Soup, salad, shrimp and cat

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So, I'm looking out my kitchen window a few days ago, and I see this: Nutmeg scaling the roof of the garage. After this photo was snapped, he considered throwing himself into that forked tree -purposefully and deftly of course- but decided instead to perch on the very spine of that roof and sit a spell. Not two minutes later he was running pell-mell down the slope and then he disappeared. I was worried until a friend said, "Well, you don't often see cat skeletons in trees." Nutmeg showed up at the front door of our home a half-hour later.

Cats. It's all that can be said. And I love them, and him, for that. He is so damn sure of himself!

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Hubs has worked late every night since whenever I last saw him. I think that was Sunday. Poor guy caught my cold and then gets slammed. Because I'm Mrs. Silver Lining this week (except for a marginal breakdown yesterday afternoon; different story for different time), I decided to make one of my favorite soups and have a vegetarian friend over for lunch as she would enjoy it so very much more than my carnivorous T.

This Leeky Sunchoke Bisque did not disappoint because it never does. It's just a damn good recipe of which I'm proud, not least because it always reminds me of why I save my Parmesan and pecorino rinds and how wise that is. Mmm...cheesiness! Plus sunchokes (aka Jerusalem artichokes; they are NOT artichokes so this moniker is both odd and misleading.), leeks, shallots, nutmeg, buttermilk and so on.

Unfortunately, this is not a pretty soup, but imagine the inner glow of health and hale you get with each bite. It's enormous!

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I also made some bread. Though my friend said it was good, I imagined I'd forgotten to put the dough in loaf pan and had, instead, lined up some soggy hockey pucks. Mon dieu. I brought some to the boys at pick-up and they were thrilled. Until they took a bite.

"Mom, this bread is HARD."

"Yeah, it lacks moisture. Or something."

"Maybe if I hit it with a cheese hammer?!"

What, pray tell, is a cheese hammer? Oliver swears he meant sledge hammer but forgot the first word. The point remains, the bread was a #fail. Hilarious.

Then the breakdown occurred -SOS- and then I made my beloved farro salad with gold beets and pecans and feta and herby oil. Then I made some browned-butter and pimenton shrimp and felt myself settling back into an even keel.

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As I sat quietly with my newspaper and this fine meal and some wine, I read about the insane measles outbreak and cursed the anti-vaxxers. I sipped some wine, turned the page and read an incredible essay so as to let the ire go. Nutmeg purred at my ankles and I called it a day.

Lovely Monday, awesome soup, back to Downton

Lawd a'mercy was it nice to drop my sweet boys off at school this morning. It is absolutely remarkable how much I can do and how quickly I can get it done when I'm on my own. I took a 45 minute nap! Ran four, count them FOUR, errands! Worked out! Made them a wonderful hot dinner! Built and lit a fire and played Brain Quest in front of it! And so forth. It was all so nice and really, it felt good to get back in the saddle of everyday life. Normalcy is often underrated! Do you know what I will now suggest any parent gift to their children in addition to empty boxes and rolls of tape? A rotary pencil sharpener! You know, the old manual type that you can bolt or suction to a surface. I have had so many crappy electric ones over the years, and while we have many of the small plastic ones that look like a rectangular lip- or eye-liner sharpener, they just don't get the job done like the old-fashioned model. Because my three-hole punch has literally disappeared -odd- we went to Staples after school to get me a new one. While there, I shrugged off pleas to buy enormous fake money, a box of 1,000 paper clips and other random don't-needs, but I did acquiesce when we spied the pencil sharpener. The boys proceeded to over-sharpen every pencil in the house and finally I had an intervention; the sharpener is now in a time out. That said, if you need an inexpensive and (mostly) beneficial/functional tool/toy, consider adding this to your list of ideas.

T returned home just as we were about to start bathtime and took over like a champ so that I could make our dinner. A friend who is neighbors with a master gardener recently shared with me an enormous bushel of fresh sunchokes. I love sunchokes and while I enjoy them in many preparations, the cold front blowing through made soup seem like an awfully comforting meal. So, I made my Leeky Sunchoke Bisque which I loved even more this time than I ever have before. It.is.so.good! You simply must try it next time you come across sunchokes. Gah!! I can't wait for leftovers tomorrow.

