Games Night & Love Soup

It's my party and I'll play board games with my friends if I want to! And I did. So we did.





Fourteen people to eat delish snacks from Fairway, play Apples to Apples and then Wise and Otherwise is pretty much my idea of a perfect evening. I haven't laughed so hard in weeks.

Every time (um... or should I say both times?) that we've thrown a party, we have such a great time that we vow to do it more. Yet, we've been together for something like eleven years, and this? Is party number three. We should do it more often!

In the meantime, Lara was off in a sea of delighted and adoring relatives, starting off equally delighted, but ending stuffy-nosed, mildly feverish, and generally pretty grumpy.



When we got home I made some soup featuring these love carrots.



Isn't that wild? I've never seen anything like it. I almost feel like I have to turn that picture sideways to control the visual double entendres. But the soup turned out yummy, and not at all torrid - one of my standard veggie "kitchen sink" soups (you know, everything but the kitchen sink). The simple recipe can include pretty much any vegetables you have sitting around; the only musts are potatoes, an onion, and carrots.

This time around I included:

1 onion
3 large carrots
3 small sweet peppers (1 purple, 1 orange, 1 white)
1 large zucchini
3 medium potatoes
2 leeks
1/2 head of cauliflower
1/2 head of purple cabbage (what is this called? it's not radiccio. oh, and any cabbage will work here)
1/2 cup barley grain

1. Dice, place in a large pot of lightly-salted water, and then boil the onion, carrots, peppers, and zucchini (this will function as your stock).
2. Add diced potatoes, barley, diced cauliflower, and chopped leeks.
3. Allow to boil 10-15 minutes, skimming foam off the top of the water. Taste and add salt if needed.
4. Add chopped cabbage.
5. Allow to boil for another 5-10 minutes, until cabbage leaves wilt. If you are using the purple cabbage, the soup will turn purple.
6. Voila! Serve and be happy. I add a dollop of sour cream, but Misha eats it plain.