Fire Cider & soup day!
My batch of fire cider was going to be 4 weeks on the 4th, but I strained it today & had my first taste- yup, works for me! I ran out of the ‘15 minute’ fire cider about a week ago & was missing my daily dose. I had the time to fool with it this morning. I had to buy half gallon jars because the ingredients take up so much room, but the final yield after straining is slightly over a quart.
The church is having Lenten dinners every Wednesday night. Tonight is soup & sandwiches. I signed up to make a chicken corn chowder & I am taking split pea with ham, too. I did all the cooking Monday & just need to warm it up. For sure the split pea is better in the days after making it & I believe the same will prove true with the other soup.
It’s a gray & very chilly day at 54°, feels like 51°. Wind & showers are due to arrive in the afternoon. Tomorrow will be near 80 with 40% rain. The grass has finally decided it’s ‘spring’ for sure & I will have to mow the rest of the lawn this week. Some of the daffodils are past peak, but we still have a pretty good patch growing near an old stump. No buds on the peonies yet - they have shot up about a foot since I gave them some fertilizer about a week ago.
The birds are happy because the bugs are out so they are dining well. I have seen a couple of flies, so I made a DIY fly trap - if it works, it will save about $20/month buying commercial traps. The commercial traps attract flies by smelling like rotten poultry. I have some chicken carcasses in the freezer that are old - will use them for a bait source .... should work!
We have 2 ancient redbuds that are mostly rotten & need to come down, but by golly, they have bloomed this spring! I am giving them their last hurrah - won’t cut them down until the spring blooms are gone.
Sopa de farigola (thyme soup)
This classic soup from Catalonia, Spain, shines a light on the virtues of simple food. Thyme, with its savory intensity and anti-inflammatory properties, is the star of the show. Since there are so few ingredients, use the best you can get your hands on: fresh thyme (not dried), organic eggs and good olive oil.
Active time: 5 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes
Yield: 2 servings
3 cups water
1 stale loaf of bread
a generous fistful of fresh thyme sprigs
extra virgin olive oil
2 eggs
salt
ground black pepper
Pour 3 cups of water into a small pot and bring to a boil on medium high.
While waiting for the water to boil, cut 4-6 thin slices from a stale loaf of bread. Divide them between two soup bowls.
Once the water is boiling, add the thyme to the pot and reduce the heat to medium. Keep at a lively boil for 3 minutes.
While the thyme is boiling, generously drizzle olive oil over the bread in the soup bowls. Carefully crack an egg into each bowl, taking care not to include any shell.
Reduce the heat further to low and continue simmering the thyme for 3 more minutes.
Then, turn off the burner and carefully ladle 1 ½ cups of hot broth into each bowl through a mesh sieve, to catch the thyme leaves and stems. Break the yolk in each bowl with a spoon and gently stir. Season with salt and black pepper.
Cover each bowl with a saucer or inverted bowl so the hot broth can cook the egg.
Let stand for another 3 minutes.
After three minutes, uncover the soup. Check the seasoning and add salt, if needed. Serve immediately.
Note: Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish, or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness, especially if you have certain medical conditions.
Storming here tonight. No power but I’m tethered to my iPhone.
We had heavy winds during the day today, and warm temps, around 74! Then the storms came and we think we are past the worst of it. I hope the power crews get things back on soon, but I think it will be for our whole town this time, instead of just our neighborhood (which loses power pretty frequently when there are winds - so many mature trees here.) We have a generator and will start that if nothing comes back on in an hour.
Some of the redbuds around here are just starting to blossom. I can see my lilac shrub has a few buds on it, too. I’m relieved about that, because it had a second bloom last Fall, which was crazy.
The tulips are starting to get their blossoms. They won’t open up for a couple of days, at least. One of my tarragon plants is beginning to really get growing now. I can start harvesting a little bit. I make eggs with mushrooms, shallots, gruyere and tarragon pretty often when it’s in season. Add a slice of toasted marble rye, and you have a breakfast feast! (Even more so if you add ham or bacon!)
It’s very quiet here now. I think it is quiet enough to go to bed without worrying.