Souptacular!

Last Sunday, the first annual Souptacular was launched with great fanfare. Each of us made a soup-- or two. I made French onion soup and vegetarian tortilla soup, A. made north African cauliflower soup, and S. made curried carrot soup with roasted pistachios. Recipes were gathered from several sources, and I've included them below.

The grrl waiting to tuck in. (Check out A.'s adorable apron, which was inherited from her grandma.)

Curried carrot soup topped with roasted pistachios

Dorowot

I was resisting the colder temperatures by creating a tropical-looking drink. (It's actually a red wine spritzer with a sprig of rosemary in a pretty glass.)

Dorowot or doro wot is an Ethiopian chicken stew in a spicy tomato sauce. To get the flavors just right, you really need to use berbere, an Ethiopian spice blend, and nit'r qibe, Ethiopian spiced butter. I might purchase some berbere online to have on hand in the future, but this time, I wasn't able to find it in any local markets.

Instead, I used the 365 Days recipe (see link below) because I'm still infatuated with my crockpot. (I know. I'm a late convert to this trend.) I added carrots during the last hour--so they didn't completely break down--as an homage to Buraka's yummerly version. (Buraka also gets a nod for introducing me to dorowot.) I also tossed in a few handfuls of spinach for a little green. 365 Days' spice blend left a little to be desired, so I used the Saveur berbere recipe as a guideline. I didn't, however, go through the whole process of toasting the spices and grinding them into a powder. I just tossed them into the crockpot, using fresh ginger instead of powdered. Oh, and I omitted the hard-boiled egg because that combo doesn't appeal to me--and because I didn't feel like boiling eggs.

I used this recipe from 365 Days of Slow Cooking and this one from Saveur.

The Brussels sprouts were sauteed in olive oil and granulated garlic. Slivers of prosciutto were added at the end because I didn't want the prosciutto to get tough from overcooking.

Dinner and a Movie

A few weekends ago, a group of us went to Luigi's Pizza for dinner and then watched The Campaign. Among the four of us, we had an Italian chef salad, a fancy salad, a prosciutto and arugula pizza (after swapping out the white sauce for red sauce), and a fugetaboutit pizza. For dessert, we all split a slice of tiramisu.

This shot was taken in the restaurant's entryway. I wanted to wear this adorable dress one more time before the cold weather set in. I pick it up at Target late this summer, and I adore it.

Festing

Sona, Sola, + I on the dancefloor at the World Music Festival

at the Orton Park Festival

Victory!

A group of us hunkered down at the Baldwin St. Grille to watch the election results come in. I didn't stay to hear the acceptance and concession speeches--in fact, I was asleep by 10:30pm--but a good time was held by all. And we were mostly happy with the results: Mourdock and Akin voted out, Elizabeth Warren voted in, Barack Obama re-elected for four more years, and Tammy Baldwin proudly elected our senator. The only part I wasn't thrilled with was our state legislature's red turn. Alas, we can't have everything we want.

Partying like it's 2012

Just a few shots from my 35th birthday extravaganza in September, which included a picnic by the lake, dinner at Umami, shopping at reThreads west and dinner at Eno Vino, and dinner and La Brioche cake at A. + H.'s house. Oh, and the boy bought me my very own bocce ball set. I can't wait to try them out. Woot!

B.'s tutu transformed me into a birthday nymph

Delicious cake from La Brioche

UNI Game

Attending the UNI game was a hoot. We had a delicious Bloody Mary; saw the swanky rooms at HotelRED, thanks to Mr. J.R. generously sharing his reserved room; watched an exciting game at Union South's Sett; and enjoyed some lovely company.

And Miss Erica even sported gameday wear. (Note the Panthers shirt, the Badgers hat, and the purple beads: I was trying to pre-empt any sort of confrontation with an inebriated fan from either side.)

All Hallows' Eve

Day of the Dead Woman and Binder Full of Women

Pimpy the Clown admiring the Binder of Women

Summer Recap

J.D. prepping our picnic at APT

I love the above pic of J.D. I know he doesn't like having his picture taken, but I have to make this exception. Look at his adorable little smile.

APT

Cedar Falls

These are just a few shots of trips to Cedar Falls this summer.

Adventures in Stock Land

<in Julia Child's voice> You start with the vegetables (celery, onion, carrot, garlic).

Then you add a pile of sage that's been hiding in your freezer for longer than you want to admit.

And then you toss in a carcass of some sort (I believe it was fowl in origin), also dredged from the frozen depths of the freezer.

Larp

I've been yearning to make this for ages. I used to have a version of it at Chee Peng Palace, a Thai and Laotian restaurant in La Crosse. Unfortunately, it no longer exists. I think they made a beef version, it was called larb, and they served it with this divine purple sticky rice. I haven't perfected the purple sticky rice yet and this was a pork version, but it was pretty darn good. The recipe's below.

Belated Fireworks + Eggs Benedict

At the beginning of September, I visited the Daleys in Lake Mills. A small group of us had a lovely dinner and then built a fire and watched the belated fireworks (they were rescheduled from July 4th because of a burn ban). The next day, Mr. Daley treated us to eggs Benedict. I hadn't had that decadent treat since childhood, and that was at a Perkins. I'm not sure if that even counts since some of the party-goers said that restaurants often use a mix for the Hollandaise.

