Just one reason you should always keep a notebook handy -- you never know when inspiration will strike!
Just one reason you should always keep a notebook handy -- you never know when inspiration will strike!
How about a final soup to say good-bye to cold-weather? Am I jinxing us just writing that?
I was going to call this a Greek chicken soup, but it’s really just Greek-inspired. I like to make it when I’m feeling a little tired of our usual chicken noodle with carrot and onion version.
This is less a recipe and more an idea for flavors.
You need:
–chopped cooked chicken (I usually poach* some breasts. Roasting bone-in is probably the most flavorful way you could go, but poaching is quick and painless)
–chicken broth (I use chicken base and water)
–cooked rice
–pre-cooked or drained and rinsed canned white beans. I like navy beans.
Assemble and heat gently until hot. Then add:
–chopped tomatoes (I used cherry ones since they’re always available and good)
–oregano (I grow it in the back yard, but dried is also ok—-as I look at my photo I see what appears to be parsley. hmmm…well, that will work, too and is also growing in the back yard)
–juice from 1/4 to 1/2 lemon
Enjoy! For more of my cooking and eating adventures, click here.
Hoping the weather is sunny and warm wherever you are.
Things making me happy this week (besides the lovely weather): I discovered the NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast. Smart people talking about tv and movies. A dream!
Speaking of dreaming, I’ve been tweeting what my imaginary personal chef would make me for lunch if she existed. If you want to dream-eat with me, find me @emilysmithpearc on Twitter.
Also, Call the Midwife is back! And, I finished a draft of my nonfiction manuscript and sent it off for comment. Wahoo!
And now, trying very hard to focus on finishing this draft of my novel. Nose to grindstone.
*Poaching is like allllmost boiling something, but don’t let it come to a boil. Cook slowly at the almost boiling point until done, and you’ll have tender chicken. Boiling will give you a rubbery mess.
See you again soon!
Do you ever feel like your subconscious is leaking out?
I was researching decorations for my dear friend’s wedding when I got kind of stuck on sticks. Here’s my pinterest page on stick decorating.
My kids never saw any of this, but somehow, they seemed to know about it, because later that day, after hubs had trimmed some bushes, they hunted down the paint and began decorating these sticks. I’m loving the Dr. Seuss vibe.
I also chopped (with the trimmer) a bunch of sticks into shorter segments for us to make into a new winter wreath. Our old one is kind of sad and decrepit.
I’m alllllllmost finished with a dress I’m making. Just three more buttons! I can’t believe I actually made 9 successful buttonholes. This is a new milestone.
Meanwhile, I hope a certain little ninja will appreciate his costume that’s nearly finished. Who am I kidding? Kids have no idea the work that goes into costume-making. That’s okay. I’ve had fun making it, and I’ve kept it really low-key. I may make a little tutorial about the tunic part of it.
I’m still plugging away at my writing projects. Trying to keep my nose to the grindstone. And made Foster’s Market Jamaican black bean soup last night. Also put up some pesto. Yum!
Happy Halloween! It’s officially soup and pumpkin season—so, pumpkin soup.
I don’t know about you, but on the whole, I’m way more into savory pumpkin dishes than sweet. The natural sweetness of the pumpkin is just begging for a little sour/ hot/ salty complement.
Here’s a little riff on a Williams-Sonoma recipe (theirs is Butternut Squash and Roasted Garlic Puree from the Soup book):
Pumpkin Soup with Chipotle
1 Hokkaido pumpkin (also called Red Kuri or Baby Red Hubbard squash)—you could probably use any similar winter squash, but I’m partial to these
5 or 6 garlic cloves
a few tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup water
2 onions, chopped
5 cups broth (chicken or veggie)
Salt and pepper
Chipotle with adobo sauce (canned, located with Mexican grocery items)
Lime
First, preheat your oven to 350. Peel the pumpkin and cut into quarters or sixths. Scoop out the squishy middle and the seeds.
On a cookie sheet or roasting pan, brush the pumpkin and garlic cloves with oil, then pour in the water. Roast until soft and golden, 35 plus minutes, until soft and golden.
Meanwhile, saute onions until softened. If you have a stick blender (a soupmaker’s very best friend), combine the onions, pumpkin, and garlic all in your soup pot with the broth. Blend. If you don’t have a stick blender, get one. You’ll love it. In the meantime, use part of the broth to blend up the veggies in your blender, a batch at a time. Then combine with all the broth in the soup pot.
