Why Must Everything Be Soup?

Don't get me wrong--I love soup.  I write poems about soup.  I sing praise-songs to soup.

And I seemingly can't not make soup.

I had a packet of chicken quarters taking up too much room in the freezer, so I thawed them today for supper tonight.  They went into a baking pan with orange juice and some spices and baked in a slow oven until they were crispy.

The smell is wonderful. And the chicken is very tender and flavorful. I de-boned some of it and then I couldn't throw the bones away.

I couldn't--I swear!

They went into a pot, along with the juices--the pot likker--from the baking pan.  All that simmered for a while and now it is cooling before I refrigerate it. Because tomorrow, it will be soup.  A lovely soup for the midday meal.

I can't help it.  I don't believe in sin but if I did--wasting food would be at the top of the list.

Speaking of Green...Nettles

I'm sure you were all so good as to not drink green beer last weekend.  Beer, yes,perhaps.

There are some yummy green things you may drink to your healthy advantage, however. One of those is a rich green tea made from fresh stinging nettles.

O, come on, don't be a baby.  Yes, they are called stinging nettles for a reason and you must be very respectful in the harvesting of them.

But when they are immersed in boiling water, they get soft and safe.  I filled a cookpot with fresh nettles and poured boiling water over them from the kettle. Covered them and let them steep for a couple of hours and then strained the tea through cheesecloth and put it in a half gallon mason jar.

I drank some hot, with a bit of honey from the Lost Hive.  And I drank it cold all day yesterday and some today.

It's a great spring tonic and a deliciously verdant drink.

Here they are, with the tongs that made them safe to handle. Blessed be the tongs!

For the love of Brigid, don't drink green beer or eat bad soda bread

Yes, tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day.  You will be asked to drink green beer or possibly flat Guinness.  You will be offered dry and humorless soda bread. You may be told to have fish and chips for lunch.

Please, my friends, please don't.

Begin your day with a nice fry up--eggs, toast, bacon, beans, tomatoes, whole meal soda bread, mushrooms, strong tea.

That will set you up for whatever may come your way.  With any luck it will be a dollop of Bushmill's Black Bush.  If you must put it in creamy coffee, then you must. I won't judge you.

Here's what we may eat for supper, in two separate pans in these pics, but I often cook them up together.  Cabbage and potatoes.  Serve this was soda bread and sweet butter.

That peanut butter tofu thing

That turned some of you right off, didn't it?  I made this for lunch today and hadn't made it in a long time.  I'd forgotten how yummy it is.

Cube up some extra firm tofu and saute it in olive oil.  Add a little crushed garlic, but not much.  Seriously now. Not much.  You want a little rich ping--not the wedding in the Godfather.

When it's heated thoroughly, take the pan off the heat and stir in 1/4 cup of peanut butter.  Stir it with a wooden spoon until the tofu cubes are coated.  Let it rest for a moment.

Steam some fresh broccoli--it should equal about 3 cups when you're done.

Toss the broccoli and the peanut butter tofu together.

Throw in some walnut pieces.  And dried currants, if you like.

Serve it with brown rice and eat it plain out of a bowl.

We ate it too fast--I didn't get a picture.

Mmmm.

Neglectfully Yours

O, dear.

I will say that Peg and I have been up to our eyeballs with projects.  I have a soon-to-be released book on Appalachian folk magic that has taken up much, much time.

But still...I have been cooking and eating the whole time.

I just had a delicious lunch that I haven't made in a while so I will leave this post as an apology for being gone so long.