A Sweet Time

Those of you who missed today are probably going to regret it when I tell you that we had a whole table full of yummy sweets! There were vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, chocolate pine bark, butter cookies with icing, butter cookies with organic chocolate, and lovely mince pies! Plus The Fleece Lady's dip and chips, oh, and soup. Yep. There was soup too.

It was an original soup, and while The Southerner thought I missed his comment about where the recipe came from, I did not!

The Fleece Lady: Oh, it's original? I was wondering what book she got it out of.
The Southerner: She got it out of the Book of Desperation.
Haha!

He said this because as of nine o'clock last night, I really didn't know what I was going to make for today. So, here's what I did. I had made a big pot of baked beans for us - not traditional ones, but white and pinto with onions, sweet curry, coconut milk and ginger. They were lovely...so lovely, that I decided to use them as a base for my totally original soup. What I did, was make a pot of vegetable stock, thin the beans down with it, puree it, and then cooked another pound of pintos, added them with sauteed celery and carrot, some curry, and another can of coconut milk. Voila. Bean Soup with Sweet Curry & Coconut. Yum! Who needs a cook book, I ask you?

It was a quiet Sunday Soup today. The Sous Chef dropped off the Pastry Chef and took her soup to go because she's poorly. Then Roxy Steve came by (their dad) and had some soup and a visit. Also The Neighbour came along with The Fix-it Guy & The Fleece Lady. They brought the mince pies, so instead of putting a dent in our hoard of baked goods, we actually increased our stash! I'm sure that The Southerner and I can work on that though and nothing will go to waste...just waists.

Anyway, it was a nice, warm, candlelit, final Sunday Soup of 2009, and from us to you, Happy Holidays and see ya in 2010!

Soup to Live On

The Fix-it guys said of today's soup, "You could live on this stuff." It's possible. It had a lot of good stuff in it. Actually, a person (not The Southerner as he thinks soup is an appetizer) could probably live on most good vegetable soups with some grains and legumes thrown in.

Today's soup was Miso with Cabbage and Root Vegetables. I didn't actually have any of the soup. I don't like Miso. But I heard it was really good, and judging by how much of it is gone, I'd say people liked it. I know Miso's supposed to be really good for you, but I just don't like the flavour. Why make it, you ask? Well, the truth is, I've made a lot of soups and I had all the stuff and other people like Miso, so why not?

This weekend's been a bit crazy so I didn't actually have time to make soup in advance, which was another good reason to make this one. Apparently cabbage is best if you eat it soon after you cook it, and this soup only needed to cook for twenty minutes (the work was in all the dicing, chopping, and sauteeing), so I made it around 2pm today. I generally make the soup on Friday night or Saturday. The only other times I've made it on Sunday was when I burned the soup, and when I made a horribly disgusting soup that even The Southerner wouldn't eat!

All in all, it was another lovely SS. We did the candlelight thing again, and The Writer brought another fantastic deep dish apple pie (don't tell him how good it was though because we're trying to convince him that he needs to keep practicing).

There is one thing I want to add to today's post. I know that a lot of you who read this are cooks yourselves and handle a lot of the food you eat. And even those of you who don't cook, all definitely eat. So when you sit down to have your next meal, have a good look at it and remember the farmer who grew it.

Today's Sunday Soup
is dedicated to our dear friend,
Farmer Ralph.
You will be missed.

Hearty Soup & Candlelight

A few weeks ago, the power went out right as SS began and we had a lovely candlelight evening. It was such a success that tonight we turned the lights low before people arrived and lit candles again. Everyone seemed to enjoy it!

The Sous Chef is busy with exams this week, so alas she had to eat cafeteria food this weekend and we missed her. However, it was an excellent opportunity for Pastry Chef (aka Younger Sister) to come over and pinch hit in the kitchen. We made a mighty fabulous hearty vegetable chowder from this recipe (subbing homemade veggie stock for the chicken stock) using local, organic veggies and sage right from my windowsill. It was yummy! The bread was the usual, but no one complained!

The Neighbour was out sick with a cold, but we didn't let The Fix-it Guy go over and drag her to SS anyway. She was missed though. All in all, a sort of nice, chatty, candlelit night. Snow in the forecast, so I better go blow those candles out now and save 'em in case we really need them.

Have a great week! Eat well.

So much music!

This is going to be short and sweet.
Fantastic weekend.
Lots of music.
The Southerner, The Irish One, The Musician, The Fix-it Guy, The Fiddler, Kazoo Girl, and Clarinet Guy played two benefit concerts for The Commons, raising over $1200! Because of this, our house was hoppin' this weekend. We had musicians and guests going in and out for the last two days, more food than we could possibly put away (although we made a gallant effort), and endless, wonderful music.

The Neighbour hosted for the first hour while the second concert wrapped up (the first one sold out before the posters were even up!) and the soup was white bean, spinach, & tomato (you can find the recipe in the archives, I made it last December...the 23rd, or so) and it was yummy.

So tired...must rest...but not until I share one last bit of FANTASTIC NEWS!

My publisher just offered me a contract on a new book!!!! Read all about it here!

Eat well...more next week! Thanks to everyone who helped support The Commons this weekend!