Plane Snow

I have done nothing this weekend.
I thought about sewing.
I read some patterns.
I watched several episodes of Upstairs, Downstairs. Some of the early 70's episodes and then season one & two of the 'modern' one. So funny to see the difference in TV styling. Back in the 70's, the actors/actresses sported their 70's hairstyles , the faint Laura Ashley inspiration in dress and a weebit toned down 70's makeup. The 'modern version tries to replicate the 1930's styles in makeup and hairstyles more. I suppose that's why we all love Downton Abbey. The story lines are slight but the styling is amazing.

After getting home safely Saturday morning before the truck bozos came out of the woodwork to make driving in the ice and snow more of an adventure, I hunkered down.
We had several neighbors succumb to cabin fever who declared they had no food in the house and had to go out driving in the ice & snow. I'm always amazed. The Willamette Valley has soft seasons. Our one big winter storm may incapacitate most people but it only lasted 3 1/2 days! people. We are not the eastern part of the united states in our 4th month of winter storms, nor are we Minnesota in the minus whatever degrees for days/weeks on end. We will be at 46' tomorrow. Spring will be blooming by next week.

Anyway, we didn't lose power, we had food, we had entertainment, we can occupy ourselves when conditions outside are not optimal. My birds were fed, the arthritic dog stretched some muscles, we took some walks, we read the Sunday paper today (didn't arrive yesterday). I love living here with our soft seasons.

Cream of Roasted Cauliflower Soup - non dairy, wheat, soy

 I've taken photos of my cream of broccoli soup and it looks green. Suffice it to say, cream of cauliflower looks --well --it's not photogenic. Really.

If you have been dreaming of Cream of Cauliflower soup, here's a version I did on instinct.

CREAM of ROASTED CAULIFLOWER SOUP

1 head CAULIFLOWER
1 quart Stock - I used homemade beef stock
THYME - 1 tsp.+
TURMERIC - 1/4 tsp
SALT
OIL - I used Hazelnut Oil
ARTICHOKE HEARTs in water. I used western family - 1/2 can ~7 oz.
Can of COCONUT MILK - I used Thai Kitchen 13.66oz

Cut your Cauliflower into chunks and place on baking sheet. Drizzle a bit of oil over Cauliflower. Place under broiler ~ rack at about  5" down. Broil/roast for about 10 minutes(?), turning a couple of times. Goal is to get some flavor into the cauliflower - not to make blackened cauli soup.

Meanwhile, heat stock in 3qt saucepan, add teaspoon+ of Thyme and 1/4 tsp of turmeric. Maybe some salt. As soon as cauliflower is roasted enough, add to pot and place lid on to steam cauliflower until tad past tender. -- 20 minutes? During the last five minutes or where cauliflower is about to go tender, add the artichoke hearts. We want them to go past tender too.

Turn off heat and mush with your blender stick and blend. If you need to throw it into a blender - go for it. I am loving my blender stick for these kind of soups.

At this point, you can add any kind of milk you can tolerate. Dairy and Soy are my nemesis's. Coconut milk is tolerable. Blend more until it is as thick & creamy as you desire.

Garnish with a bit of Romano cheese grated on top.

No idea why adding the artichoke hearts popped into my head -I guess I was thinking they would neutralize the strong cauli taste but I worried they would leave long stringy things. Steaming them until past tender took care of that worry. By the time you add the milk, it all works together.

RE: Oil. Use any oil that you have. Olive oil would work here as well as Walnut oil.  Grapeseed Oil too. This is what I had open.

Re: Milk. The 'fresh' coconut milk in the fridge had gone bad - they sell it in such big containers. I actually like the cans better - about two cups. I think if I made this again, I might use just a cup and see how it tastes.

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I've got lots to say in the blog but all my thoughts are really random, seldom finished. They are in progress.

The following could have gone into another post, but there are no photos, it's really random, needs to be written down to get it out of my head.

I have a serious addiction to Grimm going on. Thank God for Hulu TV. The little tv I do watch tends towards BBC productions and locally made shows. Movies put me to sleep which I reserve for those days when I am not feeling functional.

I am on Episode 5. During the first episode, I was thinking it was a little crazy scary in a Steven King way but I distracted myself by looking for Portland landmarks. However, when the mail carrier showed up - I got hooked. This fifth episode had  great shots of the St. John's Bridge - which my grandfather helped build. Grandpa was a steel worker.

I will probably have to watch this series again as it was filmed here in Portland and it's full of trivial pursuit-type film locations.

I had the last couple of Mondays off for the Christmas and New Year's holidays. I had time to relax and I prepped for it by checking out a few books from the library. Now it seems that I need someone to come tell me to move my butt as I am having a great time reading and watching shows on the internet. It appears I am doing nothing at all.

On New Year's day, I watched all four of the Downton Abbey episodes. The first three were on PBS.org  and the fourth was on real TV - as in - I stayed up to watch the fourth episode at 9pm.

I have made one item since New Years as a thank you to someone who sent me fun presents from Japan. She is a new friend for me and lives on Awagi Island. Waiting to post on that one.

I know I have been busy but it has been at a slower pace. I managed to take down the Christmas ornaments and sort through to make a box each for my daughter and son. I plan on mailing it to them when they turn 30. Hopefully they will be situated by then and get all teary-eyed at unwrapping christmas ornaments they made in second grade  (macaroni pasta christmas tree anyone?).

I hope anyone who reads this had a chance to slow down too. It feels good once in a while.