My Colourful Winter Vegetable Soup

my soup

Dark red cherries for 100TL per kilo! I couldn’t believe my eyes. That’s about 40 pounds! I was in trendy upmarket Bebek along the Bosphorus on the European side  two days ago and a greengrocer or manav as they are called here, had his wares spilling out onto the pavement. Such unseasonal produce! Strawberries, baby artichokes, plums, green tomatoes and these cherries. It will be very sad I think if Turkey loses the rhythm of the seasons in terms of produce but I suppose in time, it will happen. But right now I am not prepared to be swayed.

Meanwhile, along with lentil soup, here is another of my faithful soupy seasonal stand-bys. Again the familiar market vegetables, carrots, potatoes, and leeks, but this time in liquid guise. Whenever we go to Assos, I make sure that I have these handy so that I can quickly make this soup the next day for lunch.  Soups like this improve the longer they wait as the tastes get better and better so make enough for the next day at least. A nice warming family soup ideal for this time of year.

Ingredients

Serves 6

2 - 3 carrots, sliced or diced, depending on size

3 medium potatoes, diced

3 leeks, sliced and washed very carefully

Handful dried mung beans (optional)

Knob of butter + 1 tbsp olive oil for sauteing

Chicken stock cube (or powder)

Handful little pasta shapes/şehriye, or 1 tbsp rice

8 cups of water

Salt and coarsely ground black pepper

Lemon wedges to serve

Method

·         Peel, slice/dice, and wash the vegetables.  Melt the butter and add all the vegetables. Gently saute for 2 minutes and then add the water and stock cube. Give it all a good stir.

very healthy

•  Gradually bring to the boil and then turn the heat down so that the soup is not boiling too fiercely. Add the dried mung beans if using.  Half cover with the lid. Let cook till the vegetables are done: about 35 minutes. After 20 minutes, add the little pasta shapes or rice and complete cooking. Check the seasoning.

here it is

• Serve with the lemon wedges. Lemon juice goes very well with this soup.

Tips

1. Adjust the amount of water according to how you like your soup. Personally I like mine thick!
2. Şehriye are great for adding a little interest. I like the little flower-shaped ones.

Afiyet olsun!

A Little Pop Music

... from 1930.

This is from the Marx Brothers' Animal Crackers, written by Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar and performed by Lillian Ross, Hal Thompson and Harpo Marx. It's one of my favorites.

The Road less travelled...

Memories of September trip to Provence, France.  The road to St. Remy de Provence

Memories.  That is one of the reasons I love to travel.  I carry around so many visual images of the places that I have seen.  There are so many more places that I would love to see.  I carry around visual images of those unseen places as well.

The skies are grey and cloudy today.  I have finally finished putting away all of the holiday decorations.  
What a chore.  
School work is wrapping up for Friday. 

TGIF.

Just about every Friday we do the same thing around our house.  Order a pizza and watch a movie.  Its a wonderful thing to look forward to each week.  I certainly don't have party type kids.  They are perfectly content to hole up and watch movies or read.  
I know. 
Weird kids.  
But they aren't much different from their mom and dad. 

The road less travelled.  That is the path I seem to always be looking for.  
I don't know why.  
I'm going to take a road less travelled of a different sort this weekend.

Riley and I went to Whole Foods for lunch today (another Friday ritual). 

We decided to attempt to make a dish that I would not have thought of making.  Riley saw it on this cooking program we have been watching. The program is called 
"The Take Home Chef".  
This adorable guy from Australia who has studied cooking for many years at top restaurants in London, goes to high end grocery markets in L.A., picks out a (usually equally adorable) shopper, goes home with her and makes dinner for the family.

Well.

He made lamb shanks.  
"Let's do it, Mom."  
"That looks really good."

Quite amused by this newfound interest in cooking in my very tech-y, computer-minded son, I jumped on it.  

"Why not, Riley?"

Let's do it.
This is my kid who gets woozy over the sight of ground beef.  
Today, at Whole Foods, he was standing knowledgeably in front of this huge beef counter, articulating very certainly that he would like four lamb shanks, please.

So.

Tomorrow.  
The road less travelled for me in the kitchen.

Braised Lamb Shanks.

Stay tuned, I'll try and post a photo.

Right Now, the Sun is High and the Tide is Low

... and I'm out filming sea creatures! I hope to have some good results to share some time this weekend.

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one of wish fulfilled in 2011

its just 1st of January 2011

and I started to make memories again with you..

like what we did 7 years ago.. ♥

A Little More on Chinese Parenting

Amy Chua responded to some questions on her article in the WSJ about Chinese parenting vs. Western parenting. Here was a particularly interesting one.

Your method may work with children with a native high IQ—but demanding that kind of excellence from less intelligent children seems unfair and a fool’s errand. Demanding hard work and a great effort from children is the best middle ground we can reach philosophically, isn’t it? Your thoughts?
Jokes about A+s and gold medals aside (much of my book is tongue-in-cheek, making fun of myself), I don’t believe that grades or achievement is ultimately what Chinese parenting (at least as I practice it) is really about. I think it’s about helping your children be the best they can be—which is usually better than they think! It’s about believing in your child more than anyone else—even more than they believe in themselves. And this principle can be applied to any child, of any level of ability. My youngest sister, Cindy, has Down syndrome, and I remember my mother spending hours and hours with her, teaching her to tie her shoelaces on her own, drilling multiplication tables with Cindy, practicing piano every day with her. No one expected Cindy to get a PhD! But my mom wanted her to be the best she could be, within her limits. Today, my sister works at Wal-Mart, has a boyfriend and still plays piano—one of her favorite things is performing for her friends. She and my mom have a wonderful relationship, and we all love her for who she is.

Hmmm. That's more balanced than Amy appeared at first. I'm still not completely sold, but this gives a better understanding of the foundational principles and I have to say I agree with them.