the press and like most hot coffees, becomes undesirable even if promptly poured into a mug about fifteen minutes later.

But, alas! An even more intriguing coffee variety easily prepared via French press, cold brew coffee, can rescue us in these departments and more. In addition to having the rich thickness of the hot French press coffee, cold brew coffee is surprisingly less bitter and has a great deal less acidity. This forces different facets, notably the softer background notes such as chocolate or molasses, of the beans used into the foreground: despite growing up to love dark roasts like a true Chicagoan, I find that I really enjoy the subtleties of a lighter "breakfast blend" coffee more via the cold-brewing process.

While the uncommon flavor of cold brew coffee is enticing on its own, cold brew coffee possesses another unique quality as far as types of coffee are concerned: cold brew coffee is just as good immediately following preparation as after a week in the fridge. Definitely wins points with me solely on the basis of its providing me a quality coffee option if I have only a minute before I need to be out the door, and yes, this means that even the girl who previously swore that iced coffee was a mortal sin enjoys this drink both hot and cold.

Cold brew coffee

Ingredients:

• 14 tablespoons of ground coffee (a fresh medium to coarse grind is ideal)
• 4 eight-ounce cups filtered or spring water
• Milk (optional)

Preparation:

1. In a jar, stir together the coffee and 4 eight-ounce cups of water. Cover and let rest at room temperature overnight or for twelve hours.
2. Strain through a mesh filter. (If you really don't like the slightly thicker texture, you can strain through something even finer, such as a cheesecloth.)
3. In a large glass, mix roughly equal parts coffee concentrate and water to taste. For a richer taste, add milk instead of water. The coffee can be heated, poured over ice, or drank at roughly room temperature.

Yields 32 ounces of delicious, cold brew coffee.