Soup for 100

Tonight I felt like I was in a chapter of the book Stone Soup. You remember that book, where the guy starts out with a rock and some water, and all his friends brough stuff to make a good soup.

Well I brought the pot, two onions, some old celery, and a bag of Tinkyada fusili. And I still have a large container of soup left, after feeding 83 people and sending a gracious plenty home with two different people.

So here's the short version of the story. I made a minnestrone soup for the Relay For Life Kickoff, which my class always plans and fundraises, and the soup is what the team had on the menu. I'm Italian, and that's an easy one. Two of my classes brough in stuff for the food for tonight, and a few of us made the food. Shoutout to the early cooking crew: Georgia, Rachel, Lindsey, Katie, and Mallory Jones, chopper extraordinaire.

The hard part? Not tasting the food with gluten (three pans of homemade Monkey Bread that Rachel, Georgia, and Katie assembled as I drooled). We did the soup and the spinach dip, and then I let them get to work on the stuff with Gluten.

OK, so to the soup: It was awesome. I was suprised, but it was really good. So here is the recipe for the minnestrone soup I made tonight.

This is scaled down for a big pot of soup.

2 cans of chicken or veggie broth (about a quart of broth)
2 cans of Italian spiced diced tomatoes (around 28 ounces)
one chopped red (or yellow) onion and a half cup chopped celery
1 can each kidney and garbanzo beans
1 can green beans (drained)
1 can drained diced potatoes
2 fresh zucchini, sliced thin

Sautee the onion and zucchini in olive oil and then add all the canned stuff. Season with salt, pepper, garlic salt, and a generous pinch of Italian seasoning (about 2 t.).

Simmer for a couple of hours on the stove. Turn it off, add 1 - 2 cups of Tinkyada fusili and let stand for about 20 minutes. Soup will be perfectly thick and the pasta will al dente (and not mushy at all).

Correct seasoning. Before serving, sprinkle with some grated parmesan cheese.

Much love, and I'm going to drop into a sleepy heap now.

Ging the soup meister

The end of the semester (A Sunday Blessing)

I tried to think of something positive to say about the end of the semester, and here it is:

Next Tuesday, Dec. 4, the semester will be over. Finally.

That's all i got :-)

Much love,
Ging

Now what?

Happy Thanksgiving ya'll. I have plenty of food and leftovers I've made in the fridge, and we had a good time at Pam and Pat's house (where we usually go if in Milledgeville).

The day was not without catastrophe.
•I fell asleep and while I was napping, the water burned out of the lima beans (I have done this before) so it smelled like a fire scene in here -- AND I had to recreate the lima/corn veggies I was bringing.
•My breadmaker "threw up" and the risen dough was all down the side and on the element. I took the dough basket out, loaded the dough into muffin tins, and made rolls. They were good. I think they'll make good ham sandwiches.
•I'm not sure I didn't get glutenated at lunch, but not on purpose. I checked ingredients on all I ate, but I don't know what was on the counter...etc. I feel very yucky now.

Jeffrey had two dinners -- one at his Dad's, one at Pam's -- and got to swim in the hot tub and play cops and robbers with some of his younger friends. We played poker, and I won the final hand, which was about seven bucks. Full house, Kings and Queens.

So we're home. Randy is snoring in the chair, I feel sketchy and am heading to the Pepto and Milk of Magnesia.

I have no pictures. I have some leftovers. And the day is over.

But Much Love and happy day.
Ging

Thai Chicken and Rice

One of my students, Aubrey Nazarro, is a budding young chef, and made me this wonderful dish when I was out with my surgery. With all the talk of Thanksgiving, I thought it might be nice to have a dish that DIDN'T taste of poultry seasoning or pumpkin this week (Flaming Turkey Rolls!)


Aubrey's Gluten-FreeThai Chicken and Rice

White jasmine, texmati, or other white rice
2 tablespoon light vegetable or peanut oil
1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts
1 onion (optional), cut bite size
2 red bell peppers, cut bite size
3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
Gluten free soy sauce
Gluten free hoisin sauce
Hot Thai chili paste
1 green onion sprig, chopped fine
1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup salted peanuts (optional)
A handful of cilantro (optional)
Start rice according to package directions.

Heat oils in large non-stick skillet or wok over high heat. Add the garlic to the hot oil, and watch it carefully so it doesn’t burn. Cut chicken into thin strips and chop into bite-sized pieces. Add chicken and stir fry until golden, 2-3 minutes. Push chicken off to sides of the skillet, and add onions and peppers to the center of the pan. Stir-fry 2-3 minutes, then combine with meat.

