One, I am in India. That is reason enough since there is always so much to do in India.
Two, I am at my parents’ place and for a while was busy with my one year old niece who too had come down to visit her grandparents. If reason one wasn’t enough the fact that my one year old niece was with me should explain a lot. Kids have that effect on me.
Three, the kitchen at my parents place was under renovation and the make-do kitchen already had two cooks and two helpers occupying it. There was no place for lil ol me! But I did manage to revisit a few of my old recipes and make it when guests came visiting.
Four, I got sick. In fact I am still unwell and my mom thinks sitting on the computer is not the way to treat my cough. I need to rest and that means doing absolutely nothing. Of course, I am not following that advice. I have been on my feet most of the time. What’s keeping me on my feet besides the random baking/cooking for guests is a small place called Umeed.
There will always be people who will try to divert you from your dream. They will try to make your talents or your abilities feel inadequate. These people might be absolute strangers or they might be really close relatives/friends, who in their own respect, have your best interests in mind. Instead of getting angry at them or getting discouraged by them feel lucky because it is the negativity of these people that will help fuel the passion you have in your dream. Its their pessimism that will help build your belief in yourself. Its their attitude towards your dreams that will strengthen your resolve to prove them wrong.
If you give up when they say its not your cup of tea, you basically let them win and stay as someone who could never cross the finish line. Instead smile at them when they lecture you on how ludicrous your dream seems, and wish them the best in their life’s endeavours. And when they aren’t looking, work on your dream and cross that finish line. When you have accomplished what you had set out for and when your ideas start taking shape, send the people who discouraged you a thank you card. Because if it wasn’t for your will to prove these people wrong you would have probably given up eons ago.
Its getting cold here. Like really cold (well, at least for Arizona standards). Friday it rained the whole day and the rain brought with it a cold wave. Temperatures dropped to below zero Celsius (still not used to reading temperature in Farenheit) and its just beginning November.
Cold also means that its time to take the soup bowls out. Besides the heater, blankets, jackets, scarves and boots!
Sopas traditionally consists of boiling chicken or pork bones with salt and pepper. Once you get good tasting broth flavor, elbow macaroni is added which you cook till al dente. When the pasta is almost done, vegetables are added usually chopped carrots and cabbage. Once done, season with salt and pepper to taste and add a cup of milk to make it really creamy, and it is ready to serve.
I did tweak the recipe to what I had on hand and since it is the Indian festival season and V’s family doesn’t eat meat on certain days during the festival of Diwali, I made it completely vegetarian. I used vegetarian broth instead of chicken broth and since I had some mushrooms that and some frozen mixed vegetables is what I added to the sopas. And since I was out of elbow macroni, I added broken pieces of lasagna sheets (as that was the only pasta I had in my kitchen).
Traditional or not, both V and I really liked the sopas and I loved how easy it was to put together. Do give it a try.
This recipe is adapted from Gay's blog: A Scientist in the Kitchen. I have written the changes I made in brackets.
Cuisine: Filipino
Serves: 2
Ingredients
meat broth-chicken, beef, pork (I used a can of vegetable broth)
elbow macaroni (I used 4 sheets of lasagna broken into small pieces)
chopped vegetables- carrots, cabbage, mushroom, asparagus… anything goes ( I used mushrooms and few mixed frozen vegetables)
salt and pepper to taste
a cup of milk ( I used ¼ cup of milk)
Herbs- oregano, basil and celery salt
Instructions
In a saucepan, heat a little oil. Add the mushrooms and stir fry on high. When soft, add the broth and bring to a boil. Add the elbow macaroni (other pasta shapes will do like farfalle, rigatoni and penne – but this would not really be a Filipino dish). Add dried herbs such as oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary).
The elbow macaroni is cooked till al dente. Just taste the macaroni a few minutes after boiling. When macaroni is almost done, added the chopped vegetables. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
