Tag: Maggie and Mary

Pumpkin Soup and a Kitchen Farewell

About a year ago Serious Eats reviewed an instant pumpkin soup by Maggie and Mary, so I jumped at the chance to buy it. Yes, it took me a year to do so, but I finally tried it. Being our last real night in our soon to be old apartment, I wanted to keep it as simple as possible, so along side the soup we had grilled cheese. I sautéed some leftover red onion from the Spicy Quinoa we had, but that was the extent of my culinary adventure for dinner.

The soup was okay. I’m not sure if it’s because of how long it sat in my cabinet, or if it’s really just because it was powdered soup. It would probably be a whole lot better if there were some veggies thrown into it (maybe carrot, celery, even potato). But for something so quick and easy (add 4 cups of water and simmer for 20 minutes) I can’t complain too much!

My co-worker and bridesmaid’s birthday is Friday (happy birthday Kierstin!), and she absolutely loves pie. So, I figured instead of doing my typical cupcake, I’d make her a pie! I went ahead and dug up an easy favorite – Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Pie! I made it on Pi Day this past year, and being it requires no baking and the mixing of only two ingredients, it was perfect. Hopefully she shares, so I can enjoy a sliver after we have our celebratory Thai birthday lunch!

My Coworker and I in our Best Friends Costume!

After we finished up with dinner and dessert, it was time to finally pack up the kitchen. All that’s currently left is our coffee maker (like we can move boxes without coffee!) and some perishables in the fridge. My parents have been kind enough to help us out, so they’re bringing over a cooler Saturday morning that we can put our refrigerated items in for the move. That’s the great thing about moving only 15 minutes away – we didn’t need to completely clean house in the food department. I have to say, our new kitchen is A LOT smaller, but it also has a dishwasher, which will be great for my fiancé. It’s overall a nicer place, too, so I have to take that into consideration. In the end I don’t think I’m really losing any counter space, though, which for me seems to be the most important anyway.

My next post will be from the new place, and I’m so excited to share it with you! It’ll take a few days before I’m fully settled to get cooking again, but I’ve got some really yummy recipes queued up!

Who Doesn’t Like a Product Review?

A few weeks ago while reading Serious Eats, I came across a review of
a pumpkin soup mix from Maggie and Mary. The review was positive, and since I respect Serious Eats’ opinions and was also on a pumpkin kick, I ordered it.

While on the site I stumbled upon some other interesting mixes, and
also picked up a pomegranate smoothie mix.

To be fair, I haven’t had the pumpkin soup yet. I did finally have the
smoothie last night, though. I really only have one thing to say about
it; meh. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t awful either. I don’t think
it’s something I would go out of my way to have again.

I think part of my problem was that it called for milk. Being that it
was super fruity, the milk gave it a weird after taste. The powder was
also a little too processed tasting for me, but I don’t think I
expected anything different on that front.

They did offer an alternate recipe to include soda (I would probably
go with something similar to Sprite) and also the option to add rum or
another spirit. I definitely think it would be a great mixed drink,
but it’s just mediocre as a smoothie.

I would be willing to try some of their other mixes; they have different soup, beverage, cheese ball (yum!), and dip offerings as well.

Perhaps I’ll serve the pumpkin soup on Thanksgiving. Which reminds me, I’ll have quite an elaborate entry post-Thanksgiving, as we bravely decided to host this year (what were we thinking?!)

Until next time, happy nomz!