Season with salt and pepper to taste. In individual bowls, garnish with a little teaspoon or so chipotle/ adobo sauce, according to your taste. I never use a full can at once, so I usually freeze the rest of the can to have on hand in the freezer. Love me some chipotle. Squeeze a little lime on top. Yum.
If you have non-spice-loving eaters at your table, just leave the chipotle out. Not that you needed me to tell you that.
Last year at our school’s pumpkin fest, someone made some fantabulous curry pumpkin soup (sounds weird, tastes great) but I never figured out who made it or what recipe they used. ISHR friends, anyone know the whereabouts of said chef or recipe? Or do you have a curried pumpkin recipe? I’d love to try it.
What are you dressing up as? I had hoped to be Effie Trinket from The Hunger Games but realized I just didn’t have the time to devote to making a costume. After all, my little witch and my little green ninja have to come first in the Halloween department. Maybe I’ll have a moment to paint my face, though.
Here’s hoping you have power and water. My prayers go out to those of you who don’t, and I hope all will soon be restored.
Also, in other news, if you live in the Charlotte area, our local chapter of the WNBA (no, it’s not basketball, it’s Women’s National Book Association) is a great place to meet people who love books. We’ve got writers, booksellers, editors, agents, and booklovers of all kinds. Our next meeting is a cookbook event called “A Toast to Cookbooks” at Total Wine on Monday November 12. Details about the event and our organization here. Our last event, a multi-author dinner called Bibliofeast, was way, way fun.
Good night, and enjoy your treats, everyone!
I'm posting some of my older comics here as I catalog and tag them in prep for a print book compilation. You can find my comics for writers on Inkygirl (http://inkygirl.com), Tumblr (http://inkygirl.tumblr.com) and Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/inkyelbows/comics-for-writers-inkygirl-com)
This would be my less-meatarian version of Foster’s Market’s Chicken Chili with Navy Beans. Yeah, I just left out the chicken and used more beans. Rocket science.
I know you thought I was Johnny One Note with Mr. Mark Bittman. I know, I talk about him ALL. THE. TIME. But I do have other cookbook crushes.
Foster’s Market recipes are not what I’d call weeknight friendly (too many ingredients) but nearly every single one has been a must-repeat. Especially the soups, salads, and cakes. I believe there are a few Foster’s Market books out now, but this is from the first, The Foster’s Market Cookbook.
A few notes on this recipe:
#1 It has a nice kick, but the kids thought it was too spicy, so they wouldn’t touch it past the first bite. I might crank down the spice next time. If I feel like sharing.
#2: As with the other Foster’s Market bean soups, I’ve found that, while excellent, the spices and flavorings can get a little overwhelming. I think I’d lessen amounts on all the spices, the salt, and especially the Worcestershire.
#3. My beans took way, way longer to cook than the recipe calls for.
#4. Obviously, if you want to be strict vegetarian/ vegan, you would use veggie broth for this soup instead of the chicken broth it calls for and sub veggie Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce.
I may have to less-meatify some more Foster’s Market recipes, since they are all so good. What’s the vegetarian answer to chicken salad, ’cause it’s got some awesome versions?
Once again, a recipe from 101cookbooks. I think this was the first recipe I made of hers, and it’s a favorite. Now that we have access to corn tortillas again (through mex-al.de), I can make it as much as I want.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have to confess that I add chicken to this vegetarian soup (usually braised breast meat) and use chicken broth rather than the vegetable broth the recipe calls for.
I highly recommend adding some of the suggested fixin’s (goat cheese, lime, sun-dried tomatoes, avocado)—the lime especially.
The most popular part of this recipe is definitely the tortilla strips. That blurry motion you see in the photo is due to little hands grabbing strips while I photographed them.
It’s really handy to have a stick blender for soups. How did I get by without one before? The converter I have to use for the stick blender is shared with my sewing machine, way down our long hallway, so there’s lots of running back and forth for two of my favorite activities (sewing and soup-making).
If you like 101 cookbooks, you might want to know that she has a new book coming out and has offered, in advance of publication, a downloadable mini-sampler book on her website. Cool!
I’m currently reading Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and sort of missing my garden back in North Carolina. Not that I was a very successful vegetable grower. I guess I’ll have to try some tomatoes on the balkon and of course visit our many nearby farmer’s markets.
In the whole food vein, loved this post by Holly Ramer of stitch/craft—about her family covering the South Beach Food and Wine Festival. There’s a picture of her young son interviewing Jamie Oliver. Holly’s got some other great stuff on her blog, including quite a few tutorials. I especially like the gifts she makes, in particular children’s book-related gifts like those here.