Toss a good drizzle of soy sauce, about 4 tablespoons of hoisin sauce, and Thai chili paste (according to your taste) into the mix, as well as the chopped green onion and the basil leaves. Once the leaves have wilted, remove from heat and serve over rice. Garnish with chopped, salted peanuts and cilantro.

It was delicious, and I didn't get glutened. I hated to finish it all up, so I might have to make some more myself.

Much love, and happy Monday!

Ging

The Thankful Meme (A Sunday Blessing)

I have been planning this all week!

All right, all you readers with blogs of your own. I am tagging you and starting this meme, called
"!0 Things I'm Thankful For This Year" Now I don't know why they call it a "Meme," but there was one going around last summer and, though I didn't get tagged, they called it a "meme." So it's a "meme."

I think it is important to remember the good stuff, since the bad stuff seems to weigh us down so much.

So get on those blogs and tell the world why you're thankful this year! And TAG your friends who read your blog. In the end, we'll have HUNDREDS of things to rejoice about, instead of being sad or upset.

10 things I'm thankful for this yea, in no particular order:

1. That I don't have cancer
2. That after going gluten free, I feel better than I've felt in seven years.
3. That I have my Dad. He is 84. (I'm sad today because Martha Stewart's Mother died. They were real close.)
4. That I have my Jeffrey, the best kid in the world.
5. That Tinkyada makes pasta. And Kinnickinick makes cookies like Oreos. And Trader Joe's makes Ginger Snaps. AND THAT JIMMY JOHNSON WON THE NEXTEL CUP FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW! (OK, I just added that!)
6. That we had a wonderful time on our family cruise in July.
7. That I have new babies in my life -- Hendley, Addison, and soon, Tyler.
8. That people actually think my blog is funny. And some people said it helps them. And that I've made friends like Kate, and Carrie, and Steve, and Ginger of the North, and Aleksandra, and Carol, and Cassandra from it. Oh, and The Gluti Girls and Lori in Atlanta.
9. and 10. That I've got Randy. I'm so thankful for him, he's worth two spaces!

Now you do it! Remember why you're thankful this year! if you don't have a blog, post it in the comments. If you don't post in the comments, write it on a piece of paper and stick it to your refigerator!

Much love to you all!
Ginger

A post-scipt: As soon as I posted this and re=read it, I realized that I could keep adding to it for hours and hours. I am blessed with many, many wonderful friends. I didn't mention OLD friends by name, only new GF blogger friends. It was a sin of omission, I promise you. I could easily start with the wonderful friends with names that begin with the letter J.

More thoughts on Thanksgiving

Thanks to all my friends -- both GF and gluten-eating -- i have finally figured out why I'm dreading Thanksgiving so much.

1. It's a holiday solely centered on food -- food that generally I can't eat. Food that I tend to love.

2. It's my FIRST major holiday since going GF.

3, People just don't naturally think to prepare GF food on this holiday, unless they're the ones who are GF. So I have low expectations that food at my friend's house will be stuff I can eat (I am hoping for deviled eggs, potato salad, vegetables. I am hoping the ham is GF. But no mac and cheese, no stuffing, probably no sweet potatoes, and no desserts).

4. I want someone to cook for me. I want to contribute to the meal, but I don't want to cook it all unless I have a table full of people. I am at least blessed that Randy would take me ANYWHERE to dinner if they'd feed me like I needed to be fed.

5. I'm not-so-secretly bummed because I was invited to a totally GF Thanksgiving Feast in Atlanta today, and I couldn't go because Jeffrey's been sick. I think that has been the straw. I was going there, then to Trader Joe's and then to Whole Foods. Instead I'm sitting here watching stupid food shows thinking how I can convert the gluten.

So I'm trying to get a new attitude. I'm leaning toward our still going to Pam's. I'll ask a few questions before I go but I'll pack most of my own meal. I'm going to make the green bean casserole (I test drove the GF one last night,) and I'm going to make myself a BIG pan of dressing (actually, a tiny pan for me to eat at her house, and a pan for us here). I'm also going to make two turkey breast rolls we have in the freezer. I haven't decided about sweet potatoes yet. I'll probably make my congealed salad (because it is so easy). And I willt make some other vegetables, depending on when we're eating. Nothing fancy. I won't spend all day in the kitchen while Randy watches TV and plays Scrabble online. And I'll have some leftovers. He'll get a full meal with all the goodies.

Come to think of it, I'm also going to make a crustless pecan pie and a carrot cake. Yeah. I have all the stuff. I don't need much sweets. Just a little.

