weary as water

mushroom barley soup

Got home last night after a cross country flight, got up early so I could be to work by 7, left work at 4 to pick up the vegbox by 4:30, and yet by 5:15 there was still no vegbox. Tired and grouchy and cold, I decided to make some soup.

Mushroom Barley Soup

You need:

• 1 VeryLarge portobella mushroom, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• handful of baby carrots, diced
• 3-4 cups of chicken broth
• herbes de provence
• handful of barley

Saute the onion and carrots in oil (or butter) until browned.
Then add the portobella mushroom. Saute until steamy.
Add chicken broth and a teaspoon of herbes de provence.
Bring to boil.
Add barley.
Reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes, or until barley is cooked through.

home sweet home

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I’ve been in Montana for the past few days. My dad is having issues with his heart, and I wanted to come home for a bit. Luckily, Delta was practically giving away plane tickets, so here I am.

It’s a stressful thing, seeing my father weak and weary. I went to the doctor with him today and when I saw the nurse run an oxygen tank and a EKG machine back to his room, a boulder hit the bottom of my stomach.

He is ok for now. But I am coming to terms with the fact that he won’t be here forever. Tonight I got a little irritated at him, and then felt ashamed because he is sick, and tried to put my irritation to rest. As many differences as we have, and as many disagreements we have had, he’s my dad and I love him.

Flying home in the dark, I noticed the lights in the countryside far below looked like constellations.

Book 6: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Book #6: “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” by Mary Ann Shaffer. My mom was so distraught by my reading of The Inheritance of Loss that she gave me this book to cheer myself up. A quick and easy read, the book consists entirely of letters between an author and her publishers, friends, and new acquaintances on the island of Guernsey. Quite an enjoyable, mostly lighthearted read (although, set in the aftermath of WWII, the book is not all laughs and chuckles). Made waiting in the doctors office for my dad a bit easier.

288 pages
3.5/5

Book 5: The Inheritance of Loss

Book #5 was “The Inheritance of Loss” by Kiran Desai. I should have known by the title that this book was going to be utterly depressing, but I had high expectations anyway. The book follows a few key characters and the stories of their past and present (and by assumption, they all have quite bleak futures ahead of them). The writing is very descriptive and lovely at times, but mostly just depressing.

384 pages
2.5 out of 5

ain’t no party like a root veggie party…

Tonight I was in a hurry to use up as many of the veggies as possible (while leaving some delicious leftovers for Emily). So for dinner I made:

Roasted Cauliflower:
Heat oven to 400. Chop cauliflower into big chunks, put on a baking sheet (one with sides, preferably). Mince some garlic over top. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp. olive oil over the top Put a little sea salt on top. Roast for 40 minutes, turning every 10 minutes.

Root Veggie Soup:
Chop up an onion and a few cloves of garlic. Saute in a big soup pot. Chop up a parsnip or two, a turnip, a potato, and some carrots. Put them into the soup pot, and put the lid on. Turn the heat down to medium, and let steam/fry for about 10 minutes. Pour in 3-4 cups of broth (I used chicken broth) and simmer for 30 minutes. Pulse blend the soup until mostly pureed.

Apple Crisp
I used this recipe – not as good as my Mom’s, but still good.

Everything was great. The soup was sweeter than I expected – I guess because of the carrots.And the roasted cauliflower transformed Emily into a cauliflower-lover with one bite.

vegbox #1

vegbox #1

Emily got her first nursing paycheck, and it was a good bit more than we expected. While entering it into Moneydance (which I check compulsively), I noticed that our budget surplus for the month equaled the same amount a 3 month subscription to GrowAlabama – a local CSA that I had been meaning to subscribe to for years. And they were running a 10% sale! So we signed up under their Silver Plan – 3-4 servings of 6 fruits and/or veggies each week.

I went into work early so I’d be able to pick up our box before 4:30. I was expecting a farm trailer to be parked in the parking lot, so I was a bit confused when I walked up to the pickup point and there were no trucks or trailers in sight. I noticed a woman walking very purposefully, so I followed her…through the doors of the church…and lo and behold, there were stacks of actual boxes with our veggie shares inside.

