A Winter of Soups #3

The latest soup is a smashing success. I cannot take any credit for this one. I followed a recipe (despite having claimed to learn that recipes are evil after the parsnip soup disaster). I found the recipe on a site called Molly's Soup Blog (http://mollyssoupblog.com/?p=92) and it is now solidly a cataloged as one of my winter go-to dishes. 

I had some doubts as I began to prepare this soup - African Sweet Potato and Black Bean. It seemed to be entirely composed of things I didn't much like (sweet potato and black beans being among those things). However, the smell was delicious. The taste was even better. I'm on day three of eating this soup - it made quite a bit for one person - and not tired of it yet (which is good, because I still have a lot). I gave some to my partner in crime, as a thank you for the loan of his pot (which I still have not returned), and he has given his stamp of approval as well.

Classes continue to stampede forward. It's the time of the semester when I'm trying desperately to motivate myself to write and get some drafts finished early enough to actually make them good before the deadline.

The latest minor triumph is that I have successfully had my section changed from its location in the Gym to a new location in an actual classroom building. This is more convenient for me, for my students, and for actual teaching.

Two weeks until Thanksgiving.

A Winter of Soups #2

Parsnips are an underrated vegetable.

I actually used a recipe this time.

It was . . . not great.

Lesson learned? Don't bother with recipes?

A Winter of Soups #1

Those of you who know me well may be aware of my distant relationship with soup. I've never been able to quite convince myself that I love soup, even though I've eaten several delicious soups. This winter, I have determined to give soup a fighting chance to win me over. Of course, I promptly undermined soup by not using an actual recipe.

Curried Carrot and Chicken Soup

Carrots (un pound-ish)
Chicken broth (2 cups? 3?)
Curry spice blend (tablespoonish)
Chicken (two bits)

Basically, I simmered the carrots in the broth until they were squishtaculent. Then I blended in the blender (a bit at a time) until mushdelicisauce. This is where the broth number gets lost, because I added more at this point to help with the blend process.

Once I had the base finedandy, I plunked in the chicken, let it simmer a smidge. Then I added the curry powder and some carrot chunks for texturelation. Simmer till awesome.

Still delicious. Earned the JB stamp of approval. Next time, I'm dreaming of something with parsnips.