random bits

[cellio]

I've mentioned before that my synagogue maintains a freezer of donated, cooked food to have on hand for houses of mourning, families where someone's sick, and similar acute cases of need. I think this is a great idea; if you're cooking anyway you can cook a little more to donate and help someone out. Yesterday I got email from the person who monitors this saying they're low on meat and pareve dishes, so tonight I'm roasting an oven-full of chicken to take over (less one meal's worth for ourselves this week), and tomorrow night I will make some vegetarian soup. I love being able to help in this way.

Speaking of soups, recently Dani and I were at a restaurant where I had a really fabulous butternut-squash soup. This one was dairy (I detected cream), and I couldn't identify all the spices. Web-surfing has led me to some promising recipes; I'm open to specific suggestions. I have now procured one butternut squash with which to experiment.

I'm about 40% of the way through the second book of His Dark Materials. I am pretty sure I know what the deal was with Grummon (the explorer Asriel went off in search of). So either I'm right or the author is being clever and has something up his sleeve. It feels pretty darn obvious, so I'm not ruling out the latter. (No, please don't tell me; I'll know on my own soon.)

The local SCA choir is singing at an event this weekend. I think we sounded really good at Monday's practice; I'm looking forward to the performance. We'll also be doing one piece jointly with our instrumental group, which is nifty. We haven't done that in years.

Jericho returns for a short second season (half-season?) next week. I really liked this show, so I'm glad to see it unharmed by the writers' strike. Whether it is harmed by its network is yet to be seen. (They cancelled it and then responded to a fan campaign.)

Assorted links (most sources lost, sorry):

Baby dos and don'ts. That the site is not in English really doesn't matter.

Surfing cat. It's not entirely clear to me that this is the cat's idea.

Joel on Software recommends Tripit for keeping track of the assorted confirmation numbers involved in travelling. Sounds useful especially for us infrequent travellers who don't have the routine down already.

Bruce Schneier on security versus privacy. Too many people think it's a zero-sum game; it's not.

Bookmarking (haven't finished reading yet): Rands in Repose on preparing presentations. It's odd: in most contexts public speaking is, ahem, not my strong suit. Really not my strong suit, even in fields I know very well. I get nervous and fumbly-mouthed. The exception? While I'm not as skilled at the mechanics yet as I'd like to be, giving sermons or divrei torah does not make me nervous.

I pass this on too late for voters in half the primaries in the country, but even so, there's a general election coming, so: jducoeur nails what's really important in choosing a candidate. (PA doesn't vote until late April. It's possible we won't actually be irrelevant this time, but we'll see how today turns out.)

George Bush v Mohammed ibn Tugluq by David Director Friedman, on whom the law binds.

Comments

My "famous" butternut squash soup

[jeannegrrl.livejournal.com]

I'm writing this from memory, but it's adapted from a recipe in 1000 Jewish Recipes by Faye Levy

~2 lbs of butternut squash
~3 onions chopped
~1 TB oil (I use canola)
5 cups Chicken Stock (I use bouillon)
2.5 tsp dried dill
.5 tsp allspice
dash cayenne
black pepper to taste

Fry onions in canola until they are translucent and browning, about 10 minutes. Add chicken stock and squash and bring to a boil (I've used both squash I've cooked myself by nuking in the microwave for 10 mintues, and raw store-cubed squash from the grocery store. Either works fine)

Add dill, allspice. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.

Add cayenne and pepper and puree using a hand stick blender. Salt and pepper to taste (personally I never use salt - for me there's plenty in the chicken stock)

You can add a cup of water if you like a thinner soup, but I prefer something more hearty. I get raves every time I make this. :-)

Re: My "famous" butternut squash soup

[cellio]

Thanks! This sounds yummy. The soup I had at the restaurant was thick and I think I'd prefer it that way, so no plans to water it down.

I need to get one of those hand-blender things.

They sell pre-cubed squash? Wow.

Re: My "famous" butternut squash soup

[jeannegrrl.livejournal.com]

I LOVE my hand blender. They're reasonably priced, and mMuch more convenient to puree soups right in the pot.

They sell pre-cubed squash? Wow.
Yep. I can get it at Costco or Wegmans. But it's still more economical to buy the whole thing and prepare it myself (I halve, seed, and microwave it before adding to the soup)