this and that

our little family over the weekend....




so

many

things

happening.



Here is a little of this and that:



The Weekend

My sweet handsome boy was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints over the weekend. (In our church we are baptized by immersion at age 8).
 It was such a happy weekend and we had family in from Montana, up and down California,

lately

the sky here is just so blue.

the air is crisp and clean, as only country air can be.

I wake up every morning and I'm filled with Christmas morning giddiness.....that view out my window!

I have even got out of bed and peeked out a few times in the middle of the night--the stars live here! I wish you could see them. millions and millions blinking down.

spring is coming, I see it. feel it.

dear february (take two)

Dear February,

I'm sorry I was so rude in last week's post....let's try it again, shall we?

You're not.....that bad. You do have some good qualities going for you.....like the fact that you are only 28 days long.

Way to go February! You have finally done something right.



Dear  My Voice,

Where did you go????! I woke up Friday morning and you were nowhere to be found. NOWHERE. Saturday you

Black Eyed Pea Stew

" We will open the book. It's pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and it's first chapter is New Year's Day."

-Edith Lovejoy Pierce

I'm taking a little break from blogging till mid January. Until then please enjoy this Black Eyed Pea Stew I made in 2011. It is hearty, delicious, and perfect for a New Year Meal!
 

Happy New Year everyone! Like most of you know, eating black eyed peas on New Year's day is supposed to bring good luck. We had some ham and the bone left from Christmas, so I put it to use in this easy, and flexible stew. If you don't have black eyed peas, no big deal, use another bean, like navy, or even kidney beans. I used a bag of dried beans but you could use a few cans of beans instead.

 

This recipe makes quite a bit, but it freezes nicely.









Black Eyed Pea Stew

Ingredients

one bag (16 oz.) dried black eyed peas, or 3 cans
one ham bone with 3 cups diced ham
3 carrots chopped into bite sized pieces
3 ribs of celery chopped into bite sized pieces
1 onion chopped
2, 15 oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained
salt and pepper to taste
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, or 1 tablespoon cider vinegar

if you like some heat, you can add some dried chipotle pepper, or even a tablespoon or so from a small can of chopped chipotle peppers, (the smokiness works well with the smokiness of the ham) if you are using the canned peppers, and aren't familiar with using them, start with a small amount first, (they can get spicy), and adjust to your taste.

Directions

Cook the black eyed peas if using dried. I used a crockpot. (I think this is the best way to cook them, because all of the ham flavor gets infused into the black eyed peas.) Add the peas, a tsp of salt, the bay leaves, the ham, the bone and the chopped onion to the crockpot and fill the crockpot almost to the top with water. (I used a 4 quart crockpot.) If using a larger crockpot, I'd start with 8 cups water, add more later if needed.

Cook on high for 4-5 hours or until the peas are soft. If you are using a larger crockpot and have the time, you can add everything else and cook until the carrots and celery are soft. (an additional 3 hours or so.)

I poured it all into an 8 quart pot on the stove and added everything else and cooked for 20 minutes or so, until the vegetables were tender.

If you are using canned black eyed peas, drain the peas and rinse, throw it all in a large pot on the stove, add 4-6 cups water or broth, cook on medium heat for an hour or so, until the vegetables are tender and the flavors have blended. If needed, add water or broth to get the consistency you like.

soupy

It's really funny how much I am loving this weather. I am 100% a summertime girl, but these first few wintry storms of the year I just love. (don't worry, I'll be complaining come February). 

The snow, the icicles, the woodsmokey air. Snowballs, snuggling, and of course......soup.



Yes, I am thankful for soup.

We have soup a few nights a week this time of year. It's easy and there is always

mixed bean and bacon soup

Well. Fall is officially here.....and it's not messing around. 

Leaves are slowly falling and temperatures are dropping. We are pulling out jackets and fuzzy socks and rain boots. 

And of course......eating more soup.





Mixed Bean and Bacon Soup

serves four



1 small onion, diced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

2 carrots, sliced

2 1/2 cups prepared beans (about 1 cup of dry beans after

soup season

It's here!

Soup Season.

cooler evenings. 

darker skies.

a big pot bubbling on the stove. 

bowls of steamy goodness,

crusty bread for dipping.

soup season.



Soup is so easy right now--between our garden goods and our farmer's market finds we always have something good to throw in to the pot. 

