Soup: A Bowl Full of Gratitude

Happy November everyone! I love this time of year because people (including myself) slow down in a good way. We stop in the middle of the mad rush called daily life and count our blessings, we reflect, we express thanks and we hope.

For November my #Letslunch group on twitter chose “gratitude” as the theme. How do you represent “gratitude” through food? I threw this question out to my knitting group and had the most interesting conversation.

Turkey came up, but we all agreed that’s because we associate the bird with Thanksgiving. One friend, Rebecca, said apple pies meant gratitude for her. And I can see that. A freshly baked homemade apple pie is made with a lot of love and smells heavenly…it’s definitely something to be grateful for.

I mentioned Khichuri, the Bengali lentil and rice risotto cooked with spices and sometimes veggies. I’m always grateful when someone cooks a pot and invites me over, and that’s what I cook when I want to love and comfort family.

After some more discussion, soup came up. Rebecca pointed out when people are sick, we tend to make soup, and if we are the one’s feeling under the weather, we are always grateful for soup. When the economy is down or a natural disaster strikes (my heart goes out to everyone suffering on the East Coast), people turn to soup kitchens. And then the Peace Ambassadors annual Valentine’s Lunch at the Soup Kitchen came up. I really love being part of that event…I mean there’s good food, music, chocolate and smiles…what’s not to love?

Yes, I’m grateful to be able to participate, and I’m grateful for everyone who helps make it happen – from the wonderful cook (Mr. Biggerstaff) to all the servers, cleaners, decorators, donors, performers, and all other helpers – and I’m grateful for every person who comes to the event and shares Valentine’s Day with us.

So in the end, we all agreed Soup represents Gratitude best…at least for our little group. And the best kind of soup is made with leftovers and what's handy in the pantry...throw it all together and you get a wonderful one-dish meal.

I used Paula Deen's Lady & Sons Beef Vegetable Soup recipe with some changes: 

a) I married into a hunting family, so I had ground venison sausage on hand and used it for the meat.

b) I omitted the okra and replaced it with zucchini squash I happened to have.

c) I replaced the black-eyed peas with red kidney beans.

d) Instead of elbow macaroni, I used rigatoni pasta.
e) I left out the potatoes because I thought it was too much starch.

This November is the first anniversary of my first published story, The Djinn's Dilemma. Woot! I'm thankful for all the family, friends and newly-met friends who helped bring me to this point. As a result I'm saying thank you by throwing the most AWESOME Birthday Bash I could come up with! :) So go check it out!

May this November find you surrounded by good friends and loving family, good books and, of course, good food!

Also, check out the other Gratitude entrees in today's #Letslunch:

Gratitude – A Cook and Her Books

Gratitude Fried Rice – Spicebox Travels

Gratitude = A Plumb Cake from the Old World – Monday Morning Cooking Club

Pain au levain – GrongarBlog

Enjoy the Moments -- In a Southern Kitchen

Taking Stock

At the beginning of the year, I chose a guiding mantra for myself:

"Live creatively, consciously, healthfully and simply."

About a month ago, I resigned from my full-time day job. It was a scary step, but I took it because I needed to. The bottom line being:

"Live life well and use the time I have on this earth to its full extent."

So now it's time to take stock and see what I've done in my first month of living on my own terms.

Here's the list:

1. Took early morning walks with the Cowboy & puppies.
2. Wrote a novella, and almost done with revisions.
3. Volunteered at my kids' school --a Diabetes walk, an Academic Carnival, and dressing about 80 kinder kids in caps and gowns for graduation pictures. It's amazing to observe my little people in a different enviroment, the nuance of their personalities revealed by their interactions with teachers and peers.
4. Coordinated media coverage about the Association of Asian-American Women's efforts to collect donations for Japan. A sister member, Dong Mei, who's half-Chinese, half-Japanese and 100 percent sweet, led the charge.
5. Returned to help cook at the soup kitchen every Wedneday (while I was working, I basically ended up only doing the large Valentine's Lunch and missed my weekly visits). Many of the old crew still happened to be there and welcomed me back.
6. Spent time in my garden. I now have sweet potatoes, red potatoes and a jicama plant in the ground.
7. Spent hours in our new $16 million library, just soaking it in. Read like books were going out of existence. Mailed out 52 packages of books for a contest I'm helping coordinate.
8. Went on a clutter-busting mission and had a garage sale. Continuing process.
9. Experimented in the kitchen. Pictured is a refreshing watermelon-strawberry drink with mint and lemon juice. Toss everything in a blender, bzzzz, pour & enjoy! For your poetic pleasure: Watermelons by Charles Simic.
10. Enjoyed my back porch, played more, laughed more.

Oh, I also organized my kitchen cabinets, refrigerator & freezer, which led to 3 Tips to a Well-Stocked Kitchen.

Not bad me thinks.

* What I haven't had time for: a pedicure. Sheesh!

The Cowboy & I Cook for Valentine's

The Cowboy and I have a special tradition: we celebrate Valentine's by throwing a party at our local soup kitchen.

Love and food are basic human needs. So what better way to celebrate our love than working together on a project to bring love and food, served with joy and verve, to more than a hundred of our homeless and working poor.

The plus side is we avoid the stiff competion for reservations and long waits at crowded restaurants.

Yes, we do fall into a bone-tired heap at the end of it all...but it's usually in the hot tub with glasses of wine or bottles of beer and each other. A pretty happy ending, by all accounts.

And, best of all, our love grows stronger, deeper, having worked side by side at the soup kitchen and being surrounded by love all day.

You can read about all the great plans for the 2011 Peace Ambassadors' Valentine's Lunch (our sixth) in this article.

To see pictures and stories from last year, click the San Angelo Standard-Times' link.

If you're able to help out in any way, we'd love to have you join us!
Happy Valentine's Y'all!