Today’s shopper is Carley Knobloch, of Mothercraft Coaching, a site that’s all about helping moms figure out who they are besides being moms. She’s awesome and so is her site! Plus she’s going to make a fantastic dish for us today: Butternut squash soup. She starts by halving the squash, removing the seeds, and filling the cavities with salt, pepper, a little balsamic vinegar and sage, then she roasts it in a 350-degree oven for about an hour, cut side down. She also roasts a head of garlic at the same time, placing it in foil and adding a little olive oil on top. While they’re roasting, she rinses and chops 2 leeks, and peels and dices 2 apples. When the roasting is nearly complete, she sautes the leeks and apples in 1/2 and 1/2 butter and olive oil (about 2 tablespoons each) in a soup pot, just until translucent. She then scoops out the squash and squeezes out the garlic deliciousness and adds them both to the pot. As it starts to warm up, she adds vegetable stock (or you could use chicken stock) and some water — enough to cover the vegetables — and brings it to a simmer for about 15 minutes. Then she uses her handy immersion blender — or you could use a regular blender, just being careful to not overfill it — and you’re done! Carley garnishes it with either fried sage or homemade croutons, which she makes by cubing up some sourdough bread, tossing them with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasting at 350 for about 10 minutes. Sounds delish!

Today in the Green Booth, Marcia Hanscom, co-Director of the Ballona Institute, (shown here with Green Committee co-Chair Sherri Akers) was on hand to let people know about the ongoing efforts to preserve the wetlands.

And today was the annual celebration of the Day of the Dead (Dia de Los Muertos), so there was a traditional altar on display, Dino Castro and his band performed, and my son’s 5th grade class from Grand View Blvd. Elementary School’s Dual Language program put on a play, all in Spanish. And yes, I helped my son (and husband) make the stage decorations. Aren’t they nice?