This recipe is easy and can be adjusted to whatever vegetables you happen to have on hand. 

over the weekend.....

How was your weekend? Was it as sunshiny as mine? Our entire Saturday was spent outside.....all if it! sidenote: sunshine makes your children grow. I swear mine grew just over the weekend. They sprout new freckles, their legs get longer, and this one is dropping teeth by the mouthful. So to all you mommies with new little babes, keep them locked up in the dark if you want them to stay little. 

eat your greens

Last month I decided to start spotlighting different fruits and veggies--why we like them, and how we eat them. (I kicked things off with pomegranate)
This week I want to talk about greens.We love greens. Now had you asked me a few years ago....I would have gagged. I didn't understand how to eat them.....or why you would want to. When I thought of "eating your greens", I imagined soggy spinach in

Tuscan Bean Soup

“The importance of reading, for me, is that it allows you to dream.

Reading not only educates, but is relaxing and allows you to feed your imagination - creating beautiful pictures from carefully chosen words.”

― Eric Ripert

One of my very favorite Christmas gifts this year came from my sister, Mel. It is the book, Avec Eric, by Eric Ripert. Funny thing, because Mel has given me many of my favorite cookbooks. Maybe because she knows me better than almost anyone. We are only 15 months apart in age, so we were close growing up. I miss living near her and her kids. She has a way of listening to me and my problems (though sometimes
ridiculously inconsequential) in a nonjudgmental and very helpful way. She's the kind of person you can just talk to. A virtue quite handy for motherhood, I always thought. Her college age children have always been able to say anything to her. I mean really anything. As if they were speaking to a close, very loving friend. I admire this quality in her and always have. Thank you Mel for all of my Christmas gifts, and for being such a great sister and mother. And thanks for listening.

The veg cooking on the left, on the right, the well seasoned beans

Over the years I have seen Eric Ripert on various shows such as No Reservations, and Top Chef. It's been only quite recently that I have watched the PBS show, Avec Eric. The show follows Eric while he travels to different locations around the world experiencing different cultures' food and traditions. He then comes home and cooks up a meal reminiscent to one he has just encountered, in his home kitchen. It's really a beautiful show.

The cookbook is just as wonderful, if not more so. The book is full of gorgeous pictures, of food as well as locations of places that accompany the food. In the chapter including this Tuscan bean soup for example, there are photos of a villa in Tuscany, stories of foraging for mushrooms as well as hunting for wild boar with the local Italians.

Bread cubes before being transformed into the greatest croutons of all time

These are recipes I want to cook. Some easy, (like this one.) Some more challenging, including a recipe that calls for said wild boar that involves making your own pasta. I could even see myself cooking every recipe in this book. I'm up for the challenge. Not only of skill, but of sourcing the wild boar and other difficult to find ingredients. Don't let that scare you, though. There are plenty of recipes with easy to find components.

Behold, the most wonderful croutons in the world.

Let's talk about this soup. Easy and simple. But these simple ingredients are well placed and well executed to create a very flavorful, delicious soup, in about an hours time. It's simple steps that most home cooks (myself included) overlook that make the difference. For example, in cooking the beans it calls for a whole tablespoon of salt. Seems like a lot of salt for a small amount of beans, but the end result is well, highly seasoned beans that are not at all salty. They pair well with the homemade chicken stock, that has little salt.

The soup is garnished with homemade croutons. These are the best darn croutons I've ever had in my life. I used some great, hearty sourdough bread, (he calls for some crusty Italian bread) (I'm sure the great bread helped) but I've made croutons before, though never this good. I loved taking a spoonful of soup with a crouton in it while it was still crunchy. Croutons in soup isn't something I usually think of outside of French onion soup. It's a nice touch. These are croutons I will definately be making again, perhaps next week in a salad. Thank you, Eric. I'm a better cook already because of you.

This isn't his recipe exactly, it is my riff on it. I used ham, he calls for prosciutto. etc. I've made a few changes, but with Eric's tutelage I managed to create quite a memorable soup.