For those of you who just tuned in for the week, the Buzz Girls are talking about their favorite soups to make as the weather turns colder and the skies get a little gray.
So you may be asking yourself, what does soup have to do with writing and reading YA fiction?
1) A girl's gotta eat.
2) Soup is easy to make and so much better homemade!
3) It's fun to let a pot of soup simmer while you're finishing a chapter or two, and then your dinner's ready when you are.
So, my family loves chowder. Out here in the Northwest, we make all sorts - from the traditional clam to salmon or halibut. Here's a really basic recipe inspired by my dad's famous clam chowder recipe. You can add shrimp, crab, halibut, lobster, mussels, or anything else to make it a fantastic Christmas Eve dinner, like my family does each year.
Dad’s Clam Chowder
2 slices bacon or turkey bacon diced (optional)
1 T. olive oil
1 T. butter
½ medium yellow or white onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 T. flour
1 can clams + their juice
About 2 c. stock or water
3 large potatoes, diced (you can leave peels on if you like it more rustic.)
½ t. dried thyme
½ C. half & half or milk
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ C. parsley, chopped
1 T. butter (optional)
Optional - brown bacon (or turkey bacon + a little olive oil) over medium heat until all fat is rendered. Remove the bacon bits from the pan and set aside. Add olive oil and butter to pan, sauté the onions until translucent, then add the celery and garlic to cook until almost done. Add flour to pan and cook until flour is absorbed and a little golden.
Drain clam juice and add to pan, setting aside clams. Add potatoes and thyme to the pot, along with enough stock or water to nearly cover. Lower heat and cook until the potatoes are almost done. Add the half & half and the clams to the pot and cook until everything is heated through and potatoes are tender*. Salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with chopped parsley and the pat of butter.
*Note that this makes a thinner style soup, so if you’d like to thicken, you can make a “slurry” by mixing in a cup 2 T. milk to 1 T. cornstarch or flour, add it to the soup, and cook the soup until thickened. You can also thicken it by adding a few tablespoons of mashed potato flakes, like my dad does sometimes.
**Also, you can easily forget the seafood and/or bacon altogether and make it a veggie-potato soup. You can even probably make it vegan - Tera knows about that kind of stuff...
Enjoy and stay warm ~
Heather
www.heatherdavisbooks.com
The Clearing - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Never Cry Werewolf - HarperTeen
Wherever You go - Harcourt Fall 2011
I’ve been trying new recipes, trying to get inspired to cook again. I really lost my cooking mojo after a long period of food sensitivities with my son (thankfully now he can eat anything) and then moving here to Germany, where the groceries are so different. Well, they’re not soooo different, and the quality is great, but it’s sometimes hard to make the recipes I was used to making.
I really liked this soup, and the hubs gave it a thumbs up. I thought the kids would really dig the orange color and slurp it down, but they weren’t into it. I’ll try again with them. The combo of spices works well: obviously ginger but also cumin, ground fennel, cinnamon, allspice, dried mint. I like orange veggies, which are kind of sweet, complemented by savory flavors, and with onion, garlic, and the added citrus hint (lemon juice), this had a really nice complexity.
A few notes: as the recipe states, it is quite a thick soup. I like a thinner soup texture, though, so I think next time I would crank up the spices a little and water it down. I accidentally cranked up some of the spices already, having used the 1/2 tsp measure for a few of them—-I must be getting old, I could’ve sworn it was the 1/4 tsp. Oh well, it didn’t seem to matter. I also used nutmeg instead of allspice because I didn’t have it. The recipe was forgiving. I didn’t measure the lemon, either, and used one lemon and one lime because that was what I had. I don’t know if that’s more citrus that it called for, but since I’m a citrus-lover, it didn’t matter.
You can get the recipe here (along with lots of other Moosewood recipes). Also, if you haven’t discovered the cooking blog 101cookbooks, that’s another great place to go for inspiration. She does some amazing things with vegetables.
I can’t eat soup from a can. Don’t get me wrong – I know there are a lot of decent ones out there that are actually healthy – it’s not like when I was growing up and there was basically one brand everyone used (one having an excess of the daily sodium requirement and shall remain nameless!)
It’s just that I have such strong affection for my mother’s soups as a child (she’d make a killer turkey rice soup every year after Thanksgiving that I long for still). Homemade soups are made with love and care and time. Ready-made canned versions just can’t come close to the comfort factor of their homemade cousins.
