Monday January 10, 2011
How many recipes are out there in the family archives that are similar to others but are different as well.
I find this notion fascinating and am about to embark on an exercise to capture from my social network and physical network as many chicken soup recipes as possible, compare, contrast, categorize etc and offer a prize - a recipe box with all the recipes!!
On that same theme, I realized that even I have several recipes for lentil soup. I have my grandmothers; I have a curried lentil soup that I concocted; I have a great recipe for red lentil soup and I am sure I can round up many more.
So stay tuned as I organize this event. I will announce the terms etc soon - so keep an eye on my Facebook, blog and twitter feeds!! Hope you all participate.
Monday January 10, 2011
Want to make soup an elegant experience? Serve it in an elegant bowl and enjoy. I picked up these pieces at an antique store for short money a few years ago and love using them to create an elegant table with many people afraid to touch the "fine" china!!
Sunday January 09, 2011
I live in a magical place. Not only do I have beautiful, adorable farm animals, a love of a dog and a pet guinea hen, I also have access to a plethora of wildlife. However you never know when the photo opportunity will arrive. Jim and I were strolling near the swamp below our house and on a lark I threw my camera in my pocket as we were leaving the house - "just in case!". Jim lagged behind me and when he caught up I asked what he was looking at. Jim said, "I was just standing there and all of the sudden the beaver was swimming with some sticks in his mouth and climbed on top of the beaver hut to add more material - he's building a frickin' hotel." I hurried back to the spot to see if the beaver was still there and he/she allowed me to take several photos...so here they are...nature delivering its finest moment when I had my camera!!
Friday January 07, 2011
Winter is a time for soup. Well, hot soup. And boy do we LOVE soup in this family. This week I made onion soup and pea soup. What's great is that they can be eaten as lunch or dinner and generally sates my appetite. I just bought all the ingredients to make Portuguese Kale soup this weekend - can't wait.
Here's my pea soup recipe.
Here's the onion soup recipe. And it's true - not a good first date food - the cheese is extremely stringy!!
Wednesday January 05, 2011
Mark Kurlansky is truly a renaissance man but it is his writing and his food writing that have resonated with me. Mark shares that he was an adventurous eater as a kid - a true omnivore and became keenly interested in food writing when he worked with Waverley Root in Paris at the International Herald Tribune. Food writing could be literary, witty, historical and more. Mark has proven that food writing is all of those and more!! I highly recommend his books Cod, Salt, The Food of a Younger Land and his latest book, Edible Stories. All are great reads. Mark was also a wonderful radio guest. Thank you Mark!!
Tuesday January 04, 2011
By now you may have figured out that I am chicken obsessed - both live and representations!! This tabletop is all about chickens.
From the runner that I've bragged about in the past with great fabric from England called "Feather and Egg," to the mugs and napkin holders I found on eBay a few years ago. It's fun to have a collection of items and a theme for your tabletop.
What are your favorite tabletop themes?