 

 

Tuscan Bean Soup

serves 4

inspired by Eric Ripert's recipe in Avec Eric

Ingredients

3/4 cup (145 g. or 5 oz. raw) dried white beans such as cannellini, white kidney beans or great northern beans or you can also use one 15 oz. can of canned beans, rinsed and drained

1 Tablespoon fine sea salt

1 cup (8 oz.) diced ham

4-6 cups homemade chicken broth- if using purchased broth, make sure it's low in salt, in a carton preferably

2 carrots, diced

2 ribs of celery, diced

3 Tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

a small bunch of kale, sliced crosswise into one inch ribbons

3 plum tomatoes-seeded, cored and roughly chopped

2 thyme sprigs

3 Tablespoons chopped parsley- Italian preferably, (but I used curly because that's what looked best from my garden)

1 piece of Parmesan cheese rind, approx. 3 inches in size

salt and pepper to taste

For croutons

1/2 loaf crusty sourdough bread, cut into 1 inch pieces

olive oil

Parmesan cheese

For Garnish

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

The night before making soup, soak the dried beans in a bowl covered in water (don't add salt) by 4 inches or so. (The beans will absorb some of the water.)

Drain the beans and place them in a medium pan covered in water. season the water with the 1 Tablespoon of salt. Bring the water to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer on low till beans are tender, about 20 minutes. Drain off most of the cooking liquid, reserving about 2 cups of water with the beans.

Meanwhile, in a large pot, heat the olive oil to medium high heat and add the carrots, celery and onion and cook until lightly caramelized, about 6-8 minutes. Add the chopped garlic and ham and cook a few minutes more. Add the chicken broth (start with 4 cups, add more later if it needs it, mine did) beans with their 2 cups of liquid, tomatoes, kale, parsley and Parmesan cheese rind. Pull the leaves off the thyme sprigs and add them. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, 190 degrees Celsius, Gas Mark 5.

While the soup is cooking, make the croutons. Place the diced bread in a bowl and generously drizzle with olive oil. Add some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and toss. Place on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 10 minutes then use some tongs and toss them, then bake for another 5-15 minutes more, until they are golden brown and crispy.

Taste your soup. Add salt and pepper. Taste again. Add more broth if it needs it.

Place soup in bowl and top with some croutons and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

the weekend

aaahhhh soup.Friday. Saturday. Sunday. 
Weekend. (yes, I count Friday as the weekend around here....it's like "Weekend Eve")
I am so thankful for the weekend. After school and work and school and more school and homework and studying and blehck, my little family is back together again. 
I am thankful for loud music during Saturday morning chores. I am thankful for no schedule, no routine, no

days five and six

day five.
I am thankful for fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables that have been put on the earth for us to enjoy.  I think fall is my favorite time of year for produce--there are still some of the yummy summer vegetables that are winding down (tomatoes), but fall itself offers up such a colorful variety.
This weekend alone we enjoyed:-apples-pears-carrots-collard greens-garden tomatoes-acorn

soupy

Fall = Soup. 
Don't you think? 
I could eat soup all day, everyday. Does anyone know of a breakfast soup? Can we invent that?
I love just looking though the fridge and cupboard, throwing my findings in to the pot to simmer, and calling it soup.
Roasted Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato SoupTopped with Bacon and Gorgonzola
1 butternut squash, quartered and cleaned1 large sweet potato, peeled and  

goings on....

This week has been crazy. How is it Friday? Is it Friday?
I have a six year old. What?
In case you missed it....I am photographing a cookbook!! It's true! Whitney has recently given birth to a new blog where she will keep you updated here and there about progress, behind the scenes hot juicy gossip, and maybe a photo of me breaking her table.
We are hard at work (mostly her, and I show up from

Fresh Clam Chowder Pot Pie and a Seattle Trip

"There is nothing better on a cold wintry day than a properly made pot pie."

 ~Craig Claiborne

We live about 2 hours south of Seattle, and 2 hours north of Portland. When we want a city fix we go to one of these wonderful places. This time it was Seattle for my husbands birthday. We visited the Seattle Museum of History and Industry,  (his choice.) It was pretty fun and interesting.

We also stopped at Pike Place Market, a place I can never get enough of. We picked up some fresh clams for me to turn into this clam chowder pot pie.

rinsing my fresh clams

On a recent visit to Vancouver, BC, we saw a clam chowder pot pie being sold at a pie place called A La Mode in the Granville Market . My husband and I looked at each other and said, "Genius !" Alas, we couldn't eat one since we were full from lunch. So I walked away with only the idea.



fresh clams at Pike Place Market

 I took a clam chowder soup recipe and made it a little thicker. First you cook the fresh clams with some water and veggies to make a broth. This broth, though only cooked briefly until the clams open, is extremely fresh, bright and flavorful. A much better flavor than canned clams or bottled clam juice would provide.

