Baked Bean Soup

1 cup onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 celery stalk, chopped
2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
1 tablespoon flour
1 16 oz can baked beans
1 14 oz can broth
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestshire sauce

Saute onion, garlic, and celery in oil for 5 minutes.  Stir in flour.  Add baked beans, broth, tomatoes, barbecue sauce, and Worcestershire sauce.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Serves 4-6.  (adapted from "Is It Soup Yet?" by Dot Vartan)

I like to serve this soup with sweet muffins of some sort.

Thanksgiving Day

We all took a walk in the Congaree Swamp, except for Fred and David, who stayed home and cooked and set up for Thanksgiving dinner. For the first time, we served Thanksgiving dinner buffet-style, which made for a less stressful experience at the dinner table. Nana contributed cranberry sauce, Colleen pies, and I made the sweet potatoes. Later on in the afternoon, almost everybody player Settlers of Catan. And Colleen made cappuccino for all who wanted it. Yum!!

Marina's New Abode

Marina moved out yesterday. She and some college friends are renting a house in the five points area of Columbia. The house has five bedrooms, of which hers is the smallest - her choice. I think Marina must have the gift of peacemaking.

She begins her third year of college in a couple of weeks, having been accepted into the pharmacy program. She's happy to have found a house so close to campus, so she can ride her bike to and from classes. Marina's blogger name is HeyCordelia.

Our Barrel-Ponics Project

David spent a week working on the Hughey farm, learning about barrel-ponics and doing things like helping build fish ponds and washing out a zillion veggie oil barrels. In case you haven't heard about barrel-ponics - we hadn't until Colleen told us about it - it is aquaponics implemented with barrels, using fish and the nitrogen cycle to grow fruits and vegetables in a small space and with limited water. Travis Hughey invented barrel-ponics and is targeting it at third-world countries. For more information, see this explanation. When David left, Travis gave him some barrels and other parts to build a system at home, so Fred and David have a project now!

Julia's Five-Year Birthday

Julia is five-years old today.  We had a "Moon Landing" and celebrated with a family birthday party at our house.  Julia looks so much like her mother.

"Papa" really likes babies!  He's holding Silas here, who is 10-months old.

Princeton Country Dancers 30th Anniversary

We drove to Princeton, NJ, for the 30th PCD Anniversary. This is the day after Marina's birthday. She was born the Monday after the 10th PCD Anniversary celebration, at which, needless to say, I didn't do a lot of dancing. Ten years ago, we went to the 20th anniversary dance -- hope we'll make it to the 40th!

Some good meals, for a change

Well, the family had been complaining about always cooking the same old things for dinner, so I really tried to come up with some new things. Let's see if I can remember them:

• Dish #1: This started out as chili with mushrooms substituted for the ground beef, but the recipe took a turn somewhere and became something else. Sautee 2 8oz packages of baby bella mushrooms (sliced) with an onion (also sliced). Add a 16oz can of blackbeans, 16oz can of chopped tomatoes (seasoned?), and a cup or so of frozen corn. Season to taste with salt, ginger?, curry?, and whatever, and cook a bit so flavors mix. Serve over Uncle Ben's wild rice.
• Dish #2: Cut up a pkg (about 3/4 to 1 lb.) of chicken tenders into bite-size pieces and saute in canola oil with soy-sauce added for color and flavor. Set aside, and saute an 8oz package of snow peas together with a 3 oz package of sliced almonds. Add the chicken, and serve over cooked linguini or fettucini.
• Dish #3: Stir-fry some cut-up beef, and set aside. Sautee some sliced onions and muchrooms together with some Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, and thyme, and add to set-aside beef. Make a roux of butter and flour, stir in some beef stock to make a sauce. Add beef and mushroom mixture to sauce and cook a bit to mix flavors. Serve over cooked egg noodles or garlic toast
• Dish #4: Cut up a lb. of polish sausage into 1/4 inch slices, and saute in a little canola oil until nicely browned. Set aside, and fry up some sliced pototoes and onions. Add sausage to pototoes and onions, and season with salt, pepper, and cardamom. Serve with a salad made with fresh spinach, red and green pepper (sliced) , banana pepper (pickled and sliced), and bleu cheese (or feta).