Now, I heard that Downton had jumped the shark, but I myself enjoyed most of this newest episode. The sitch with Carson and the other singing Charlie seemed rather preposterous and Edna just blows, but the Dowager was fabulous as ever, and I was happy to be back with the Grantham clan. How does Thomas find the energy to continue being so conniving?

So much going on Wednesday

What day is it? I swear I had to look at the calendar to know. It is still raining, and it is still cold. Apparently we may get lots of snow tomorrow, but then the temperature will jump on Friday by about 20 degrees. This is weird. Beyond the obvious and troubling link to our changing climate, I only care about this slightly right now because in less than 36 hours, T and I are blowing this joint and heading to Charleston. There, it is to be sunny the whole time and range from about 52 - 58 degrees. In more ways than one, this is such a light at the end of the tunnel. Though I am fully aware that my innate energy level is high to a degree that probably places me in some sort of red zone, even I have been dissatisfied with the pace of the wheel I've been running on since 2013 commenced. Slow down, you antsy tread! Most everything has been good and enjoyable but damnation have I been swamped. Today, for example, I went to the bank, the market, three school drop-offs/pick-ups, out to lunch with Oliver as his daily pleas for 2Amy's finally wore me down, started planning a Wonder Woman/Hello Kitty party for Ol (this is such a weird confluence of themes but it's his day, so whatever; the only connecting thread I can see is that he has a crush on each- who has a crush on Hello Kitty??!!), took dictation of what he wanted for his birthday (one item was hand-wipes in a packet like the ones I carry in my purse; I'm not sure what to make of this- he's definitely not OCD so is it that the package is orange and green which are his favorite colors? does he simply want access to a thing I tend to mete out stingily?), talked to one of my best-ever college friends (finally; I love you, ASOJ), worked diligently on my writing homework and planned the menu for T's birthday dinner tomorrow night.

I played a sabbath card around 7 so I could break for dinner and was thrilled to find two more servings of that fabulous leeky sunchoke bisque waiting for me in the fridge. I ate half of that with a side of mozzarella, avocado and heirloom tomato. Though I try to eat seasonally and locally, I was tonight very thankful for the South American greenhouse that allowed me to enjoy a good - versus winter- tomato in the midst of January. I was also excited to open the Puglian olive oil my sister and brother-in-law gave me for Christmas. They know the producer, and it made for a wonderfully tasty and cool drizzle. With din, I poured a glass (now two) of a truly delicious CA Cab, the Stuhlmuller 2007 Cab Sauv from Alexander Valley.

Quite a few of you seemed stoked about the stuffed chicken and turnip dishes from last night. I will write up a formal recipe for each sometime soon but hope this cursory guide for the chicken will suffice for now:

Take two boneless chicken breasts and carefully slice them cross-wise but not all the way through. You want to be able to open them like a book. Season the bejesus out of the chicken with salt and fresh pepper, going heavier on the salt. Take a fresh bunch of spinach and wash it well; remove any overly thick stems. Steam the spinach using a steamer basket and then drain well and squeeze out any excess water. In a skillet, put some olive oil, two tablespoons of each sultanas (or regular raisins) and pistachios, one minced clove of garlic, more salt and pepper. Cook 1-2 minutes and then add the spinach, heating until everything is warmed through but not overcooked.

When the spinach mix has cooled slightly, carefully stuff all you can into each chicken cavity. Close up the chickens and tie them shut. Save any extra spinach to serve on the side!

In a 12" cast iron  or other heavy skillet, put some olive oil and heat over high heat until the skillet is WOW hot. Add the chicken breasts and sear really well on each side, maybe 4 or 5 minutes on each. Lower the heat and cook until the chicken is just cooked through. You can tent with foil or a lid to keep moisture in too, after the initial sears...