This week we got:
a beautiful head of cauliflower a bagful of carrots & parsnips & turnips. (I love carrots that have an actual flavor! I have no idea what to do with parsnips!) 4 yukon gold potatoes a huge portabella mushroom (bigger than my head)
4 or 5 zucchini 3 large winesap apples I’m so excited! The only bad part about this is I’m leaving town in a few days, so either we’ve got to use everything up by Saturday or Emily had better learn how to cook parsnips.

Book 4: Push by Sapphire

This book was very hard to read. The descriptions of abuse were vivid and graphic. A heartwrenching story – but not for the faint of heart or spirit. A great example of character development and “voice”.

I wasn’t going to give this one a rating, because it is a complex read…it is not a “good” book and I am not recommending you read it.

192 pages
4.5/5

making my own soymilk

The other day I ran across a recipe from kissmyspatula for making homemade soymilk. I’m a little lactose intolerant, but soymilk from the store always tastes chalky to me, so I was excited about trying to make my own. (Plus, the recipe is ridiculously easy.)

I bought my soybeans from the whole foods bulk section for about $1.50/pound, and used tap water. If you try this for yourself (and I hope you do!), be aware that soy milk foams like crazy when it’s being heated…so use a big stockpot to make it. My verdict – homemade soymilk is really simple and delicious. It doesn’t have any of that chalky taste (or aftertaste) that I hate, and I drank an entire glass of it hot off the stove.

I’m still trying to figure out what to do with the okara (soybean solids that remain after straining the soymilk) – they tasted kinda nutty but mostly bland. I might have to try them in oatmeal.

So, here’s the recipe which I have Lacinda-fied. Originally from Kiss My Spatula’s version of her childhood soy milk, yields about 5 cups

* 1/2 cup dried organic yellow soy beans
* 1/8 tsp salt
* 1/8 cup granulated sugar, plus more to taste (I used 1.5 Tbps. of agave nectar, and thought it was perfect).

Rinse & drain soybeans. Soak in cold water overnight. Rinse & drain again.

Put soybeans and 2.5 cups of water in your blender. Puree until smooth. Dump puree in LARGE stock pot and add 3 cups of water. (A large stockpot is absolutely necessary! It will get super foamy as the temperature approaches the boiling point.)

Bring mix to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Then simmer over low heat for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Strain milk through cheesecloth. Squeeze every last drop of soymilk out. Stir in salt and sugar. That’s it! You’re done!

I got 99 problems…

It’s been really freaking cold here in the DeepSouth, and I’ve been trying to warm myself up by listening to music I like (and yeah, buying too many records. Mostly so I’ll have cardboard liners to burn for heat). Today I got my copy of Jaydiohead (JayZ “black album” rap + radiohead samples) on vinyl – didn’t realize it was a bootleg copy until I started poking around the internet. Anyway, it sounds good on vinyl. I like it better than DangerMouse’s “grey album” (jayz “black album” rap + beatles “white album” samples).

Also – I know I didn’t put up a “best of 2009″ music list – but I think The Antlers “Hospice” was a brilliant album that didn’t get the attention it deserved. It’s not an easy album to listen to. You have been warned – it is downright wrenching at times – but it is intimate and powerful and emotional and I love it.

Book #3: How To Disappear Completely by David Bowick

I found this book via aldiko while sitting at the tattoo shop, waiting for Emily to get her “get out of nursing school” celebratory tat. (And I used aldiko to download it from feedbooks).

The book was a fast read from a new author; not bad but not terribly catchy. Honestly I downloaded it because it shares a name with a Radiohead song from KidA listen on lala. I’m sure the Radiohead song was inspiration – it seems to fit the book perfectly. “I’m not here / this isn’t happening / I’m not here / I know what I’ve seen / You throw me out then send me back again / In a little while I’ll be gone”.

122 pages
3/5