Cooking October Soup

Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

2 onions, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3 carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 celery ribs, sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 bay leaves
2 bone-in turkey thighs, skin removed
Salt and pepper
1 cup long-grained and wild rice blend
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

1.  Microwave onions, garlic, tomato paste, oil, and thyme in a bowl, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened; transfer to slow cooker.

2.  Stir broth, carrots, celery, and bay leaves into slow cooker.  Season turkey with salt and pepper; nestle into slow cooker.  Cover and cook until turkey is tender, 6 to 8 hours on low or 5 to 7 hours on high. Add rice during last hour of cooking.

3.  Transfer turkey to cutting board, shred meat into bite sized pieces, discard bone and bay leaves.  Remove any fat from the surface with a large spoon. Return turkey meat to pot. Stir in parsley. Adjust salt and pepper as needed.


This is very good with a salad and toasted sourdough bread.

Saturday Poetry October 3

In a Country Once Forested by Wendell Berry

The young woodland remembers
the old, a dreamer dreaming

of an old holy book,
an old set of instructions,

and the soil under the grass
is dreaming of a young forest,

and under the pavement the soil
is dreaming of grass. 

insomnia

Today has been a more or less total write-off. I had a bout of insomnia last night and only went to sleep around 3:30 this morning and woke up at 6:30.  I got up and did the usual morning chores and went with JMM to do the weekly grocery shopping. Back to bed for a 2 hour morning nap. Up for lunch and back to bed for a 2 hour afternoon nap. Let's hope that all this napping today doesn't keep me awake tonight. 
When I went to the doctor last month for my annual physical, I mentioned my problem with insomnia and he recommended a therapist for cognitive behavior therapy. Guess I had best check into it. I am pretty sure my Humana Gold Medicare Advantage will not cover it but que sera. 

Goals for Next Wewk

Goals for Next Week

Quilting

     Layer and baste quilt

Reading

     Coolidge by Amity Shlaes

     Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty (Audio CDs)

     The American Way of Poverty by Sasha Abramsky

Cooking

     Sour Cream Muffins with Raspberries and Walnuts

     Slow Cooker Beef and Noodle Soup

     Chicken and Snow Peas Stir Fry

     Tuna Salad Sandwiches

Home

     Frame Italian Door Pictures (If frames come in)

     Garage--vacuum cobwebs and wash windows and blinds

Personal

     Continue learning iMac

     Chico's

Around OakMeadows

Once the rain stopped (and thunder and lightning), the weather has been glorious!  Cool days with no humidity, bright sunshine, and cool enough to need a blanket if you leave the window open.  Sometimes I think we are the only people in America who sleep with the windows open.  Needless to say, when I was growing up everyone slept with the windows open unless it was really, really cold (which didn't really happen all that often in Galveston.)  I wouldn't want to go back to the days of no air-conditioning but when the temperatures drop, it is lovely to have the window open. 

There will be no pictures until I get my new iPhone 6P and learn how to use it and learn how to load pictures onto my brand new iMac. The Mac is a real learning curve for me and I am slowly working my way through Switching to the Mac by David Pogue.  If that doesn't work, there is always Mac for Dummies.  Anyway, I hope to have learned enough to be fairly proficient by the end of the year....which really isn't thwt far off. 

I finished my quilt top (sorry no pictures).  Tomorrow I am going to buy the batting and maybe get the backing pieced together Saturday.  The quilt is for the queen-size bed in the guest bedroom and measures 7 feet 3 inches by 8 feet 3 inches, an odd size but I wanted it to cover the frame on each side. Anyway, I anticipate I will need to buy a king-size batting and trim it to fit. 

I finished 2 really good books recently: Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford and The Care and Management of Lies by Jacqueline Winspear (which I listened to on audio).  I tried reading The Memory of Old Jack by Wendell Berry but didn't like it because it was just to poignant and melancholy and I really don't yearn to go back to the land and the old ways. I love his poetry and his prose is beautiful but the story was not my cup of tea. 

Cooking this week included an Applesauce Raisin Spice Cake. I think I have already posted the recipe for this. The smell of the cake in the oven just smells like autumn with the nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. I also made Chicken Parmesan and one night I used my George Foreman Grill to grill steaks and made garlic mashed potatoes and steamed green beans to go with them. 

We went to our POA meeting. The Association finances are in really good shape and we discussed the Halloween Hayride and the Christmas decorations for the subdivision. Joe asked about the New Year's Eve progressive dinner but that is still rather nebulous.  We are still moving ahead (albeit at a glacial speed) on the high speed internet cable project. Maybe by next June....

Kittens are growing and are such little individuals. Both are sweet and good and have never made a pee or poo anywhere other than in their litter box.  Our older two cats have reacted very differently to them. Bandit, the head cat, is very tolerant and puts up with a lot before he smacks them into line but Misty, the only female, can't stand the sight of them--she hisses and spits and then disappears into the attic when she sees them. Oh well...

Cooking October Muffins

Sour Cream Muffins

Non-stick spray or paper muffin cups

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup sour cream (regular, low-fat, or nonfat)

2/3 cup milk (regular, low-fat, or nonfat)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and place rack in the center of the oven.  Prepare muffin tins by either lining with paper cups or spray with non-stick spray.

2.  Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

3.  In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sour cream until smooth, then whisk in the milk and vanilla extract.  Stir in the flour mixture with a wooden spoon until incorporated.

4.  Fill the prepared tins 3/4 full.  Bake for 18 minutes, or until tops are lightly browned and smooth.

5.  Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes before removing muffins from the tins. Cool 5 more minutes before serving.

Endless variations:

Banana Walnut Muffins--Add 1/2 cup dried banana chips & 1 cup chopped walnuts with the flour.

Blueberry Muffins--Add 1 cup dried blueberries with the flour.

Cherry Muffins--Add 1 cup dried cherries with the flour.

Chocolate Chip Muffins--Add 1 cup semisweet or milk chocolate chips with the flour.

Cranberry Muffins--Add 1 cup dried cranberries with the flour.

Meditations October 2

"Animals are not just living things; they are beings with lives. Next time you are outside, notice the first bird you see. You are beholding a unique individual with personality traits, an emotional profile and a library of knowledge built on experience. What you are witnessing is not just biology... but a biography."

(Jonathan Balcombe)
Charles Littleleaf Native Flutes