Soup Simplifies your Life class

Here's the second PPC class I took this week - Soup Simplifies your Life taught by Marie Donadio. It was a hands on class, which was really fun. There were 4 groups that each made a different kind of soup. Marie taught us about making different stocks which we then used in our soups.



I learned about saving scraps in a freezer a few classes back, but Marie added to that knowledge by teaching me to save the peelings and parts of things that I would normally have thrown out. These can all be used in stock. The difference w/ this stock is that you don't super strain it to get out every last drop of stock.

The different soups required different techniques such a sauteing, roasting, and pressure cooking.

We made some miso soup to eat as we were cooking. She does this as a healthy snack when she is cooking and won't make it until dinner. It's really quick to prepare.

Here's the soup:

Pumpkin with Black Bean Soup. Marie had an interesting way of roasting the squash in this soup. She roasted the whole thing in the oven without cutting it. The topping on this soup is a black bean salsa. This might have been my favorite soup of the day. Hard to name a favorite because they were all wonderful.

Split Pea Serenity. This was a really tasty split pea soup. A serving suggestion was to put a piece of garlic bread on top (aka crouton). My bowl sort of looks like a smiley face.

Classic Cabbage Kasha Soup. This soup did not taste like a typical cabbage soup, it was much more delicious. The trick was to saute the cabbage and turnip until it has wilted. It is topped with shredded apple and lemon juice.

Creamy Root Vegetable Puree. This base of this soup was roasted turnip, rutabega, onion, carrots, and garlic. Very filling and delicious.

Here is Peepa in September. You'd think it was the dead of winter since he's all bundled up. He and the Judge don't mind being wrapped up tightly in blankets - which is another worm babysitter. If they are all wrapped up, they won't be crawling all over me.

Vegetarian Holiday Feast class and Hair

I took PCC's Vegetarian Holiday Feast class taught by Birgitte Antonsen. She is the same instructor from the detox class I attended and loved. I really love her cooking. It is very satisfying and filling food that just happens to be really healthy. Here is what she made:

Roasted Marinated Root Vegetable Salad with Crispy Kale. This was really good. It's served cold, so it is good for potlucks. For some reason, the lighting wasn't cooperating, but you get the idea.


Savory Hazelnut and Herb Stuffing in Winter Squash. The depth of flavor was amazing. The key was that Birgitte made her own savory broth. It also has lentils, yum!

Creamy Rice Pudding with Warm Cherry Sauce. It has coconut milk in it, which makes it very rich, yet it was not a filling dessert. Very delicious.

This is a pic of Faline hanging out in the cat pen on my lawn chair last summer. You can just barely see her "tattoo" on her arm. I thought it was her gang symbol since she is such a tough cat, but my vet told me that it was probably hair that grew in after an injury since typically it will grow back in a different color. We checked and sure enough, Faline has a scar there which I had never noticed.

This also happened to Kobie when he lost fur from a skin rash and it grew in black instead of his reddish brown color. So he has spots. Hmmm... maybe he is trying to take over the title of Spotted Devil Cat. In this pic, he's looking up at an airplane and contemplating barking at it. The barks translate to: Don't fly over my yard, you stupid airplane!