Hey folks!
I haven’t been posting a whole lot here lately because dude, it was the holidays! :) Seriously, the sheer busy-ness and activity of the past year just seemed to catch up with me in December and demanded - nay, insisted upon - something different. So while I zoomed down to my parents’ place for a lovely dinner with my extended family, went to a wonderful Indian buffet for Christmas dinner, and attended a fun Kris Kringle party (where my little present went over FAR better than I’d expected!), most of my time was spent at home.
I did a lot of cooking. God, did I do a lot of cooking! And, thanks to the Internet, I can share most of the recipes with you!
“Cream” of Cauliflower Soup (vegan) – I didn’t actually eat this before I froze it or gave parts of it away, but it smelled wonderful, and the little spoonful I tried was very tasty!
Green Velvet Soup – ditto, except that it tasted like it would need quite a bit of salt.
Creamy Potato-Leek Soup (vegan) – awesome, comforting fare. Just add the rosemary to the pot far earlier than the recipe specifies.
Mediterranean Chickpea Salad – pretty good, but I think I would cook the canned chickpeas before adding them to the other ingredients, just to make them a bit softer.
Rustic Red Kale and White Bean Soup – cooking now
I also ate a lot of salad, taking a mixed salad from a bag, adding some young spinach from another bag, adding some honey mustard dressing, and then sprinkling some sunflower and pumpkin seeds on top. Absolutely fabulous!
I’ve also started eating baked sweet potatoes, thanks to my sister-in-law Lisa, who got me hooked on them when I last visited. Holy cow, how was I unaware of such deliciousness until only recently???
And then the bread … my goodness, the bread … I’ve tried a couple of varieties of artisan whole wheat breads, the heavy kinds, cut off generous slices, and toasted it. Absolutely wonderful to dip in a little bit of olive oil, particularly if it’s rosemary-flavoured.
The last four days I’ve spent mostly by myself. Four glorious, recuperative days. I feel like I could go another week alone (hell, a month!) and not mind at all. I’ve slept loads, I’ve gone to the gym and watched the first two Jason Bourne movies and “Arrested Development” on DVD (boy, I love that show … all the irony.) My cat Cleo discovered that I actually can sit in front of the TV for more than 5 minutes at a time, so I had a built-in lap-warmer for much of the time. (If only she weren’t so heavy!)
I’ve spent far too much time surfing the ‘Net, but I also bought a Roomba online – I can’t wait for it to arrive! I also found a few more songs for my workout playlist, including Send in the Drums by James Asher. (Very cool – click on the link to listen to the MP3!) I haven’t done nearly the reading or the meditation that I’d hoped I would, but I have spent some time journaling and considering my goals for 2008, which is great. And today I spent some time watching snow fall – it was so beautiful.
K, folks, there’s a mess in my kitchen that’s not going to clean itself up, so that’s it for me for tonight. Tell me about your holidays! :)
4 comments:
I've been on vacation since the 19th and I did absolutely nothing! I got to catch up on so much sleep, work out, try new recipes (learned to make mock duck, yeah!), watch DVDs and catch up with friends in town. Nice to spend the holidays at home for a change... Happy 2008!
I too spent a lovely, restorative afternoon in the kitchen yesterday, baking. Cinnamon raisin bread, applesauce spice muffins w. nuts, raisins & dried cranberries, and chocolate banana loaf. Mmm, it smelled heavenly in here, and it was good for the soul. I sent most of the food home with a friend, so I had all the benefits of baking without all the caloric temptation.
For many years now, baking and cooking have been my vehicles to achieve calm, experience a satisfying sense of accomplishment, and a way to express my love for family. Not to mention, it's good know that after all these years and that high-pressure career, there's still a bit of the farm girl 4-H Homemaker left in me.
Since we're on the topic of food, here's a great way to roast sweet potatoes: cut into cubes, toss with good olive oil, minced garlic, S&P, and roast, turning once or twice, until nicely carmelized on the outside and luscious on the inside. (Time and temp varies depending on what else is in my oven!) One of my favourite side dishes, especially this time of year.
Thanks for sharing your kitchen adventures! Marlene
Zen - sounds like your holidays were much like mine! Mock duck??? Must have more information!!!
Marlene - cooking and baking are both meditative and comforting, aren't they? Several times over the holidays I questioned why I didn't cook more often! :)
I posted the recipe on my site!
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