There are conflicting versions of eggs Benedict's origins, but at a basic level, it consists of two halves of a toasted English muffin topped with ham or bacon, poached eggs, and Hollandaise sauce. Hollandaise is one of the five mother sauces of French haute cuisine, and it consists of emulsified egg yolks, butter, lemon juice, salt, and white or cayenne pepper.

Feting and Salads

Greek salad

This summer when it was excruciatingly hot, I was really into salads. I can't recall which recipe I used for the Greek salad, but here's one from Epicurious if you're interested in concocting it.

Salade Nicoise

Again, I can't remember which recipe I used for my somewhat modified salade Nicoise, but here's a basic recipe from Melissa d'Arabian of the Food Network.

Richard III

Last Sunday, we went to see Richard III at American Players' Theater in Spring Green. It was very warm, but once I reached a sweaty threshold, I just dealt with it. Besides, we had a wonderful performance to distract us. I'd never seen that play before, and I was very impressed. It's such an intense story, and I want to learn more about the historical figure of Richard III (versus the highly fictionalized account concocted by Shakespeare). Next on my watch list is the 1995 adaptation starring Ian McKellen, which takes place in 1930s Britain.

And of course the food: We had a lovely picnic with soppresata; prosciutto; cold lentil salad (recipe from A Sweet Pea Chef below); broccolini, mushroom, and mozzarella salad (recipe also below and was recommended by Mr. Beau); multigrain baguette;

Noshing in Phoenix

Mmm...pho

Fair readers: I have been neglecting you. I'm so sorry. What can I say? It's summer.

These picks are from a few of the places I ate during my last visit to Phoenix in May...I think.

Break(fast) Dancing

Just a simple little shot of a breakfast (almond butter on an English muffin and topped with sliced strawberries; espresso) I constructed at work one morning.

And this dish (scrambled eggs with mushrooms and kale) paired with coffee to provide us with a leisurely weekend breakfast at home.

Cauliflower Soup

This is my friend Tamara's amazing cauliflower soup. It was part of a quick post about leftovers and 2011's film festival, but I neglected to provide the recipe. 

Sweet Potato Black Bean Chicken

In this picture, it looks like a bit of a hot mess, but this Latin chicken with sweet potatoes and black beans from the Crockpot Guys (I saw it several other places online, too; not sure where it originated) is marvelous.

A couple of notes:
-I roasted a whole chicken separately in the slow cooker with a different marinade (an Asian marinade leftover from hoisin-glazed meatloaf).
-I omitted the red peppers and chipotle chiles in adobo because I didn't have any of the former and because I do not like the latter.

Bebo in the Cupboard

Just a few shots of my adorable Dexter poking his head out of the cupboard.

Fashion is Smashin'

This is an adorable little assemblage I put together when sweaters were still appropriate in this clime (i.e., earlier in the spring). Note that the lovely boots make another appearance.

I'm not sure about this satiny, rose shirt. Whatcha think? It was another piece inherited from a Phoenix friend when she cleaned out her closet.

I paired these summery polka-dot shorts from Papaya with a white v-neck top and the cute tan slingbacks. (Sorry for the weirdie photography. I wanted to change into gardening clothes and had to take my own shots.)

Basic white top w/ my favorite tree necklace (originally a trinket decorating a Target candle)

 

 

Detail of the cool maritime-style buttons

Funky manicure stickers w/ a lacy/leafy theme

Greek Egg Lemon Soup w/ Chicken and Spinach

I first encountered this Greek specialty at Nick's. (Shout out to Nick's!) They have it a few times a week, and I'm told that the matriarch of the family makes it. I love that. Avgolemono is the proper name, but I have the damnest time saying it. The Real Simple recipe (see below) employed only egg yolks, but other recipes don't seem to require that.

 

As a general rule, I don't like separating eggs. Not because it's challenging, but because I rarely end up using the remaining part. And I abhor wasting food. So I threw in the entire egg.

I encountered a small texture obstacle. Initially, I thought it was because of using the whites in addition to the yolks, but now I think it's because the soup was too hot. You're supposed to prevent it from boiling when you add the eggs. Despite the strange texture, it tasted phenomenal.

Oh, and I tossed in spinach for a little extra nutritive power. Go, go, iron and calcium!

Serves 4 | Hands-On Time: 15m | Total Time: 30m

Ingredients

• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/3 cup orzo
• 6 large egg yolks
• 1 1/2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• kosher salt and black pepper

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, bring the broth to a boil. Add the pasta and boil until tender, 8-9 mins.
2. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks. Gradually whisk in 1 cup of hot broth. Add the egg mixture to the saucepan, reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring, until thickened, 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the chicken and lemon juice to the saucepan. Season with ½ tsp. salt and ¼ tsp. pepper.

Seed Madness

Several weeks ago, I raided Farm and Fleet's seeds aisle. In a frenzy of greed, I picked out seeds for flowers, herbs, and veggies, despite the knowledge that a friend was diligently growing seedlings for me. In my defense, the ones I chose were not being grown by my pal. Spring time just made me itchy to grow stuff.

Lina Sisco's bird egg bean seeds

I've managed to start and plant a handful of these, but it's definitely a work in progress. All of my garden bounty will be confined to pots and containers in deference to my batshit crazy neighbor. (That's another story.)

Flowers

Only some sunflowers and dianthus in the flower group have made it into the front bed, but I hope to do more this weekend.

More bean seeds

Herbies + greens