Potato Soup

I typed six goals on September 22.  Five are completed.  I need new ones.


Update on Wally.  He's doing very well.  As a matter of fact he let me scratch and pet him for 5-7 minutes this afternoon...AND...he let me brush his fur.  We're hitting it off pretty good.  

A friend from across town came by to visit.  She stayed for dinner.  The weather was so lovely today that I opened my window and patio door.  Alas, could it be that it's beginning to feel like autumn around here?

Friday nights are the best.  I love how the neighborhood settles in for the evening.  It's quiet outside, except for the occasional loud vehicle...and train.  Things feel peaceful, as if we're all exhaling a sigh that the work week is done.  Let us slowly inhale and exhale before we jump back into Monday.

Here's to lovely times, gorgeous sunsets, serene mornings, good food, favorite friends and unforgettable conversations.

I love to cook.

Frankly I don't need an excuse to cook.  But there is an added degree of pleasure when I cook and a friend or loved one eats my food.  With a nod to the season and the weekend, I decided to make soup and make it a comforting one.

Leek and Potato Soup with (Turkey) Bacon Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Soup recipe adapted from The Complete Kitchen Garden, June 2011

Accompanying cooking music selection: The soundtrack to the motion picture Sideways

Accompanying wine selection (it was the only selection available in (my) house): Voga Italia Moscato

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 medium leeks, white and pale-green parts only, coarsely chopped

3 cloves garlic

5 Idaho potatoes, but into 1-inch cubes

6 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (scant 1/2 teaspoon)

1 bay leaf

Salt and pepper, to taste

In large pot, heat the butter over medium heat.  Add the leeks and garlic and cook, stirring, until the leeks are tender, about 10-11 minutes

Add the potatoes and cook another 4-5 minutes.  Add the broth, nutmeg, and bay leaf.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Cover and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 25-30 minutes.  Remove the bay leaf.

Ladle some of the potatoes and soup into a blender.  Puree until smooth and creamy.  Return soup into the pot.  Ladle some more potatoes and soup into blender and puree.  Incorporate soup back into the pot and give it a good stir, mixing the creamy texture with some of the chunky potatoes.

Season with salt and pepper and serve with a (turkey) back grilled cheese sandwich.  ENJOY!

Prep

Leeks and garlic

Sautéing leeks and garlic in butter

...and potatoes

Leek and Potato Soup with (Turkey) Bacon Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Decisions

I thought about this yesterday:

Anyone can hurt/get hurt, but not everyone climbs out of that hurt and move on with their lives.  I am aware that others have experienced more hurt than I have in my lifetime, and most usually my hurts pale in comparison to theirs.  Yet, I am amazed and in awe of those people who have the fortitude and strength of mind, emotion, to push past the pain.  That phrase is an interesting one: push past the pain.  It seems to indicate that there exists a place beyond the pain.  

It takes no effort on our part to feel sorry for ourselves.  What requires effort is looking beyond ourselves and getting over it.  My friend's one advice to me was: be happy.  We make the decisions for our lives.  I believe for the most part the life we live is a result of the choices we've made.

Today was a scorcher.  We hit the triple digits again.  Upon arriving at my desk I found that my mouse had been abducted once again.  This time a ransom sticky note was stuck to the replacement mouse; it read:

Do you have any cheese? (Signed) Albert the Mouse

Was Albert the replacement or my mouse?

I couldn't find my mouse anywhere in my office.  So I decided to endure.  Never negotiate with a mouse-napper.  That decision paid off, because a couple hours later the napper returned my mouse.

Speaking of mouse...

I visited Wally on my way home from work.  He didn't seem that surprised to see me.  He greeted me tentatively and then rubbed against my legs.  After feeling me out for a bit he allowed me to pet him, rub his back and scratch his ears.  When I fed him he didn't eat.  He was more interested in seeming nonchalant.  Even when I played Stevie Wonder's Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours and danced, he regarded me with a look of boredom.  I did finally managed to engage his interest with a toy consisting of a long stick with a long string and pom-pom thingy at the end.  I flicked that pom-pom and had his head moving side ways and up and down.

Wally

I received a packet from the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in the mail today.  Inside the packet were my season tickets!  (However, I am puzzled as I requested that the tickets be held at the box office.  Nevertheless...)  I am so excited!  "Life is BETTER with MUSIC."  Indeed, it is.

Bass Hall (courtesy of pegasusnews.com)

Oh happy day!  Tomorrow is Friday.  

Missing

Someone took my mouse and replaced it with an ancient one.  Who would do such a thing?

As it turned out my boss knew who took my mouse and hid it.  He even knew the hiding place.  I then reciprocated the gesture on my prankster.  He won't be in the office until tomorrow.  

I got quite a bit done today; it was a quiet day, one without meetings.  My boss, however, was frazzled.  A last minute project got thrown into his lap.  He scrambled to get the pieces in place and almost finished when he had to take his wife to the hospital.  He called me and filled me in on what remained to be done.  For the last hour of the day I scrambled to complete the project.  Thankfully I had assistance from a guy in IT.  I truly appreciate people who know what they are doing.

My coworker who will be going to visit her son in the west coast emailed me a five page document on the care and feeding of her cat, Wally.  It was detailed, complete with vet's number and address and animal emergency room number and address.  Oh boy, what had I gotten myself into?  I told her I would look after her cat while she was away.  I was under the impression that all I had to do was over and feed him and play with him for a bit each day.  The cat has a schedule of when he eats and uses his litter.  I will be waking up early this weekend.  After work I stopped by her place and met Wally.  He is the pride and joy of his owner.  A British shorthair feline with smoky blue-gray fur.  He didn't let me pet him or approach him.  He came to me but only to rub against my leg twice and sniff my fingers.  

A friend of mine remarked this afternoon how she wished we could be going to Grace tonight for their wine tasting.  That would be fun; however, she has to work nights.  We're counting down the weeks, though, to when her nights will be free again.

I finally got home at 7 pm, having stopped at Albertson's on the way to pick up chips for lunch tomorrow and a bottle of moscato by Voga.  I turned on The X Factor and heard Joshua, the guy who throws together a burrito for a living.  He sang At Last...I'd like to listen to an album with his voice on it.

Today is my mother's birthday.  Happy Birthday, Mom!  I wish she was in town.  We could go all over the city and celebrate.

Project that I designed and completed yesterday.

Overwhelmed

This month has been quite challenging.  Change has interrupted my plans at every turn...or so it seems.  I heard a quote last night on television:

If you want to make God laugh tell Him your plans.

This afternoon I cleaned out my office file cabinet.  I keep too many stuff; receipts, theatre tickets, programs, greeting cards, pieces of paper with scrawled notes.  I came across a list of goals; it was drafted in 2009 and was set for a six-month timeframe.  Not everything was accomplished, and some things I had lost interest.  

I want to write again.  The past few months I've let change dictate my life.  I need to do something productive outside my professional life and get the creative juices pumping again.  One of the projects I have given myself is to do is blogging and to do it consistently.  Another project I had was to purchase season tickets to the symphony, which I did a couple weeks ago.  I get quite excited when I say I am a season ticket holder to the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.  

So, here goes...