crucible of ennui

Before I get to the soup, Catherine is sick. Babylove has the flu and is feeling pretty low. She goes between the living room and her room resting and reading and watching a movie or two.

Peggy inspired me with her lentil soup and I dug around and realized I had everything to make my own so here goes.

1 lb lentils - I ended up using greenish ones.
8 cups liquid - I used 4 cups beef stock, 4 cups water
16 oz diced crushed smashed pureed whatever tomatoes
1 medium onion chopped
1 cup carrots - I had a bag of julienned carrots left over and just chopped them up a bit
BACON!!! okay… use anywhere from 2 slices (wimp) to 6 slices of BACON!!!
3 tbsp parsley
2 tbsp wine vinegar
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp pepper
1 clove garlic - minced
2 1/2 tsp salt - I didn’t add salt since I used beef stock. If you use all water, add the salt

Saweet - lentils don’t need to be soaked beforehand so rinse them and throw them into the crock pot. Yep. Crock pot. Add liquid, tomatoes, BACON!!!, everything else.

I’m going for 4 hours on high. I may add an additional 2 hours on medium/low if it needs it. So far it smells pretty good. I had some cheddar topped sourdough in the freezer that I pulled out.

I hope this works and Cat eats a bit. She hasn’t eaten today. She’s been able to keep her fluid intake up and everything, but she’s sick. And Mongo won’t leave her side. He’s such a good and loyal boy.

Me to bff: Remember when you shit yourself?

Bff: Which time?

And that’s why I love her.

Catherine: Oooo - I’m going to marry that guy!

Me: Who? The guy on TV?

Cat: YES!! He’s sooo cool and handsome!

Me: Baby, that’s Darth Vader…

Cat: YEAH! I wanna marry Darth Vader!!

Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, little Cat.

Me: Cat - what’s the worst hockey team ever?

Cat: You.

Damnit. She did it again.

Rotten smartass kid… just like her mama.

Did you ever have a pair of shoes that you never, ever wanted to give up?

Did they make you feel like a princess in a fairy tale or complete every single outfit you could throw together?

Obviously you were thinking of your red mary janes.

Perfection in shoe engineering.

Some ladies have a wardrobe of black shoes: pumps, wedges, flats, loafters, sling-back mules, open-toed spectators, ankle mid-calf and hip boots. The list could go on forever when you include construction materials.

Black is great. It’s a wardrobe staple. But so is red.

Each spring I fix in my mind the perfect pair of shoes that will carry me through the summer. They have to be fun and go with skirts and jeans. I should be able to wear them to work or shopping on the weekends. I need no-brainer shoes.

I need new red mary janes.

December always starts out with Tamale Weekend and it was totally the best ever this year. My favorite tamales were Peg’s Poblano chile, corn and cheese one. Second were my green chile chicken tamales. I still have a few left to enjoy later this month. I horde them, like precious nuts to a greedy squirrel.

This year I felt pretty confident we knew what we were doing.

This Green Chile & Shredded Chicken filling could be used for burritos or soft tacos or taco salad (you see where I’m going with this…) And the recipe is stupid easy. You know I’m lazy and found a way to do this with minimal effort.

4 cups shredded chicken
6 tablespoons chili powder
4 tablespoons chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cilantro
1 small can chopped green chiles or 1/2 cup

Seriously - pick up 2 roasted chickens from the deli area at the market. Pick them chicken, shred that meat and you will have 4 cups shredded chicken. Mix all ingredients well and set aside. The filling can be made 2 to 3 days ahead and kept in the refrigerator. The flavor is amazing.

I think my favorite part of Tamale Day is the working women dynamic. The stories and jokes fly, loud cackling. Women being women. I think that next year I’m going to give up manning the stove and work more on assembly. I may have control issues with it, so I’m going to step back and let someone else go for it.

I love feeling the masa in my hands and wrapping the tamales. I always wrap mine con amore (and a little bit of spite).