[Cooking Up Art] Spring Soup

[miladycarol]

Cooking Up Art website


To usher in spring, I made a nice minestrone soup with carrot flowers.
It's still cold enough here for me to want to warm myself with a bowl
of hot liquid for lunch -- especially if I take this bowl out to the
deck to eat where I proudly survey my domain. *smiles*

I'm so happy to walk around and watch the buds of magnolias burst into
flower and see the daffodils brighten yards. My tulips are even
budding. Spring excites me.

What's your favorite part of spring?

Breathe deeply,
Laugh with abandon,
Love wholly,
Eat well.

MiLady Carol
www.miladycarol.com
Dazzling jewelry that reflects sparkling personalities!

Comments

[newroticgirl.livejournal.com]

That soup looks SO GOOD!! Mmmmmm.

My favorite part of spring is waking up to discover that at least half the trees have come back to color. I love the pink flowering trees around here (redbuds? I'm not sure) the most, but am also thrilled with the forsythias starting to bloom in vibrant yellow. :D

[miladycarol.livejournal.com]

It's just as good as the one I made last month (which I claimed was my best ever). karjack had a taste of that one and she liked it. I really love a good minestrone. It must be the Italian in me. *smiles*

The pink trees that have little purple leaves later are usually flowering plum. They are ornamental and don't fruit. Some of the cherry is blooming, the star magnolias are in full bloom and some of the big saucer magnolias are starting, too. Apple will probably be another few weeks, depending upon the weather. Then again, you're 1.5 hours north of me, so you might be a wee bit later.

[rainbow.livejournal.com]

Oh, my, that soup looks faboo.

And all I have is Cream of Monkeypants soup...

[miladycarol.livejournal.com]

Oh, I've simply got to know what Cream of Monkeypants soup is! Please?

[rainbow.livejournal.com]

*g* It's the icon I used. We call Casteylan "Monkey" or "Monkeypants" because he's polydactyl, and he's sitting inside my big soup pot in that picture.

Edited to ask: What LJ layout are you using?

[miladycarol.livejournal.com]

Bwahaha! Awesome! It makes me want to invent some soup that is worthy of such a name. What do you suppose would be in such a meal? I suppose the cream could be nut based, maybe some bamboo shoots... I'm thinking an Asian flair.

My new LJ layout is Toxic Teal.

[rainbow.livejournal.com]

Oh, I think Monkeypants Soup calls for full fat coconut milk, maybe some lemongrass and galangal.

Is Toxic Teal maybe the theme (the colors) rather than the layout (what goes where and all)?

I'm having a terrible time making something that looks like my current theme but is one of the ones that will import to Dreamwidth, you see...

[miladycarol.livejournal.com]

Ohhh! Cream of Monkeypants Soup is perfect for Thai! Okay, I'll have to restock on lemongrass and figure out how to make this happen! Whee! It's a project!

If you go to the Select Journal Style (under Journal in your User Page tab bar), there is a search block to the right. Type in Toxic Teal and it will come up.

What is this Dreamwidth? I clicked on your link but nothing came up on the window.

[rainbow.livejournal.com]

I told Paul about this conversation, and he *strongly* feels that Cream of Monkeypants Soup needs orange peel in it -- or *something* orange, since the Monkey is orange. I'm leaning towards carrots, myself... Yay project!

Ah, thank you!

Dreamwidth is a new journaling service being started by some of the folks who worked on LJ for many years. They want something that's more community based and less impersonal/profit driven (as LJ has become). I'm very excited about it, and it's here. It's won't be in open beta until 30 April, though.

ETA: Toxic Teal is a theme for Smooth Sailing, and (sadly!) that's not one of the available options for DW. I MUST find a way to make a journal that is close to mine here...

[miladycarol.livejournal.com]

Actually, I was thinking mango or papaya for an orange element. I had thought about the orange cat aspect, too. Plus, Thai monkeys eat fruit. Since it's a creamy soup, I think a creamy fruit would work better than something very acidic like orange or pineapple. We'll see. I was thinking I'd make a base broth then remove a cupful at a time and try different fruits in it to see what worked. I've got meals planned for the next couple of days, then I have a Saturday event, so I may not really delve into this in a physical sense until next week. I'll keep you posted.

Hmmm... I may check out this Dreamwidth. G is almost ready to launch his social networking software for professionals. Is Dreamwidth supposed to be commercially oriented or more toward the social?

[rainbow.livejournal.com]

DW is very *not* commercially oriented; completely at the social end of the spectrum.

Mmmm. I am craving tom ka gai (I've probably slaughtered the spelling of that), a soup I used to get in Calif.

[miladycarol.livejournal.com]

Slaughtered, yet understood. I've not mastered that one, yet. TaRaRin has an excellent version of it, though.