November 6, 2008

irst thing this morning I am using a #22 syringe needle to pull some nasty slivers out of my hands which have been lurking under my skin for days to weeks now from my new job. They are so fine that you do not realize they are actually there until the area gets swollen & red and then the needle scrapes across it. I always have a supply of syringe needles for this procedure as they are sterile and sharp. Sewing needles HURT!

As I am taking pieces of wood out of my hands, it started snowing. I was planning on going and donating a ton of beverage cans to a local charity, but I think I will hold off until I see what the snow amount is going to be. It is technically supposed to be my day off, but due to the long weekend, I always have to double the work to get the newspaper out. So in a way I get the holiday off, but I have to do double the work in order to get that day. I get my work around 5 pm tonight, so that means I will be working all night, go to the 'splinter job' Friday, get home and then work all night on the paper, and then most of Saturday. Sunday and Monday "off". That said, we are roughing in the walls to the new bathroom. 

I made 2 kinds of soups last night. The asparagus was good over the pasta, but lacked something on its own. Maybe more asparagus? I will have to try again in the spring. 

The Asparagus Soup has:

About 30 spears cooked and left over from Tuesday night's dinner, chopped up
1 large onion chopped
1 tb butter
5 cups organic chicken stock
a splash of milk and after it cooks for awhile use a hand mixer to make smooth.
I added a bit of Cajun spice seasoning.


The other soup is one of my fav mushroom soups

4 stalks organic celery chopped fine
2 organic carrots chopped fine
1 medium onion chopped fine
sauté those in a bit of butter, then add...

Enoki, Shitake and Portabella/Crimini mushrooms chopped fine in any amount. 4 cups of chicken broth and then I added the Cajun spice since I still had it out. Put a couple of garlic cloves in. Then toss a couple few mushrooms in that are whole or slightly chopped if they are too large. I didn't puree the soup this time, but if I do, I haul the large stuff out, puree the mixture and then pop the other large stuff back in. I feel it makes the soup a little thicker/heartier than it would be otherwise. Sometimes I add a splash of milk.