Barbara's Meanderings

As the holidays loom closer each day I'm sure some of you have planned vacations or if not you have trips you wish you could take. Will your family be your travel companions? Wouldn't it be wonderful if for just this once you could take a trip with one of your favorite fictional characters? Who would you choose? I know I would probably want someone who loves adventure but doesn't want to go off the deep end. :)

Before I talk about what's wrong with people, because that is going to take way too long, I wanted to highlight another blog tonight. This one is about what I like a lot, cooking. Gabi Moskowitz has a blog called "Out of the Pantry". It's funny, because both of us made vegetable soup today.:) She used her whole pantry and I used most of my fresh vegetables. I hate calling them "veggies" which has become the standard way to refer to vegetables. 
What I like about this blog is her total disregard for whether or not something is going to taste good. She just drops in ingredients and hopes it will work. I think some of the recipes are a little more planned, but I like the spontaneity and I think you will enjoy reading this blog. The post before this one used food to describe a romantic situation. And then she described how though apples and oranges don't work in dating, it might be the opposite in cooking. She then gave a recipe for Pizza Dough Papusas where she substituted pizza dough for masa harina which is the traditional dough for the papusas. She didn't have any and made them anyway. See the recipe on "Out of the Pantry" and you can subscribe there too. I think you will enjoy this one very much. I like the layout too. It's a good color and easy on the eyes. 
So it was funny that we both made vegetable soup and here is a virtual bowl for all of you, but especially for Paula  of "Paula's Soul"  

I tried to give it to you, but my computer is not cooperating. I may have to post it in a separate note or email. I will post it on my Facebook page for everyone. Anyway, I've tried and can't do it. It was pretty awesome. My husband said it was delicious.:)

Anyway, will play around with it and see if I can't get it to you.

I've frittered away the time trying to post that picture, but instead I will give you the recipe:

Barbara’s Tomato Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:
½ large Vidalia onion chopped
3 stalks celery - chopped
3 small carrots – chopped (not baby carrots, don't scrape them)
4 cloves garlic – chopped
3 cans San Marzano tomatoes squished
dried thyme – about a tbsp
garlic powder – about 2 tbsp
dried basil – about a tbsp
dried cayenne pepper – about a tbsp
dried oregano – about a tbsp
1 pkg frozen peas
1 pkg frozen corn singles or half a pkg of frozen corn ( 8 oz)
broccoli crowns
French green beans kitchen cut in thirds
½ bunch parsley chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp unsalted butter
sea salt
ground fresh black pepper

In large soup pot, sauté the mirepoux (carrots, onions, and celery) until celery is bright green and onions are translucent in the oil and butter. Add garlic and mix together. Cook a few minutes. Add juice of tomatoes from all 3 cans and mix together. Then squish all tomatoes and add to pot. Mix together and add 3 cans of water. Fill each separate can so all the tomato goodness is there. Add salt and pepper and cook until it comes to a boil. Add dried seasonings except oregano. Add broccoli and green beans, peas, corn. Let mixture come to a boil and then add garlic powder, thyme and basil and chopped fresh parsley. When the mixture has been boiling for about an hour add the oregano and continue letting mixture boil for another hour covered. Serve with grated parmesan cheese and croutons.

Hope you enjoy it.

Now, what is wrong with people? I'm talking especially about Republicans. They seem to want our president to fail. People like Rush Limbaugh and some Republican Congressmen refuse to get with the program. When Democrats were in the minority they had to take whatever was handed to them. I remember people who were as esteemed as John Conyers had to hold hearings in the basement, because Republicans refused to open a real committee room for them. Are Democrats that way? No. President Obama went out of his way to try to listen to Republicans and even brought them to the White House and bent over backwards to try to compromise. Yet even then, a bill that will benefit every single person in the country could not get a Republican backing. No Republicans voted for the Stimulus bill. What is wrong with those people? Do they not represent people who need money and jobs? Or are they so stubborn and bent on destroying our government that they refuse to vote for a bill that will help their constituents? It's shameful!!

The other thing is the horrible murder suicide of that family out West. The parents didn't have a job, but why did they have to kill their children? What happened to the spirit of let's try and make the best of things? No, they had to kill themselves and their children and so helping population control, but snuffing out the lives of innocent young people. What is wrong with them? Didn't they want their children to live on and have lives? Or were they just too selfish to think about that?

It makes me sad to think of the waste of life. Let me know what you think. Also, try the recipe and tell me if you like it. You have to use San Marzano tomatoes, because they give it such a great flavor. If you don't use them you'll have to add chicken broth to give it more flavor. Also you can add any of your own vegetables, if they're raw, start them early. Good luck.

One more thing. Tonight we had a crescent moon. It looked like a smile in the sky. In fact, it tickled me so much I wrote a poem called "Cheshire Moon". I was reminded of my favorite book when I was a girl, Alice in Wonderland and Alice's encounter with the Cheshire Cat who kept disappearing leaving only it's smile. But in my poem I thought of President Obama as the Jaberwocky. Kind of bizarre, but he did smite the Republicans with his mighty pen.:)