a soup day

An article in the Washington Post last week titled "6 vegetable-filled soups to help you counterbalance that rich holiday food" caught my eye. It includes several recipes that I immediately thought I needed to try.

Since today was chilly and gray, it felt like a good day for soup.

Today's soup was Apricot and Red Lentil Soup. Red lentils form a favorite soup base, and the addition of apricots sounded interesting. I liked the combination of savory and sweet.

If you're not an apricot fan it seems like using a different dried fruit would be a reasonable change.

photo credit: Goran Kosanovic for The Washington Post

If you're interested in trying this soup, click here for the recipe.

SugarBee

I discovered SugarBee apples today. The apple is a variant of a Honeycrisp, sweet and crunchy.

This description from the SugarBee site made me smile:

One sunny spring day, a honey bee was buzzing throughout Mr. Nystrom’s orchard, collecting nectar and cross-pollinating apple blossoms along the way. The honey bee stopped at an unknown tree and collected nectar and pollen from a blossom. As the day went on, the little honey bee passed that pollen onto a Honeycrisp tree. Little did this bee know its cross-pollination between a Honeycrisp and an unknown variety had just resulted in the beloved SugarBee® apple we know and enjoy today!

apple envy

Today's treat was the taste of Envy apples.

Envy was created by crossing Braeburn with Royal Gala apples, resulting in an apple that is crispy and sweet.

a new apple

I saw an announcement about the impending release of a new apple earlier this year. I've been keeping an eye out for Cosmic Crisp apples; today I saw them for the first time.

Yes, of course I bought some!

The Cosmic Crisp web site opens with the following statement:

Imagine the Possibilities™ The Cosmic Crisp® is a classically bred apple grown in Washington State.

The Cosmic Crisp is a cross between Enterprise and Honeycrisp apples. I don't think I've ever tasted an Enterprise but Honeycrisp apples are on my list of favorites. I'm always up for trying new apples; this one was definitely worth a taste.

Both the flavor and the texture met my taste test - Cosmic Crisp is now on my "must buy" apple list!

early apples

It's apple season!

Yesterday's farm stand stop made me very happy. In addition to the tomatoes, pickling cukes, and squash that I stopped for, there were bins of local apples. Today I had my first taste of this year's Zestar! crop, yummy!

The Zestar! is an apple that was developed by the University of Minnesota. It is described as "an early season apple with a crisp, juicy texture, and an exciting zesty flavor with a hint of brown sugar!".

envy

My latest apple taste treat is the Envy apple. It was created in New Zealand by crossing Braeburn with Royal Gala apples.

I think that the tag line "when you're this good they call you envy" on the Envy Apple web page hosted by the growers in Washington (state) is quite appropriate.

The combination created a crisp, sweet apple with a taste that I like.

spicy guacamole

On Wednesday afternoon I volunteered for a couple of hours at the WBUR Marathon, a 26.2 hour fundraiser with the goal of raising $1,000,000 for the NPR news station. And yes, the goal was met and exceeded!

It was a good experience; I'll happily volunteer there again.

Food was provided for the volunteers and station staff. A late afternoon snack of chips and guacamole was supplied with a huge supply of guacamole; I assume it was donated by the (local) creator. At one point a staff member went through the event room handing out tubs of Chica de Gallo Spicy Guacamole to be taken home. I like guacamole and luckily I like spice as well since this variation was made with ghost peppers. It was a good taste treat!

broccoli Romanesco

When I saw this new-to-me vegetable at Whole Foods I knew I needed to try it.

Resembling a cross between broccoli and cauliflower, Romanesco is a compact head of beautiful lime green florets attached to a cluster of stalks. These florets form a pyramid of spiraling, pointed cones, resembling a small alien Christmas tree. It is sweet with a mild nutty flavor and absent the somewhat pungent flavor of cauliflower. description courtesy of Produce Express

The flavor seems close to but a bit different than cauliflower. I'm glad the color and shape enticed me to buy; broccoli Romanesco is now on my list of must buy vegetables.

Pinata apples

It's been a good season for new-to-me apples.

My latest taste treat is a Pinata apple. It's a cross between three heirloom apples - Golden Delicious, Cox's Orange Pippen, and Duchess of Oldenburg. I find it interesting that even though I don't care for Golden Delicious apples this triple apple combination created a crisp and juicy apple with a taste that I like. I'm glad I decided to try it!

smitten

"Smitten means overwhelmed or struck by something, usually love."

What an amazing name! This is another new-to-me variety of apple, one that is both sweet and crisp. If you see Smitten apples in the store I recommend tasting them. One will not be enough...

Junami apples

I discovered a new taste treat today, Junami apples. According to the US grower, Rainier Fruit,

"The Junami (joo-nah-mee) brand apple was bred in Switzerland. It is a cross between ldared, Maigold and Elstar, and until recently was only grown in northwestern Europe."

It's a nicely crisp apple with a wonderful taste.

soup day

I had quinoa on my mind today; it seemed like a good starting ingredient for a pot of soup. I searched for a starting point, finding a recipe for quinoa corn soup. My soup didn't match the recipe but it made me happy.

Quinoa, carrot, and corn soup:

12 cups water 3/4 cup quinoa 1 can garbanzo beans 1 bag of frozen bi-color corn 8 carrots, sliced cumin coriander red pepper flakes garlic freshly ground black pepper a bit of salt

I combined the water, quinoa, and spices, placing the pot on high heat until the mixture began to boil. I turned the heat to low, cooking the mixture for about 15 minutes. I then added garbanzo beans, corn, and carrots and continued cooking until the carrots were a good texture. Done!

I always make what might appear (to others) to be too much soup. I like having enough to freeze portion-sized containers for later.

It was a rainy day today, a good soup day!