A Chow Life | Foodie recipes and stories from a Seattle kitchen

Archive for the ‘soup’ Category

Food for Snowy Days | Beef Stew

I am no expert in dealing with snowstorms. In fact, I typically do quite poorly when it comes to inclement weather situations. I lived in Chicago for one year and the weather really took its toll on my personal freedom. I wasn’t willing to dig out my car from its parking spot and I didn’t dare take a clear spot from a neighbor for fear of revenge. I was privy to all sorts of stories of tire slashings and neighbor brawls over snow-free parking spaces in the dead of winter. The work that goes into a clearing a space is  notable and, thus, the spots are prized possessions.

I managed to get around without too much difficulty. I took the train. I trudged around in weather proof boots. However, I didn’t cook. The grocery store was an unreasonably long trek. I worried I might just freeze dead in my tracks with my sorry lot of vegetables and tortillas. It wasn’t worth it. I was lucky, however. Chicago is a city where you can order whatever you want whenever you want. Snow? Blizzards? No one, apart from a sad little Californian with a tiny beater pick-up truck, is inhibited by 10 inches…

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Curried Pumpkin Apple Soup | Short Days, Simple Menus

It’s that time again.

It’s time to talk about soup. Well, really, I’m here to encourage you to do a bit more than just talk about soup. How about throwing one together tonight? It’s autumn now and there really isn’t a better time for making such things. Sure, you probably made a couple of summer soups, but aren’t those just sort of a novelty? No cold summer soup can truly stand up to this season’s earthy warm varieties.

It only seems appropriate to begin this soup season with an easy pumpkin soup. Starting at square one, right? This is a simple soup. There are no bells and whistles here. And, there’s good reason. Not only does the soup stand up well in its surprising simplicity, but you can also dress it up at your whim. Dash of paprika? Cumin? It’s up to you. The sky really is the limit when it comes to a basic pumpkin soup.

 

The best part is that you don’t have to deal with fresh squash either. Although I adore roasting a good juicy pumpkin, I didn’t have the heart to take a knife to my newly hunted pumpkins to make the base of this soup. I must be…

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French Onion Soup | Anniversaries + Birthdays

For the most part, I’m feeling more on top of things lately. Sure, there are some extended evenings and a bit of the old sleep deprivation. But such things come with the territory and no one said it was going to be easy. I mean that. No one said anything close to that. In fact, most people were downright apocalyptic when when told them we were expecting a baby.

Needless to say, I have a rhythm to my days with Maeve that seems to work well for us. Every now and then, however, I admit I do feel a bit harried. Just the other day, I was feeling sort of rushed. I was in my car stopped at a red light furrowing my brow and fiddling with the radio dial. My mind was most certainly awash with the complexities of navigating multiple errands in multiple locations in between naps. Just then, I noticed something peculiar. There was undeniably frantic movement in the car ahead of me.  Something wasn’t quite right, but I couldn’t make out what was happening because the driver was hunched over rummaging through something. Just then, she whipped her head up and I got a good look. Middle-aged….

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Simple Mung Dal Soup | Old Boyfriends | New Recipes

My first important boyfriend came into my life during high school. He was important for all the reasons that matter when you’re 16 years old. “A” was beautiful, sweet, drove a cool vintage car, liked the same music, and sported a fabulously hip wardrobe. He also owned a Vespa, which was one of the most direct paths to my heart during those brutal years of black mini-skirts and fishnet stockings.

A was also Indian. He moved to the U.S. when he was 8 years old with his parents and multiple siblings. Although he adopted an American name and did his best to assimilate, his parents worked tirelessly to keep their native traditions alive in their modest South Bay home. Such efforts included building an indoor shrine, wearing traditional clothing, and, of course, cooking Indian cuisine. I loved walking into their home, which was always awash in the deep earthy scents of allspice and curry. It was so comforting and warm.

Not everyone was so enamored with the warm and distinctively Indian smell of their home, however. A’s sister developed a strict routine that was nearly pathological in order to avoid revealing her obvious Indian heritage to the rest of the world….

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