Delicious soup, perfect for the season

Cooler weather arrives just as prime entertaining season heats up. Those who will be hosting gatherings soon can expand their recipe repertoire to feed guests and keep them satisfied. Borrowing some flavors from the season can make entertaining festive and even more flavorful.

Pumpkins and winter squashes are popular in fall, and their versatility undoubtedly contributes to that popularity. However, when chilly days require something to warm you up from the inside out, nothing can beat a soothing soup. And soup recipes can be altered to easily feed a crowd.

Cooks can step out of their chicken soup comfort zones and try this recipe for “Roasted Pumpkin Soup With Pumpkin Crisps” from “The Complete Mexican, South American & Caribbean Cookbook” (Metro Books) by Jane Milton, Jenni Fleetwood and Marina Filippeli.

Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Pumpkin Crisps

Serves 6 to 8

• 3 to 3 1/2 pounds pumpkin

• 6 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 onions, chopped

• 3 garlic cloves, chopped

• 1 3-inch piece of fresh ginger root, grated

• 1 teaspoon ground coriander

• ½ teaspoon ground turmeric

• Pinch of cayenne pepper

• 4 cups vegetable stock

• Salt and ground black pepper

• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

• Fresh cilantro leaves, to garnish

For the pumpkin crisps

• Wedge of fresh pumpkin, seeded

• ½ cup olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 400. Prick the pumpkin around the top several times with a

GROWING , FROM PAGE 2 three times the height of the bulb, so for the largest, the 2-foot daffodils, you’d dig 6 inches deep. fork. Brush the pumpkin with plenty of the oil and bake for 45 minutes or until tender. Leave until cool enough to handle.

2. Take care when cutting the pumpkin, as there may still be a lot of hot steam inside. When cool enough to handle, scoop out and discard the seeds. Scoop out and chop the flesh.

3. Heat about 4 tablespoons of the remaining oil (you may not have to use all of it) in a large pan and add the onions, garlic and ginger, then cook gently for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the coriander, turmeric and cayenne, and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin flesh and stock. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for about 20 minutes until tender.

4. Cool the soup slightly, then puree it in a food processor or blender until smooth. Return the soup to the rinsed out pan and season well.

5. Meanwhile, prepare the pumpkin crisps. Using a swivel-blade potato peeler, pare long thin strips off the wedge of pumpkin. Heat the oil in a small pan and fry the strips in batches for 2 to 3 minutes, until crisp. Drain on paper towels.

6. Reheat the soup and ladle it into bowls. Top with the pumpkin crisps and garnish each portion with sesame seeds and cilantro leaves.

Montgomery suggests adding a teaspoon of bulb fertilizer to each hole and keeping the tiniest bulbs separate so they can be layered on top of the larger bulbs before filling the hole. Don’t worry about which end is up when planting — the bulb knows what to do.

Benarcik took the chance to topdress the disturbed lawn with compost and lawn seed. One note for herbicide users — skip broad-spectrum preemergent herbicides — as they will damage your bulbs.

If you are concerned about digging animals attracted to the fresh earth or the tulips, watering down the planting area will make the area less appealing. For sterner measures, lay down chicken wire on the top of the area until the bulbs emerge.

For full details and a visual of the process, check out the video at youtube.com/watch?v=TJyzYNNayVA.

Your design can follow your lawn’s shape, or you can make it more artistic, like creating your initials, or go all-out for a seasonal labyrinth. It might help to mark the area until the bulbs come up. Just remember not to mow until the bulb foliage has died down, and you’ll have a magical flower carpet that is more beautiful and vibrant every year, while helping the birds and the bees.

Monday, November 28th.

Magnolia Farmers Market hosting Harvest Market

The Magnolia Farmers Market returns for one extra day this year with an autumn Harvest Market, featuring food, booths and family fun this weekend.

The market will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at West McGraw Street and 33rd Avenue West in the Magnolia Village.

Ballard Senior Center hosting annual holiday bazaar

The Ballard Senior Center, which draws residents from Magnolia and Queen Anne, is hosting its annual holiday bazaar. The event is 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the senior center (5429 32nd Ave Northwest). Visit ballardseniorcenter. org for more information.

By Timothy Schumann The Center Square contributor

Port of Seattle has released its proposed 2023 budget, and along with it a $82.7 million dollar property tax levy that would see Seattle property taxes rise by an average of $78.42 per homeowner annually.

This per-homeowner cost is based on a median Seattle home value of $830,000 and comes to 9 cents per $1000 of assessed value. This is well below the 45 cents per $1,000 of assessed value the port is allowed to levy under Washington state law without going to voters.

By Lawrence Wilson The Center Square contributor

Washington lawmakers have advised the Department of Revenue that its proposed rule concerning the state’s capital gains tax should be labeled as “advisory only” pending the state Supreme Court’s ruling on the law’s constitutionality.

Last year the Legislature passed a capital-gains tax, RCW 82.87, which was immediately challenged in the courts as unconstitutional. Douglas County Superior Court Judge Brian Huber agreed, ruling on March 1 that the tax is properly considered both a graduated tax and a property tax.

Douglas ruled that, as a property tax, the law violates the state

The proposed 2023 increase is a 2% rise from $78.7 million in 2021 to $82.million in 2023. It accounts for less than 1.2% of total property taxes collected in King County, according to the data on the port’s 2022 Maritime Capital Projects.

The funds from this levy are planned to be used for strategic investments in local job creation, environmental sustainability efforts, various local community programs, and to service debt and bond obligations. Additionally, it will help fund the planning and execution of the Port of Seattle’s $5.3 billion five-year capital plan.

This plan is intended to help deal with supply chain constitution which requires that property taxes be uniform. The law is not uniform, Douglas ruled, because it does not apply to amounts less than $250,000.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson asked the state Supreme Court to take the case on direct appeal, which it did. A hearing is set for Jan. 26.

Meanwhile, the DOR continued to work on an administrative rule for collecting the tax, even though collection was prohibited by the Superior Court’s ruling that the tax is unconstitutional.

That prompted a letter of protest from the Citizen Action Defense Fund, a local government watchdog nonprofit, demanding the agency stop its rule making activities related issues and increased trade demands in the currently tight labor market.

“Local industries and the community need us to deliver more than ever before,” said Executive Director Steve Metruck in a statement accompanying the 2023 budget release. “This balanced budget and capital plan responds to regional needs with more essential services and programs, as well as historic new investments that deliver in the short-term and longterm for people and the planet.”

Including the proposed $82.7 million levy, the Port of Seattle is projecting a $380.3 million net operating income for 2023 on gross revenues of $953.7 million.