Yes, the fresh clams are amazing, but not something I will do everyday, due to availability and expense. But it sure is nice to have them when you do.

For pot pies I'm usually a 2 crust type of girl, but for this I used puff pastry for a top crust only, due to the fact that the clams are already cooked when they go into the soup portion of this dish. I didn't want them to have to be recooked for too long when they go in the oven. With the puff pastry top, it's only 15 minutes.

The end result is a delicious, rich, flavorful, and fresh as the sea tasting pot pie. We devoured these babies.

The throwing fish guys at Pike Place Market

Cake Spy Shop

We also visited the Cake Spy Shop while in Seattle. I always enjoy reading Cakespy's blog and when she announced she was opening up a store I knew I wanted to check it out next time I was in the area. While I was there I was lucky enough to meet the head Cakespy herself, Jessie Oleson . This is a really fun store stocked with artwork by Jessie, as well as other artist's creations. You can also go to her online shop and see what she's got.

I went away with one of her prints that now lives in my kitchen.

 

If you are using fresh clams, you will be making a broth that makes more than what is called for here. I froze the leftover broth to use at a later date.

New England Clam Chowder Pot Pie

This made me 3 -1 1/2 cup (350 ml) bowls

Ingredients for clams

If using fresh clams

4 lbs fresh clams in shells

plus one chopped onion, 1/2 of a chopped red bell pepper and 1 or 2 pieces of celery chopped, for the broth

If using canned clams

 If using canned clams, then 1-10-oz. (283 g) can whole clams (chopped) and 1.5 cups (350 ml) bottled clam juice, or just use the juice from the can with water to make 1.5 cups, although bottled is better.

Ingredients for soup


1/2 cup (80 g.) chopped onion

1.5 lb. (600 g.) russet potatoes peeled and diced

2 Tbs. (16g) all-purpose flour

1 cup (235 ml) whole milk
1 cup (235 ml) heavy cream
4 pieces of bacon, uncooked
Salt and pepper

For the top
 
1 sheet puff pastry (1/2 of a 17.3 oz. (490 g.) pkg.)
1 egg beaten with a little water for an egg wash
 
Directions
 
Place the puff pastry on the counter to thaw. It needs to be at room temperature.
 
To prepare the clams if using fresh- First rinse the clams well. If your fish monger told  you they are already cleaned then great. (Mine did), I still gave them a good rinse.
 
Place the clams in a large pot and cover them with 2 inches of water. Add the chopped onion, bell pepper and celery. Bring it to a boil. When it comes to a boil, give the pot a good shake. Turn the heat to low and cook clams another 30 seconds or so. Remove from the heat and remove all of the clams that have opened. (At this point all of mine had opened.) But if yours didn't, then put any clams that haven't opened back in the pan with the lid on, cook another 2 minutes. Remove the opened clams, and discard the ones that haven't opened.
 
Remove the clams from the shells using a spoon, dig them out of their shells and chop them. 
 
Strain the liquid that remains, discard the vegetables from it. This is your broth. You will only need 1 1/2 cups (350 ml) of this. Freeze the leftover broth for another use.
 
Cook the bacon in another pan. (not the pan you will be using to make the soup.) Cook it till it's crisp. Save the fat.
 
Now make a roux using 2 Tablespoons of the top (clear) part of the bacon fat, (not the brown bits on the bottom, this will turn your chowder brown/grey. If that doesn't bother you, then cool, add it.)
 
Add the bacon fat to a large pot (the one that you will be using to make your chowder) saute the chopped onion in the bacon fat until it has softened. Add the diced potatoes and saute until they have been covered by the fat. Now add the 2 Tablespoons of flour and stir it covering the onions and the potatoes.
 
Pour in the 1 1/2 cups (350 ml) clam broth (or clam juice if using bottled or canned) bring it to a boil and stir it. When it has come to a boil, reduce the heat, cover it and let it simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked.
 
While that is boiling chop the 4 pieces of bacon.
 
