2023, Family, Food, home, Seasons

Throw In Whatever You’ve Got Soup

39 Comments

½ large white onion (or one medium), chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 macho nacho peppers (a smidge hot), chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 can sliced carrots (including liquid)
1 can yellow corn (including liquid)
¾ c. frozen peas
3 veggie bouillon cubes
3 brandywine tomatoes, chopped
Salt & pepper
1 tsp. Penzey’s Justice spice
½ tsp. chili pepper flakes
Chopped fresh basil
2 c. cooked rice
2 c. water (to make it soup)
2 veggie hot dogs (completely optional), sliced

I’ve told the story of the kitchen sink stew that I took to a church potluck – just threw in what I had and it was a big hit.  Well, I did it again!

On my to-do list Saturday was “cook something”.   YA and I are staring down the barrel of a large home-improvement project and have discussed some economizing so I decided to just use what I had on hand, from the pantry and the garden.   Cooked the onion, pepper and garlic in olive oil, then threw in everything else… finishing up at the last minute with a couple of veggie hot dogs.

Not to toot my own horn, but it is FABULOUS.  I mean, stand-in-front-of-the-fridge-with-a-spoon-eating-it-out-of-the-pan good.  Even better warmed up with a piece of cornbread.  Unfortunately YA agrees so it’s not lasting long.  Hopefully I’ll be able to re-produce it again some day.

What was the highlight of YOUR weekend?

39 thoughts on “Throw In Whatever You’ve Got Soup”

  1. It was a good weekend but kind of a lot to unpack. Robin’s two sisters came Saturday to have a sister day—just to talk and to pick out a few vintage kimono and other Japanese garments from Robin’s collection. I worked behind the scenes, making coffee, walking down to the local bakery for croissants and a loaf of sourdough, making homemade tomato bean soup for lunch, so that Robin wouldn’t have to break away to do any of those things. When I wasn’t doing that I worked on a possible fabric design featuring vintage toy robots.

    Sunday was Robin’s birthday. Neither she nor I are much interested in big birthday celebrations or, for that matter, surprise gifts. We get the things we really want or need when we choose.

    As it happens this weekend was the annual LOLA (League of Longfellow Artists) event, where craftspeople and other artists around the neighborhood hold open house or gather in various venues to display their crafts. We were engaged in our usual morning neighborhood walk and stopping here and there to view artistry when we came upon the display set up by a former neighbor. She’s a doctor and as it turns out is also an accomplished potter. We especially were drawn to her glazes and also her designs and ended up buying a set of bowls and two pitchers (one for a future gift) from her.

    When we were in Sheboygan a couple of weeks ago, we ate at a ramen restaurant there that was really good. That prompted us to decide we would visit ramen restaurants here—a new one every couple of weeks—to find the one we liked best. Yesterday we ate at Ramen Kazama on 34th and Nicollet. It was good, a contender, but we have about a dozen more to try. For the occasion I wore one of my new cowboy shirts, one with koi fish on the yoke, but that was probably a mistake. You can’t eat ramen without splashing some up and down your front.

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    1. I have been to that ramen restaurant, pre-covid. It was so crowded! But very good. I was concerned that it might not survive given the poor business conditions, so I am happy to hear it did.

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  2. A couple of highlights – Friday eve was a friend’s poetry book launch at the Marine Art Museum, with marvelous hors d’oeuvres and the bonus of seeing the current art collection.
    Saturday we got rain!

    Sunday our “band” played at our UU service, and it was one of those times when the people were really with us as we sang both songs – Get Together and With Our Own Two Hands.

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  3. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    Friday at work there was an Open House to celebrate my retirement. It was to have happened in July, but following my mother’s death I just could not get my act together to do it for awhile. It was lovely with many old friends there.

    I had a killer migraine yesterday which dominated the day. I also decorated some hats for the Master Gardener Houseplant sale. I am glad to have that project done–I used some flowers and ribbons left from long-ago weddings. I burned myself with hot glue a number of times. The hats look like the soup: “Glue on whatever you’ve got silly hat”. The rain interfered with puppy exercise and walks, too, so we had a very hyperactive puppy as a result. We are heading out right this minute for a walk.

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  4. This was a cleaning weekend preparatory to a trip tomorrow to Cleveland for a conference. We return home next Saturday. We didn’t cook much. Husband roasted our red Hatch chilis, and I made Julia Child’s meatloaf. We also made an East Indian semolina flat bread called kalchae, aka Persian pita. We sang in the choir at church and listened to the last night of the Proms on MPR.

