soup — 2015 — The 21st Century Matriarch

When it’s cold outside – I like to make soup. Here’s my general technique:

I check my refrigerator and pantry – picking a protein and vegetables. And then I think about the broth.

The protein is generally something left over that I need to use up (like roast or lunch meat) or frozen edamame, or nuts (dry roasted peanuts or soy beans or my favorites). Sometimes I use quinoa as the protein source.

I try to pick veggies that will hold up to being in soup. I particularly like carrots and Brussel sprouts and bell pepper…and some of the stronger greens like beet tops or kale. I still have frozen whole tomatoes that are excellent thawed to enrich winter soups. Sometimes I cut up sweet potatoes to use instead of carrots. Onions and garlic can be cut up fresh or added in dry form. If I use them fresh I like to sauté them before adding the broth. In fact – many of the veggies can be sautéed before the broth is added.

Broths can be made a number of ways. I sometimes start with whatever is hot in the tea pot (tea, ginger water, cinnamon water, etc.) then I add seasonings or a bouillon cube…or let the meat I am adding provide the flavor and seasoning. My favorite seasonings (other than garlic and onion) are oregano, thyme, basil….or curry.

I don’t make cream soups very often but that doesn’t mean I don’t have thick pureed type soups. I like butternut squash soup with curry seasoning. Two ways to prepare it: 1) cook the squash directly in the broth and then mash it in the pan or 2) use squash cooked previously that is already pureed when I add it to the broth. The bright green of edamame added as the protein makes a very colorful soup…..or dry roasted peanuts if the bright colors are overwhelming.

Enjoy a warm bowl of December soup!

Noticing something worth celebration each day is an easy thing for me to do. The habit of writing it down reminds me to be grateful for these and a myriad of other things in my life. Here are my top 10 for September 2015.

Haircut – I’d gotten rather shaggy over the course of the summer….the shorter hair was worth celebrating!

Laptop – Hurray! My new laptop (after a rough start) is living up to my expectations. I am celebrating that it is definitely better than my old one in every way.

Acorn squash with homemade orange marmalade and butter – A vegetable that tastes like the dessert is always a celebration.

Homemade veggie soup – I used up some of the overwhelming numbers of tomatoes and other vegetables on one of our first cool days….celebrating the beginnings of fall with food.

Art of Flower Photography – A class that it beautiful to watch and spurs my own photographic experiments; this was another multi-dimensional celebration.

Mediation Course – I’ve only learned the bare minimum…enough to realize the potential…and am celebrating it as a beginning.

Glass birdbath – The glass bird bath in the front our house is something I check every morning when I come downstairs. Sometimes there is a bird…sometimes not. The sight of glass bowl in the morning light always starts the day on a positive note.

Longwood Gardens – Earlier this week my husband and I made a road trip to Longwood Gardens (posts still being developed). It was a 13,000 step walk around the gardens and meadow on a near perfect fall day.

Bird Walk – I’d never taken a walk with a birding group until recently. It was a good experience even though it rained off and on….birds seemed hunkered down rather than active. I celebrated that the area I live in has a number of active birders.

An indoor day – Sometimes it is a relief to just be indoors at home. I love the view from my office window!