Now stir it and add the milk, cream, the chopped clams and the chopped bacon.
 
Heat it up for a few minutes, and add salt and pepper to taste.
 
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. 200 degrees Celsius, Gas Mark 6.
 
Now ladle the soup into oven proof soup bowls.
 
Place puff pastry on a floured surface. Cut squares to go just about an inch over the shape of your bowls. Brush the egg wash over the puff pastry, this gives it that beautiful color.
 
Place the bowls on a cookie sheet and pop them into the preheated oven and bake for about 15 minutes until the pastry has puffed completely and is golden brown and delicious.

friday senses

Eating: Chicken and Bulgur Stew
Bulgur wheat makes chicken soup a bit more hearty....this soup is thick and lemony and a favorite comfort food of ours. Bulgur can be found in the bulk section of health food stores.
1 small onion, diced4 garlic cloves, minced4 medium carrots, sliced2 celery stalks, diced10 cups chicken stock*juice of two small lemons2 chicken breast**1 cup bulgur wheat (use less

over the weekend.....

sun. snow. snow. snow. sun. melty snow.the recipes:black bean and hominy soup
Sometimes I just dump stuff in a pot and call it soup....so here's a soup that there isn't really a "recipe" for, but if you like to throw things together too, I'm sure you will figure it out easily.
1 onion, 3 garlic cloves, large handful roasted red peppers, 1 can black beans (drained and rinsed), 1 can hominy (

friday senses

I really enjoyed last week's senses post.....so here's another!
Making: Soup. Always making soup......that's what winter is for, right?
Roasted Winter Vegetable Soupthis is an adaption of this soup that I raved about last week. 
The best part about this soup is that you can add a combination of whatever winter root veggies you have on hand--carrots, different kinds of potatoes, parsnips, winter

black bean and rice soup

Most mornings I wake up with some idea....an inkling at least of what we'll have for dinner. 

This day I had no idea.

I opened the fridge, the cupboard......nothing. 

I opened the freezer......spanish rice from a few weeks ago. 

What would I do with that?

The same thing I do with every other left over ingredient.....throw it in soup.

And so this soup was born....and it's kind of one of

Black Eyed Pea Stew

" We will open the book. It's pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and it's first chapter is New Year's Day."

-Edith Lovejoy Pierce

.

Happy New Year everyone! Like most of you know, eating black eyed peas on New Year's day is supposed to bring good luck. We had some ham and the bone left from Christmas, so I put it to use in this easy, and flexible stew. If you don't have black eyed peas, no big deal, use another bean, like navy, or even kidney beans. I used a bag of dried beans but you could use a few cans of beans instead.

.

This recipe makes quite a bit, but it freezes nicely.


Black Eyed Pea Stew

Ingredients

one bag (16 oz.) dried black eyed peas, or 3 cans
one ham bone with 3 cups diced ham
3 carrots chopped into bite sized pieces
3 ribs of celery chopped into bite sized pieces
1 onion chopped
2, 15 oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained
salt and pepper to taste
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, or 1 tablespoon cider vinegar

if you like some heat, you can add some dried chipotle pepper, or even a tablespoon or so from a small can of chopped chipotle peppers, (the smokiness works well with the smokiness of the ham) if you are using the canned peppers, and aren't familiar with using them, start with a small amount first, (they can get spicy), and adjust to your taste.

Directions

Cook the black eyed peas if using dried. I used a crockpot. (I think this is the best way to cook them, because all of the ham flavor gets infused into the black eyed peas.) Add the peas, a tsp of salt, the bay leaves, the ham, the bone and the chopped onion to the crockpot and fill the crockpot almost to the top with water. (I used a 4 quart crockpot.) If using a larger crockpot, I'd start with 8 cups water, add more later if needed.

Cook on high for 4-5 hours or until the peas are soft. If you are using a larger crockpot and have the time, you can add everything else and cook until the carrots and celery are soft. (an additional 3 hours or so.)

I poured it all into an 8 quart pot on the stove and added everything else and cooked for 20 minutes or so, until the vegetables were tender.

If you are using canned black eyed peas, drain the peas and rinse, throw it all in a large pot on the stove, add 4-6 cups water or broth, cook on medium heat for an hour or so, until the vegetables are tender and the flavors have blended. If needed, add water or broth to get the consistency you like.