Sunday, January 23, 2011

Soup!

It has been REALLY cold here in IL lately.  Today it's up to a balmy 6F.  So, I have made soup.  Specifically, two kinds of soup.  Here are the recipes, for when I want to replicate them later, or if you have a need for good soup where you live.

Lamb-Cous Cous Soup

2 lbs lamb
3 cups dry pearl couscous
1 bunch of celery, chopped fine
6 carrots, chopped fine
1 large onion
1 bunch cilantro
1 sq inch of fresh ginger, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic
12C homemade lamb stock
1 can tomato paste
some olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

I sauteed the garlic, onions, and fresh ginger in the olive oil.  Then I added the lamb and cilantro, and browned the lamb.  I added everything else at that point, and simmered it for about an hour.  It makes a tasty lamb soup, where the couscous melts in your mouth.  It's good.

Frontier Lentil Soup

This one was made from a soup mix, but I modified it heavily.  This is what I added to the lentils and seasonings:
Spicy Italian turkey sausage
3 cloves garlic
1 sq inch fresh ginger, chopped fine
1 bunch of parsley
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 bunch of celery, chopped fine
6 carrots, chopped fine
12C beef stock (made with Penzey's Soup Base)
1 28oz can of diced tomatoes

I sauteed the onions, garlic, and ginger.  Then I browned the sausage.  Once that was done, I added the lentils, seasoning pack, and all other ingredients except the tomatoes.  I simmered it for one hour, then added the tomatoes and simmered it for another 20 min.  This makes a zesty lentil soup.  It has lots of texture and good flavor.  It's a good warming soup.

I hope you're keeping warm and have lots of good food to help.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Decisions for the new year

I am back from my honeymoon in CO.  It was gorgeous, and I'll post pictures soon.  It was a very good, but very intense few weeks.

Now I have some serious decisions to make.  Because K is active duty military and has been informed of his deployment date, it is possible/likely that it will be 18 months before we can spend more than 2 weeks at a time within 1000 miles of each other.  It might be 8 weeks total, but probably less.  The exception to that is if I make some drastic changes to my life.  I am unsure if this is a good idea or not.

I am alternating beating my head against a wall and knitting.  I made it as far as a heel on a new sock (airplanes are good for this).  I swear I'll get some pictures of that too, although it's not terribly exciting.  It's a plain stockinette sock, but it is a self striping yarn in my favorite colors.

I also started a new scarf with some blue heathered wool (on sale!) from a yarn store in Colorado Springs.  The store is called Knitter's Kove, and it seemed wonderful from my one visit.  The scarf has dropped stitches and reminds me of monster eyes.  This too would probably make more sense with pictures.

It's a new year, and there are some wonderful things and huge challenges on the horizon.  Once decisions get made, life has got to get easier.  Maybe I'll even be able to cope with knitting that isn't garter stitch.  Otherwise, I'll just start an afghan.