And soups made at home are so easy to make! Soup is one of those forgiving dishes – you don’t necessarily have to measure everything out precisely as with baking. You can add a little of this, a little of that – improvising (and tasting) along the way. I kind of liken it to creating a piece of artwork. You never know exactly how it is going to turn out in the end if you change the ingredients or amounts slightly. My mother never measured, and her soups always came out great and always unique.
I was inspired to write Soup Day from my memories of my mom’s cooking and my experiences being a mom myself and cooking with my young son, Jamie. I got him involved in the cooking experience early on –from the time he was a baby I’d park him at the counter where I was making dinner. Now that he is six, he can do a lot more in the kitchen (for ideas on getting kids involved in cooking click here). And he loves to come up with his own recipes to try.
In the story of Soup Day, a mother and daughter spend a winter’s day making a hot, yummy pot of vegetable and pasta soup together. Together they choose the vegetables at the local green market, wash and prepare them, and add them to the pot, creating something special and nutritious in the process. At the end of the story, the recipe for the Snowy Day Soup that they created is featured (to see me demonstrating making this soup, click here).
Cooking can truly enrich a child’s world. There are the more obvious lessons of counting, measuring, and weighing involved. But there is also that wonder and joy of creation – making something out of “nothing”.
I also think cooking can foster a sense of empowerment in children. And if they are involved in the process of cooking, they are more likely to eat their creation! They can say: “Hey! I helped make that!” and own that bowl of soup.
This sense of pride, as well as the bonding that happens through the shared creative experience, are what I find to be the most valuable aspects about cooking with children. It’s the unspoken message of Soup Day, and what I hope it inspires.
Additional downloadable Soup Recipes available here
Just be sure not to add too much salt or seasoning at once – you can always add it later.
Melissa Iwai has illustrated many children’s books, including Toolbox Twins, B Is for Bu
Yesterday, I was flipping through my (very heavy) copy of The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink, and I found…
…wait for it…
…wait for it…an entry on BOOYAH! What is booyah? I’m glad you asked.
BOOYAH is a thick mixed stew that demonstrates how American ethnic food can include dishes that would be completely alien in recipe or usage to past generations. Groups of Belgian American Walloons settled around Door County (Green Bay), Wisconsin, in the 1850s, bringing with them a dish of clear bouillon served with rice. The hen of that had been boiled to obtain the bouillon made another meal the next day. Sometime in the 1930s, men took over the dish and turned it into a thick soup full of boned chicken meat and vegetables (and often served with saltines) at the annual Belgian American kermis harvest festival. The pots became larger, the men used a canoe paddle to stir the soup, and “booyah” became the name of the event as well as the central dish.
By the 1980s, booyah was served at church fund-raisers, at a midsummer ethnic festival for visitors, and on Green Bay Packer football weekends. Secret recipes and “booyah kings” have been added to make booyah male-bonding ritual like those surrounding barbecue, chili con carne, burgoo, and Brunswick stew – the latter two soup-stews being highly similar to booyah.
It is possible that booyah has features of other Belgian soups, such as hochepot. It often happens that American ethnic dishes begin to accumulate features of several old-country dishes. It also may be that booyah is not descended from Belgian bouillon at all. Around Saint Cloud, Minnesota, Polish Americans believe that “bouja” is an old Polish soup, and men make it as much as Belgian Americans do in Door County, Wisconsin, but flavored with pickling spices. An early published recipe (1940) describes “boolyaw” as a French Canadian dish from the hunting camps of Michigan. A more recent Wisconsin cookbook called it an old German recipe. The dish has gone from a thin soup made by women at home to a thick stew made by men for communal events. An Italian American might mistake booyah for minestrone, yet Belgian Americans in Wisconsin believe it is named for Godfrey of Bouillon, a leader of the First Crusade. The fruit tarts served for desert at booyah feasts are made by women as much as they were in Eastern Belgium in the early nineteenth century.
Mark H. Zanger, author of The American History Cookbook
CARTOON EMBED CODE:
I'm working.
The challenge word on another illustration blog this week is "soup".
The sea was angry that day, my friends. Like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli.
It’s been an exciting few weeks for “Just One More Book!”. We’re thrilled to have been included in the following publications: Microsoft Home Magazine (articles, tips and tools for better living) Parksville Qualicum News Salt Lake City Tribune (Family Briefs) Horn Book (thanks to Betsy Bird of A Fuse #8 Production!!) Watch for “Just One More Book!” in the June edition of Canadian Living Magazine. Tags:No TagsNo Tags
I’m gonna show your Pinterest page to my partner to prove to him I am not crazy! I have sticks everywhere–every time he trims the trees I’m out there shouting, “Don’t throw away that branch!”
It’s all about vision, right?