Day 29 - The Camera...
This tool that keeps me learning. It keeps me chasing light, keeps me seeking, allows me to create an image when words are failing me. It's a simple, little gratitude, but one that is oh, so important to me.
LOOOOOK at what I got for my birthday!!! I'll have to get the story about how it all came to be, but my Mama gave me this amazing camera strap from my homegirl Kathie over at Ramonsterwear. How they managed to make it all work without me finding out is a mystery...especially since Kathie was galavanting up and down the west coast for most of the summer, and Mama was occupied with helping babies be born. It's so gorgeous, and of course the workmanship is freakin' top-notch...I just can't stop looking at it. Just. so. dreamy.
Um...I'm sure you are tired of soup collages by now...but the vegetable are so beautiful that I just can resist. Also, I'm pretty predictable...so there's that. My kids requested this soup yesterday, and the girl wanted to learn how to make it, so how could I resist? Potato Leek soup is so amazing. It has next to no ingredients and it is still so delicious. Potatoes, leeks, thyme, bay. And butter and cream if you so choose (yes, please). This is another great gluten free soup...and can easily be vegan if you choose comparable substitutions for the butter and cream. I use the recipe from The Art of SImple Food by Alice Waters (see below). We were eating it as dinner rather than a starter, so I doubled the recipe below. Also, we choose the variation that she lists below where we puree the soup and then add the cream. Her main recipe is a rustic version that is not pureed. But the kids like it pureed because it reminds them of mashed potatoes or something. We served it with rosemary toast (from Central Market). The girl chose to garnish with thinly sliced oven fries we made from the same batch of yukon golds. That's my girl. :)
Leek and Potato Soup (Makes 2 quarts: 4-6 servings)
Trim off the root and and the tough upper greens from:
2 pounds of leeks
Cut the trimmed leeks in half lengthwise and slice thin. Rinse in a bowl of cold water. Lift the leeks out of the water to drain.
Melt over medium heat in a heavy bottomed pot:
3 tablespoons butter
Add the leeks along with:
2 thyme springs
1 bay leaf
Salt
Cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Add:
1 pound yellow potatoes, peeled, halved or quartered, and sliced
Cook the potatoes for 4 minutes, then add:
6 cups of water
Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer. Cook until the vegetables are tender, but not falling apart, about 30 minutes. When done stir in:
1/3 cup creme fraiche or heavy cream
Do not boil one the cream is added. Check the seasoning and adjust to taste. Remove the bay leaf and thyme before serving.
Variations:
-Garnish with fresh-ground black pepper and some fresh chives.
-For a heartier soup, use broth instead of water
-Remove the bay leaf and herb sprigs and puree the soup before stirring in the cream.
-Omit the cream, puree the soup before serving, and garnish with a pat of parsley butter.
Day 27: Yogi tea
The weather today in Austin was so grey and dreary. We woke up to a cold rain and looks like we'll be heading to sleep with it still raining. Days like this are perfect for making a huge pot of Yogi Tea and letting it just simmer on the stove on and off throughout the day. The house smells fantastic and cozy and like I'm 7 years old running around after Gurudwara with my friends. If you frequent Yoga Yoga here in Austin then you have probably been served a similar recipe. Yogi Tea has become a trade name of sorts for a style traditional Indian chai. I've been drinking it since I was wee, but I didn't start making it from scratch myself until about 15 years ago. I used to buy the teabags occasionally, but if you've ever had the freshly made chai, you know there is no comparison. The teabags taste hollow to me. They are the fast food of the tea world if you will. I still have the business card that I scrawled my papa's recipe on as he dictated to me what he thought made a perfect pot. I happen upon it every so often, and I always think to myself that I wish that I had used my 'good handwriting' when I wrote it down. Weird huh? It's odd what becomes a permanent part of your history once a person is gone and there are no do-overs. Anyhoo...I use my papa's recipe, which I'm sure is actually my mama's interpretation (we just liked to humor him sometimes). I always use a little more ginger and a little more cardamom than the traditional Yogi Tea recipe. I also seldom add black tea. I want my kids to be able to drink it...and Lord knows I get my caffeine in a myriad of different ways throughout the day, I don't need another one.
Day 24: The Sleep In
I snapped this picture as I was rolling out of bed this morning at the lazy, crazy hour of 11:15 a.m! I think everyone was enjoying their post holiday quiet, because there was not a peep in our house, which is unheard of at this time of day. It's a good thing that the boy needed to be delivered to a friend's house or I may have slept away the day. There is such things as too much sleep. When I sleep too long I usually wake up feeling a bit on the cranky side...slightly irritated with myself that I have let the potential of the day go by. Sleeping through my first cup of coffee adds to the irritation I'm sure. This morning the man and I slept in late and then I crept downstairs and made us each a latte with the fantabulous latte machine that we were gifted by my MIL and her husband. I am feeling well rested and fully caffeinated...I think I'll tackle the mess that is my desk...