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  5. I read the YA book by Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. Did one of you recommend this book? I can’t remember where I heard about it. It’s good. I recommend it. Get a box of Kleenex.

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    5. Matter of fact, our first Essay in English class is about some of his short stories. Either “This is why it’s called Phoenix, Arizona” or “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven”.

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  7. I had dinner with a friend at The King and I in Mendota Heights last night. I hadn’t been to The King and I since it was located on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis decades ago. Back then I used to have lunch there regularly. I was happy to discover that they’re doing quite well (it appears), in their “new” location. If you like Thai food, I can recommend it. Really good, fresh food at a reasonable price served in a pleasant atmosphere with plenty of free parking. Well worth a visit. Brought half of my portion home for husband to enjoy.

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  8. THE Ohio State football game was one for the ages. A defensive struggle against Notre Dame. OSU pulls it out in the last second 17-14.
    And then the Cincinnati Reds blow a 9-0 lead to the Pittsburgh Pirates and lose 13-12. Baseball with a football score.

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  9. Two weeks ago my son’s employer gave him a rave review and extended his contract. Today they laid him off. There are very few jobs out there. That extends the lowlights of the weekend. I keep trying to stay positive. Keep trying.
    Clyde

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    2. A close friend of mine was offered a job when his company was purchased by another. They ordered business cards, set up a phone line and complete computer set up. Even asked him about any decor he might like in his office. He was ready to start on a Monday; the Friday before they called and reneged on the job offer. I’m sure there are dark holes of corporate America where this kind of silliness makes sense, but I will never get it!

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      2. I have a good friend with a similar experience – hired by a high-profile company, given a start date, and then told the project she was being hired for was being postponed indefinitely. The company was undergoing a breakup due to a lawsuit.

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  10. Saturday was mostly little projects and cleaning around the house. Sunday morning was spent singing in church choir. In the evening college friends and I enjoyed a Beatles Sing-a-long with Dan Chouinard at a church in Golden Valley. Fun!

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    1. I forgot to mention in when I was blathering on and on about State Fair but I’m pretty sure that was Dan C that I spied tinkling the ivories for Jennifer Grimm (doing her Judy Garland show) at the Leinie Lodge. He sure gets around!

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  12. Highlight of the weekend was rising at 2 am to leave at 2:30 to get to the airport early enough to catch a flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia, via Toronto. Throw in a four+ hour layover in Toronto, a late departure for that second leg, and driving in the dark until 9:30 pm to reach our Airbnb in Inverness, Nova Scotia, on Cape Breton Island (WITHOUT HITTING A DEER), all on a few crummy hours of sleep the night before, and I’m calling that a big highlight of my weekend.

    Day One here at Inverness has been mostly setting up for the week (moving in, learning how the house operates, how it’s stocked, buying groceries, etc. Got in a brief walk on the beautiful beach. Wind was roaring (felt like 30-40 mph gusts) so the surf was up at the beach. Inverness is a cute little town with some shops and restaurants and modest houses for the most part. Also met an extremely helpful lady at the visitors’ center who wouldn’t stop talking about recommendations once she started. 🙂

    Bucket list golf courses tomorrow and Wednesday. Hiking and exploring the rest of the week. Then on to Halifax for the next week. Hoping to visit some wineries and eat some fantastic seafood.

    Chris in Nova Scotia (just temporary!)

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  15. I went to the LOLA art crawl, like Robin & Bill, but didn’t buy anything. Also went to the farmers’ market. Roasted some potatoes from my garden for dinner last night along with a salmon fillet and baguette from the co-op. Went to a church rummage sale and bought a nice vest. No real highlight, just a pleasant weekend.

    Enjoyed having some rain – enough to make a difference, but not so much that the basement flooded or anything.

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  16. Blevins Update

    Sunday, November 5
    Jim & Kathy’s
    Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Sherman Alexie)
    Travels with Charley John Steinbeck)

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  17. Fall weather always stimulates me to make soup; also listened to the BBC Proms! Decided to stop watering the gardens at our apt (its up to Mother Nature now) and encouraged residents to harvest our best crop which is several different herbs. I am ready for Hygge!

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  18. I am not really anonymous (jennywren) but for the first time, Word Press got permissive and let me post a comment without asking for user name and password! What’s going on?

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