After that New Year's week of warm resulting in (eek!) naked gardens, it started snowing yesterday afternoon and went through the evening.
This morning it was back to being a winter wonderland! Waaaay nicer to look at than dormant grass, leaf litter and spent stalks. It's supposed to flurry on and off for the next week or so with daytime temps in the 20s. That'll keep the snow cover on the perennials.
I don't even mind that I'll have to sweep the deck and shovel or blow the driveway. There's always something hot in the kitchen waiting for me when I get in. While others bake when it's cold outside, I'm driven to make soup. Lots of soup. All kinds.Over the holidays I discovered that kale is NOT nasty, but really good (and jam packed with nutrients) so I've been finding ways to use it. I saw a recipe for white beans and kale stew on another blog (sorry, I was blog hopping and don't know whose site it was) and it sounded delicious. Lucky me, I didn't have to start from scratch. I had previously frozen some of my savory ham & bean soup, so when I heated it up I threw in a couple handfuls of chopped fresh kale, added a splash of balsamic vinegar and a pinch of hot pepper flakes and let it cook down a bit. Voila! Serve with chunks of home made multi-grain Irish soda bread and I'm back to winter cozy... As Rachel Ray would say - YUMMO!
(Click this link to peek at my recent butternut squash soup over on the vegetable page.)
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(Use links on top of sidebar to view my other garden pages.)
(Use links on top of sidebar to view my other garden pages.)
The garden looks so lovely with the snow...gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteWe had some Black Eyed Pea and Ham soup on New Year's Day. Supposed to be good luck here in the South. I used leftover ham from Christmas and it was awesome. Put a dash of Texas Pete in it before you eat it? Wooo-eee!
ReplyDeleteLove it.
I love the snow; we are in line for some very cold weather and possibly snow in a few days.
ReplyDeleteWould you believe I just ordered a new soup cookbook! I found it on another blog "Granny's Mountain". It was written by a local/native woman so it peaked my interest.
Found it on Amazon (it is out of print now)...also got a cornbread cookbook the blog talked about.
Dairy Hollow House Soup & Bread Cookbook and The Cornbread Gospel, both by Crescent Dragonwagon. Don't you love her name.
I have never tried kale or grown it. Italians use it with white bean a lot. You soup sound wonderful, especially in the cold, windy weather.