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A soupy kinda day...




Bless the skies.  It finally rained today!

The morning has been beautiful and the smells outside the window are refreshing.


Mr. Urban, the girls and I took a drive in the rain, listened to vintage French songs,  and marveled at the beauty around us, at these foothills, the old wooden fences for miles...  I hoped that we all remember this day, this smell, this drive, years and years from now.  Everyone was taking it in for a long time (until some of us just couldn't any more).  

Later we made our first fire of the year in the fireplace and enjoyed cups of soup that I made for the girls' weekly soup.  The soup was a new variation of the same-old but it hit the spot nicely.

Life has been chock full of newness and excitement, every day.  No matter how some days can be completely hazy from the fatigue of the flu that never leaves us or the unsteadiness that comes from lack of sleep, every day has thankfully brought its gifts.  Singing New Songs, Saying New Words, Blowing Kisses, Writing Words, the amazement that comes from the realization that you can Read, Standing on Two feet, Finding your Curiosity and then Nurturing it by examining the contents of every last closet, drawer, purse, bag, wallet, nook and cranny, Starting New Schools, Making New Friendships....  Newness and Possibilities.


I have had most days to practice balance and grace, to hold home and everything outside into my embrace and not cringe at the site of my own blunders... to say NO and hold still for the consequences, and say Yes to previously un-thought of prospects and be surprised by my own and my loved ones' limits and flexibility.... 


It's all perspective.  We can change how close or how far we stand.  I can never seem to remember that, but when I do all seems to fall right into place...

The New Same-Old Soup
1/2 cup Green Lentils
1/3 cup fast cooking Bulgur
1/2 cup White Quinoa
Organic Chicken drumsticks
Diced  Onions, Carrots and Celery
2 hand fulls of Spinach
Salt to taste

Throw the chicken, onions, carrots, celery into a cast iron pot filled with water and let it boil for 10 minutes.  Add the washed lentils and quinoa and let it cook for 25 minutes before adding the bulgur (if is is fast cooking). After 10 minutes add the Spinach on the top of soup but don't stir it into the soup.  After 5 minutes place the wilted spinach and some of the other vegetables that come to the top of the soup into the blender and blend them into a fine paste.  Throw away the drumstick.  Pour the vegetable pure back into the pot of soupy goodness.  Serve with a dash of Olive oil and a squeeze of lemon or lime to your taste.

(Note the grains should be al dente when the soup is ready and not too soft or mushy). 




Comments

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