What's been happening in my kitchen lately and a week of photos from my trip.

I have been thinking of a way to share my most recent trip and still post about food. This latest adventure was not really about food so instead I'll combine it with what I cooked once I got home.

With all the winter squash we grew this year, I knew I had to use up the frozen squash from my freezer, sooner than later. I decided on my spicy squash soup, wow, it was great. The first night I served it with crusty French bread and some excellent garlic cilantro butter, I concocted at the last minute. That butter with fresh cilantro is so good, I will make it again, take photos and post about it soon.

Since I usually make about a half gallon of soup for the whole week, we had it again last night with fresh spring rolls. I usually make these myself ahead of time. I was inspired by my sister-in-law Marty, who served them as a "roll you own" meal while we were in Lakewood. I like not having to do all the work !!

My always-moist-pork chops were an easy dinner after a day doing piles of laundry.

With the cooler nights finally here, I revisited my gourmet mac and cheese, adding sauteed mushrooms and chard, topping it with the almond pulp from my homemade almond milk. It was so good, Bob couldn't stop eating it, luckily I made a large pan, so there will be another dinner there served with a large green salad.

Blogging about a three week road trip after the fact can be long, painful and tedious. I decided instead to break it into week segments with a photo for each day, photos I haven't already posted on Facebook. Here is week 1, enjoy !!

Day 1:An artsy shot of the shoe tree on highway 50 in Nevada.

Day 2: Fall colors on the road up to Wheeler Peak at Great Basin National Park.

Day 3: Taking a moment to commune with an ancient Bristlecone pine, it smells like honey.

Day 4:We saw lots of wild turkeys on this trip, too bad Ben Franklin couldn't convince anyone they should be our national bird.

Day 5: Driving through the San Rafael Reef, is always a dramatic experience.

Day 6: Our camping spot in the Henry Mountains.

Day 7: The Henry Mountains are known for the very large mule deer.