My poet friend Joanna is celebrating National Poetry Month by writing a poem every day in April. I am definitely not doing that. However, the other day, Joanna wrote a really cool pantoum based on lines from postcards people have sent her over the years. I wanted to try it, too. I have a sizeable collection of postcards. The ones with the nicest fronts are adorning my cubicle at work. The others have been languishing for years in an envelope in my closet-- until today.
---
Beautiful. Everything is beautiful.
Much nicer than I could ever afford.
We've had glorious weather.
Tired, but on to Minneapolis today.
Much nicer than I could ever afford,
just like in the movies.
Tired, but on to Minneapolis today
despite a little problem with my visa.
Just like in the movies:
the subzero windchill on this hostile, lifeless ridge.
Despite a little problem with my visa,
this castle was totally obliterated.
The subzero windchill on this hostile, lifeless ridge:
this is why the GRE scares me.
This castle was totally obliterated;
thought you might like a picture of the Queen.
It's a great time!
We've had glorious weather.
This is my castle - I bought it on a whim.
Beautiful. Everything is beautiful.
---
If you've sent me a postcard any time in the last 16 years, thanks for the inspiration! Do you recognize your lines?
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Carrot Soup
I joined a CSA this month in an attempt to increase my fruit and vegetable intake. It's working. I get a Rubbermaid bin full of produce every two weeks, then it's a race to use it all up in the right order so as to minimize spoilage. In my first bin, I got oranges and a grapefruit, an apple, two pears, a bunch of arugula, a head of Bibb lettuce, the biggest onion I've ever seen in my life, Jerusalem artichokes, potatoes, carrots, and two golden beets. I got through the fruit okay and used most of the greens. The huge onion, potatoes, and arugula went into a vat of ham and bean soup. I didn't know what to do with the Jerusalem artichokes and was warned that some people have a rather... erm... explosive reaction to them, so I cautiously sliced a few into some tuna salad and no harm was done. That left the carrots and beets. I thought those would have a longer shelf life, but by Friday night they were a little too mushy to be enjoyed raw or roasted. With nothing to lose, I decided to experiment with some carrot soup. Plain text pasted from the website, italics are my notes.
Carrot Soup from the 1977 edition of Moosewood Cookbook
2 pounds peeled or scrubbed, chopped carrots
4 cups stock or water - I had 2 cups of beef broth leftover, so I used that + 2 cups of water. I'm pretty sure using beef broth would get me kicked out of Moosewood. Sorry about that.
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 medium potato, chopped (optional, for heartier soup) - I used the golden beets. They were smallish.
3-4 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onion
1-2 small cloves crushed garlic
1/3 cup chopped cashews or almonds - I didn't have any cashews. I did have almonds but opted for dry roasted peanuts instead.
Choose one - Choices! Love it!:
1 cup milk
1 cup yogurt or buttermilk plus a little honey
1/2 pint heavy cream
3/4 cup sour cream
The only real dairy in my fridge was strawberry yogurt, but I had some buttermilk powder I normally use for baking. I threw in 4 Tablespoons of that plus an extra cup of water.
Seasoning choices - Seriously, how great is this?:
-2 pinches of nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon dried mint, dash of cinnamon
-1 teaspoon each of thyme, marjoram and basil - Went with this one
-1 teaspoon grated ginger
Place carrots, liquid and salt (and potato or beet if you are using it) into a medium sized soup pot and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer it for 12-15 minutes. Let it cool to room temp.
Saute the onion, garlic and nuts in the butter until the onions are clear. You can sprinkle in a little salt to help draw the moisture out of the onions. Towards the end of cooking, stir in the seasoning combo of your choice.
Puree everything together in a blender until smooth (I deviate from her recipe at this stage. I dump the sauteed onions, garlic and nuts into the pot with the cooked carrots and use an immersion blender to puree. It saves dishes and energy - Yes it does. I heart my immersion blender.).
Whisk in one of the dairy products. As I mentioned in the beginning, I often leave this step out until I'm just about to eat a bowl of soup. I'll stir in a little milk, a spoonful of yogurt or some cottage cheese just before serving (and just after reheating, if I'm using the microwave).
Garnish with toasted nuts, some toasted bread crumbs or eat just as it is.
---
I was amazed at how well this turned out, even with my crazy substitutions. I normally don't like carrot soup because it reminds me too much of baby food. It's the nuts and the seasonings that make this really good.
Carrot Soup from the 1977 edition of Moosewood Cookbook
2 pounds peeled or scrubbed, chopped carrots
4 cups stock or water - I had 2 cups of beef broth leftover, so I used that + 2 cups of water. I'm pretty sure using beef broth would get me kicked out of Moosewood. Sorry about that.
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 medium potato, chopped (optional, for heartier soup) - I used the golden beets. They were smallish.
3-4 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onion
1-2 small cloves crushed garlic
1/3 cup chopped cashews or almonds - I didn't have any cashews. I did have almonds but opted for dry roasted peanuts instead.
Choose one - Choices! Love it!:
1 cup milk
1 cup yogurt or buttermilk plus a little honey
1/2 pint heavy cream
3/4 cup sour cream
The only real dairy in my fridge was strawberry yogurt, but I had some buttermilk powder I normally use for baking. I threw in 4 Tablespoons of that plus an extra cup of water.
