More on Pets

I've found the perfect motivator to get the kids to pick up their stuff:  an incontinent cat.

Pet Swap

We've officially swapped our fish for mice.  The enthusiasm that followed our first mouse sighting was quite memorable.  Clara was tingling all over.  She dove head first into the pantry to try to get her hands on them.  Although June hasn't seen them, she tells everyone about them.  I guess it's a positive sign that in her excitement, she forgets to mention the dead fish.

Winter Soup Stride

It has been cold here lately, and I've hit my winter soup stride.  I am no award-winning cook.  In fact, time in the kitchen was one of the many things I didn't factor in when I went for four kids.  But, here we all are.  And I spend a lot of my time in the kitchen.

Jeff is a good stove-top chef.  Really good.  (Something I DID factor in when I married him.)  He's creative, quick and has a great sense of timing.  (In fact, that's a decent description of his personality, too.)  As a result, he's usually in charge of the main course for our holiday dinners.

I, on the other hand, specialize in cooking that gives you wiggle room.  Like things that won't burn if you leave them simmering an extra 30 minutes.  Or things that don't require exact measurements and such.

So, I make soups in the winter, pull together pretty raw food in the summer, and bake all year round.  Here in the thick of winter, I'm on a soup-making frenzy.  In the past 2-3 weeks, I've made:

• salmon chowder
• carrot soup
• lentil soup
• black bean soup
• chicken noodle soup
• white bean and kale soup, and
• butternut squash & pear soup

Again, I am no expert, but Gourmet Magazine is.  Here is a rough translation of their salmon chowder recipe that is always a hit:

Boil some potatoes, cut into little cubes, in milk, and then simmer (for however long you want); Saute an onion in butter; Cook salmon on top of that.  Put the salmon to the side, but add the onion (plus a little flour) to the milk and potatoes.  Cut up the salmon and add it to the other stuff.  Add a little smoked salmon.  Add some sea salt and pepper, and a whole bunch of dill.  The end.