Last night we had my family over for part one of our Christmas get together. We'll tackle ornament night tomorrow night I think...but for last night we tried something new. Inspired by a project that the Girl has done for a couple of years at school, we decided to give "gingerbread houses" a whirl. I use quotations because we used graham crackers instead of gingerbread. I absolutely love watching my family come together when the creative juices are flowing. The outcome is across the board. We had a dream cottage, Frank Lloyd Wright inspired architecture (Falling Frosting?), mobile home, train, Golden Temple (complete with turbaned guards), abstract homes, trees...and you can't discount the 'gingerbread' teepee...
It was great to watch the frosting fly as the sibling rivalry started to kick in. I'm not even talking about our kids...I'm talking about my adult siblings. Nothing makes you strive for greatness like scoping out your sib's progress across the table. It was all in good fun, and by the end of the night we had quite a village. The coolest thing is that not one of them really like a typical gingerbread house even though all of the materials for adornment were the same. It's been a while since we added a new tradition to our normal holiday routine as a family. I was so giddy by the end of the night, because it went off without a hitch, and it seemed like everyone had a blast.
So hooray for trying new crafts and hooray for my family that is up for giving my crazy ideas a try even at the end of long work days.
On a side note, the closer we get to the end of this year the easier it seems to see the blessings around me. I don't know if it's just the pervasive holiday cheer or the fact that my man has a little more time to chill with us around the house, but it feels so...right. Even amidst all of the craziness if I take a breath and sit for a second, the underlying feeling is one of joy and love for one another. The anticipation for Christmas morning is building, as to be expected. We'll spend most of tomorrow trying to make the time go faster, filling the hours with baking, wrapping and ornament making. Just. Can't. Wait.
Day 20: Cookbook Corner
I'm sliding in under the wire here so I don't end up 2 posts behind...there are really not enough hours in the day when we reach this part of the year. Riding on the coat tails of yesterday's post I am feeling most appreciative of my cookbook corner. All of the iPhone cooking apps in the world can't make up for leafing through page after dog-eared page of recipes at my kitchen table. When I am in a cooking rut I turn to my corner for inspiration. My current favorite is A Taste of the World, that my friend Jenny gave me for my birthday. The photography is AMAZING and the recipes I have tried so far have been a smashing success. I feel all inspired just looking at the picture of my cookbooks. How sick is that? :)
Day 19: Continuance
I've always been drawn to older ways of doing things: cooking, handwork, sewing. Often times you hear people say they feel like they were born in the wrong era. I have felt that way my whole life. I love my fancy gadgets and technology, but I feel like I always have one foot in a slower, more deliberate way of life. About 10 years ago I was at an estate sale with my mama. We were there scoping out an old treadle sewing machine (still in it's wooden shipping crate from years and years ago). We decided to make the investment and I meandered into the kitchen where the cashier table was. While I waited in line I noticed that all of the cookbooks and kitchen knick knacks were still laying around. When I asked the cashier how much the cookbooks were he replied that I could make an offer because they were planning on hauling off what was left at the end of the day. I picked up a copy of the Joy of Cooking and underneath was a small file box of recipes. "Ten dollars for both?" I could tell he thought he was getting the better end of the deal, but I knew better. When I got home I laid down on the floor in front of the fireplace and took out each recipe, one by one. This was the recipe box of one Mrs. O.P. Breland. No one famous or spectacular in any public fashion, but her box of recipes was like opening up a time capsule. Un. Believable. There were recipes written on the back of old laundry order forms dating back to 1945. There were clippings from newspapers from around the country. There were so many recipe cards exchanged at church and over bridge scrawled on calendar pages and calling cards. I spent hours and hours pouring over each little scrap of paper. I continue to be astounded that someone was just going to toss all of that history. There are big chunks of time that were not the best time for cuisine in our country historically speaking. Apple Sauce Salad or Spam in a Blanket anyone? She also has some really simple but incredible recipes. I will post the recipe for Coffee Crispies in a bit. When I look through her recipes and all of the different women who gave her their recipes, I feel connected to them in some strange way. I feel this fierce guardianship...a need to protect the heritage of all of these recipes. I was joking with the Man the other night that I should cook each recipe in the box Julie and Julia style but I don't think I could do it. Julie may have had to bone a duck, but she didn't have to make and consume Sea Foam Salad Mold (serves 6). To bring this story full circle (kind of): The next week was my birthday and my parents watched the boy so that the man and I could have a little time to ourselves. One of my favorite things to do in Austin is to spend way too much time at Uncommon Objects. It's an antique/vintage finds store that is set up booth style with individual sellers. I walked into one of the booths, I looked down and saw a box of beautifully preserved rosette style candles in a box. When I picked up the box I glanced at the lid laying next to it (see below)
Now. I know that this only means that this seller (clear across town) was at the same estate sale that I had been at the week before. I get that. I choose however to think of it as a little something more. Kind of like a thank you or acknowledgement that I respect and honor Mrs. Breland's past and will continue to marvel at the record that she left behind in her recipes. I'm funny like that.