Seasoning choices - Seriously, how great is this?:
-2 pinches of nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon dried mint, dash of cinnamon
-1 teaspoon each of thyme, marjoram and basil - Went with this one
-1 teaspoon grated ginger
Place carrots, liquid and salt (and potato or beet if you are using it) into a medium sized soup pot and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer it for 12-15 minutes. Let it cool to room temp.
Saute the onion, garlic and nuts in the butter until the onions are clear. You can sprinkle in a little salt to help draw the moisture out of the onions. Towards the end of cooking, stir in the seasoning combo of your choice.
Puree everything together in a blender until smooth (I deviate from her recipe at this stage. I dump the sauteed onions, garlic and nuts into the pot with the cooked carrots and use an immersion blender to puree. It saves dishes and energy - Yes it does. I heart my immersion blender.).
Whisk in one of the dairy products. As I mentioned in the beginning, I often leave this step out until I'm just about to eat a bowl of soup. I'll stir in a little milk, a spoonful of yogurt or some cottage cheese just before serving (and just after reheating, if I'm using the microwave).
Garnish with toasted nuts, some toasted bread crumbs or eat just as it is.
---
I was amazed at how well this turned out, even with my crazy substitutions. I normally don't like carrot soup because it reminds me too much of baby food. It's the nuts and the seasonings that make this really good.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Attitude Adjustment
Yesterday I flew back to Seattle after a couple of weeks in Ohio. I changed planes in Minneapolis. Have you ever been to the Minneapolis airport? It's like they tried to fit the entire Mall of America in there. Retail, retail, retail... and as a result, the gates are extremely far apart. Do NOT book a close connection through the Minneapolis airport. Or a long layover, either, unless you've got money and carry-on luggage space to burn.
Anyway, I was worried about missing my connection, but I made it from Gate C to Gate F just as the plane was boarding. We boarded, and then we sat there. On the tarmac. For almost three hours.
First, the captain told us there was a problem with the plane's radar equipment and that mechanics were on board working to fix it. Um... isn't the radar equipment kind of important? Too important for a last-minute fix with hundreds of passengers waiting on the plane? Yeah, I thought so, too. We had our luggage in hand and were just about to get off the plane when the captain came on and said to "hold tight" because the mechanics were going to try a "Hail Mary pass" that just might fix the problem. A few minutes later, we learned that the radar equipment was working again and that we'd be taking off momentarily.
Moments passed. Many moments. The captain came back on and said that the mechanics were having a problem with the latch on the nose cap. They couldn't get it closed. Was this plane being held together with duct tape or what? I guess not, otherwise they'd have been able to secure that nose cap.
Through all of this, there was a SHRIEKING toddler seated two rows behind me. I try not to criticize peoples' parenting skills... especially now that so many of my friends are parents and I am not one so really don't know what it's like... but these parents weren't doing a blasted thing to try to calm this kid down. His every exhalation came with a blood curdling, high pitched WAIL like nothing I've ever heard.
I thought back to something my mom said a few days earlier. She asked "do you ever have a pain so bad that you wish you could cry about it, but you can't cry about it because you're a grown up person?" She was referring to physical pain, such as the pain experienced when one is head-butted and trampled to the ground by an angry Holstein (tough lady, my mom) but her question also applies to situations of emotional distress or frustration. There were 200+ adults on that plane. How were we feeling? Frustrated! Angry! What did we want to do about it? Scream at the tops of our lungs! Why didn't we? Because we were GROWN UP PEOPLE! That baby was the only one of us who could get away with expressing his true emotions. Soon I was cheering him on in my head. "That's it! Louder, LOUDER! Let it out! You're shrieking for all of us, baby!" It was very cathartic.
Anyway, I was worried about missing my connection, but I made it from Gate C to Gate F just as the plane was boarding. We boarded, and then we sat there. On the tarmac. For almost three hours.
First, the captain told us there was a problem with the plane's radar equipment and that mechanics were on board working to fix it. Um... isn't the radar equipment kind of important? Too important for a last-minute fix with hundreds of passengers waiting on the plane? Yeah, I thought so, too. We had our luggage in hand and were just about to get off the plane when the captain came on and said to "hold tight" because the mechanics were going to try a "Hail Mary pass" that just might fix the problem. A few minutes later, we learned that the radar equipment was working again and that we'd be taking off momentarily.
Moments passed. Many moments. The captain came back on and said that the mechanics were having a problem with the latch on the nose cap. They couldn't get it closed. Was this plane being held together with duct tape or what? I guess not, otherwise they'd have been able to secure that nose cap.
Through all of this, there was a SHRIEKING toddler seated two rows behind me. I try not to criticize peoples' parenting skills... especially now that so many of my friends are parents and I am not one so really don't know what it's like... but these parents weren't doing a blasted thing to try to calm this kid down. His every exhalation came with a blood curdling, high pitched WAIL like nothing I've ever heard.
I thought back to something my mom said a few days earlier. She asked "do you ever have a pain so bad that you wish you could cry about it, but you can't cry about it because you're a grown up person?" She was referring to physical pain, such as the pain experienced when one is head-butted and trampled to the ground by an angry Holstein (tough lady, my mom) but her question also applies to situations of emotional distress or frustration. There were 200+ adults on that plane. How were we feeling? Frustrated! Angry! What did we want to do about it? Scream at the tops of our lungs! Why didn't we? Because we were GROWN UP PEOPLE! That baby was the only one of us who could get away with expressing his true emotions. Soon I was cheering him on in my head. "That's it! Louder, LOUDER! Let it out! You're shrieking for all of us, baby!" It was very cathartic.
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