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Where Every Night is Sunday Supper

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Photo by Nadia Kovács

When Audrey Kovács launched her cooking blog last summer, she had no idea that it would become so widely read. In fact, The Belly Rules the Mind: 365 Days of Food now has some 8,500 followers on Tumblr, a microblogging website, and is listed at the top of the service's food directory. It all started on July 22nd, on the third anniversary of the death of her husband, cinematographer László Kovács ("Easy Rider," "Ghost Busters" to name a couple). Her daughter Nadia had the day off work and they both decided to pursue a cookbook, of sorts, through a blog.

For Audrey, it was important not to focus on niche foods or create a massive catalog of recipes. It was, however, about something a lot more special and loving, a tradition that can easily get lost in this fast-paced culture: spending time together as a family.

"In my house [growing up], the family would very often come together on Sunday. That was when mom had a little more time and everyone would sit down to eat and have a good meal and talk. In this house, we do that every night," she explained about making memories with food. "I treat every day as Sunday supper... That's the kind of food that makes you want to come home."

Although she's a trained chef, Audrey believes in feeling the time of year, the day's mood and what's at the market when creating experiences through meals. "Recipes are guidelines, there are no rules hard and fast."

Keeping with that spirit of seasonal food, we're sharing her recipe for pumpkin soup with salt and pepper popcorn croutons. We hope you can enjoy this and her many other recipes--from apple brie meatloaf to little ice cream sandwiches to truffled lobster mac n' cheese-- with your family.

Pumpkin Soup with Salt and Pepper Popcorn Croutons

1 small onion diced 1 T butter 1T olive oil 1 small green apple 3 clove garlic 1 medium potato, diced 4 c. chicken broth or vegetable broth 1 29 oz. can pumpkin puree 3 t. salt 1 t. pepper 1/2 t. ground cumin 1/2 t. ground sage 1/4 t. cayenne pepper 1 T cider vinegar Saute the first 4 ingredients together just until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and saute for 2 more minutes. Add everything else to the pot except the vinegar and simmer for 1 hour in a covered pot. Using either an immersion blender or a standing blender, puree the cooled soup. Reheat to serve. Garnish with some fresh popped, seasoned popcorn. This will serve 6 people easily.

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