And while eating out is always risky, I am going to go more for the social interaction than the food. That is a skill I need to learn.

Truth be told, I have invited EVERYONE I could to our house so we could have a normal looking holiday. My logic was I could make a totally GF meal for everyone, and I'd have my social situation too. It was actually worth it to me to do this. Sadly, no one will come. My Dad and Mary had already made other plans when I asked them; so had another set of friends. And my friend Jess is too bogged down with school projects to come visit. ALL understandable reasons.

So I will do my version of this for Randy and me (Jeffrey won't eat most of this stuff and may be at his Dad's).

But to my gluten-eating friends, I say, YOU try this. There is nothing as frustrating as walking into a social food situation and finding there is nothing you can eat at all. Or having someone tell you, while everyone else is eating hot snacks and sandwiches and such, "well, there's fruit."

And to quote my GF blogger friend Alexandra I should focus this year on how thankful I am -- thankful that I don't have cancer, thankful that I'm feeling better since going GF, thankful that I have ALL OF YOU. Yeah.

It's midnight, and it's time for me to check out of this pity party (thanks, Cassandra. I love that).

I'm going to bake some cornbread for dressing. Jess, you inspired me.

Much love, and I'm working on that bad attitude.
Ging

Thanksgiving. Angst. Would you like some WHINE with that Turkey

All my gluten free friends are swapping recipes and posting menus on their blogs, and I've been thinking about Thanksgiving a lot.

I have a horrible confession to make.

I hate Thanksgiving. It causes me great angst.

This all stems back to the fact that when I was a kid, we rarely did the big "Thanksgiving Day" and I rarely remember Thanksgiving with extended family (last one I remember was when I was in college -- we went to Connecticut in 1974 and 1976).

I spent most of my youthful TDays at Morrison's Cafeteria or the Holiday Inn Buffet. Once in a while my Mom would cook, but there was always so much angst attached to it -- fights over turkey temperature, etc. I mostly laid on the floor and watched the parades. In about 1975, my Mom concocted a "new" family dinner consisting of Countryside Chicken Bake and Yam Baskets Louisianne. She also served corn pudding from the Southern Living cookbook from that. I inherited the tattered, faded recipes for those. I still love those recipes.

Thanksgiving was a big deal in my ex's family, and his mother always killed the fatted turkey for the whole crew. I hated not spending Thanksgiving with my parents, but his folks invited them over, and we all had dinner together. Once in a while I cooked at our house. It was a huge, angst-filled production. That went on for a long, long time. It was OK when we could bring home extra dressing -- I would just open a can of Ocean Spray and I would be happy. But most of it was angst. (I remember really enjoying cooking in 1983. I was in Germany. I was proud of that meal. And one or two in the late 80s, maybe. 1997 we had a lot of fun. But I digress.)

That's it. To me, Thanksgiving meals are a lot of angst. I HATE cooking for Thanksgiving. There. I said it.

The perfect Thanksgivings for the past four years have been with Randy. We always go to someone else's house (Usually my friend Pam, who has a great, crazy family). We bring home leftovers. (Pam doesn't mind sending us home with food). And I don't have to do much work. I have a lot of great home cookin and have fun! And I bring home food in exchange for a side dish or two.

So we're invited to Pam's again, but this year, I'm GF, and this lunch is fraught with cross-contamination danger. Randy said we should just stay here, but I just don't want to cook what I want to eat!

If I have to cook, I'd make turkey breast, my Southern Cornbread Dressing, and a GF modified green bean casserole. But that's about it. And Randy won't eat the green bean casserole. There would be corn. I might make some frozen/refrigerated mashed potatoes. Maybe. But if I mostly want to eat at someone's house, I don't want to have to bring the food I'll eat with me. I can't eat her turkey (she makes a rockin turkey) because she stuffs it, which causes cross contamination. I don't know what is in the glaze of the ham, so I don't know if it's GF. I know all the desserts are out. My favorite food is dressing. Can't have none of that. To me, the greatest thing about Thanksgiving is leftover dressing and that can of Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce.

I guess the bottom line is -- I want someone to cook for me for Thanksgiving. And now, I can't get anything that resembles it without doing it myself. Which I don't want to do.

This is so dreadful! I love food, and I love cooking, and I am THANKFUL, but the thought of making Thanksgiving dinner this year just drives me nuts. I guess I'm feeling a little sad. I can't have my Thanksgiving and eat it, too, anymore.

I'll get over it. I promise. Don't worry, honey. I won't let you starve.

Much love, and I'm sorry I'm so WHINY
Ging