I had all kinds of exciting plans for vegetarian cuisine this evening. Pages were bookmarked, shopping lists were made last night...and then came the cough.
A cough that kept repeating itself over and over and over, throughout the night. Eventually came whimpers and requests for cuddles. This of course meant all shopping trips would be cancelled, as I was now going to play Florence Nightingale for the day.
And what can be more nourishing for the invalid than soup? I didn't have much in the way of vegetables, but I did have Lidl to thank/curse for these babies:
I had mixed feelings about them because, well, chestnuts are kind of a pain to cook and peel for other stuff. Usually I cheat and buy them canned or vacuum sealed, but I had grabbed these the other day and figured it was time to tackle them. I didn't use them all, but I did cook them all, so I've got to figure out what to do with the rest. I might see if I can freeze them for Thanksgiving...
Speaking of Thanksgiving, I am already beginning to panic. I've been stupid enough to invite three other families over for the big meal, so I'm already all a-fluster. The cooking is actually not what I panic over - I've done this before and know how to put together and execute a game plan for the big meal. It's the rest of the place. I am absolutely horrible at decor, and I panic that people will think my place looks horrible simply because I am one of those people who genuinely doesn't see mess. I mean, at work, my colleagues and I will walk into the staff room and they will say "my gosh, look at the STATE of this room!" and I will honestly be thinking "um, what is wrong with it?" And when I got to people's houses they apologize for their messes and all I can think is "gosh, this place looks tidier than ours. Crap."
So already I'm trying to clean, I really am, I just fear there will be some glaring messes that my eyes just don't see and that will be what people remember.
So this is what I was muttering about as I made soup. I didn't take photos, because I was letting my daughter play with my ipad (she was pretty excited to get it on a weekday, I can tell you) but I can say I put in shallots, celery, stock, carrots, parsley, chestnuts, bacon, and sage, then whizzed it with a hand blender to produce this:
No, it doesn't look particularly pretty, but it was nourishing and tasty with some toast.
I'm going to go wring my hands some more now.
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