Month: September 2018

Kitty Bliss

Charlie over at Doodlewash set up a September paint-along calendar – something I think he does every month.  September 1st is orange cats.  September is Pet Rocks.  Initially, I thought I would combine the two, but the fact is, Pet Rocks are not in my lexicon of “things I like” so I thought I’d just go with the orange cat.

I think it will be fun to at least get some inspiration from whatever subject near the date I pick up a brush.  Sometimes some structure or direction helps you get off your dupa and get moving.

Have you ever tried drawing animals?  Cats and rats or mice seem to be ones I “get”!

 

A Pile of Peppers

A holiday weekend means connecting with others.  It also is time to spend making massive amounts of food for the next week or so, or even month – cook it up and freeze it.  Here, a pile of ancho chilis waiting to be roasted over a high gas flame, charred and peeled, before joining garlic, onions, tomatillos, herbs, and pork to cook slowly for several hours into a delectable stew.

Little Rags

About a month ago I was browsing through different food blogs and came across what seemed to me to be a perfect dish.  Not Chinese Egg Drop Soup, which is thickened with cornstarch and, to me, rather unappealing.  Not Greek Lemon Egg Soup, which I love, but didn’t have the taste for at lunch – though I do love lemon, and have lemons on the counter top.  What I wanted was something simple and quick and made with ingredients on hand.

Enter Stracciatelle – “little rags” in Italian.  A simple soup that takes about 5 minutes if you have stock, some greens or parsley, an egg, and some Romano or Parmesan cheese.

Besides being easy to make, it is damned fun to say!  The Italian language just lends itself to enTHUsiasm!

Stracciatelle

I made this for myself at lunch – just multiply the amounts for each person if it going to be main meal, or maybe a little less for an appetizer.

1 – 1.5 c. chicken broth
handful of spinach, or some parsley, or some basil
1 egg
2-3 T. grated Romano cheese

Beat together the egg and cheese. Set aside. Put broth in sauce pan, bring to a simmer, dump in the green vegetables. Stir. As you stir, pour in the egg-cheese mixture. Cook until the egg is done and looks like its namesake – little rags.

Serve with fresh pepper and perhaps, if you want, a bit extra cheese.