Cheap and Charming Lentil and Coconut Soup for a Rainy Spring Day

1 bag lentils, cooked 20 minutes in salted water at medium high heat for 20 minutes or so
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 onion, 2 red or green peppers, plus any other vegetables like a few carrots, or eggplant to saute and carmelize with generous lashings of olive oil and garlic to taste
1 whole chili chopped or jalepeno pepper or whatever hot you have around (I use a can of chopped tomatoes with chili and chilantro and lime all in one can instead of the tomato paste and the whole chili)
1 inch of ginger root, peeled and chopped finely
1 teaspoon ground cumin or the whole seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 can coconut milk
olive oil
juice of half a lemon
chopped fresh basil and cilantro

Take cooked lentils and add to the 2-3 vegetables (onions, peppers, carrots etc) sauteed in olive oil until carmelized. Cook for 5-10 minutes until flavors marry a bit, adding ginger, cumin, and white pepper. Turn off heat and add coconut milk, lemon juice, and fresh herbs. Stir, let rest for a few minutes, and serve. (Only use lowest heat after you've added the coconut milk so it won't curdle.)

My First Finished Quilt (It's Just a Lapquilt But That Still Counts!)

I shipped it to Mary Grace yesterday; she has a second recurrance of cancer. I made this lapquilt to cuddle with during chemo.

I think she'll like the passamenterie (glassy green "dingleballs") and the buttons to finger while she spreads her angelic cheer to all she meets. She's like that.

I machine stippled it because it was faster. I tried hand quilting - and I'll continue to work on it - but it is HARD! There are lots of women I can learn from in this small town, I just need to go to the quilting guild. In the more than a year and a half we've been here, I've finally found little niches for myself. Can't replace my girlfriends in Birmingham like Mary Grace but that is why we have the mail and phones and internet. And blogs! And blog-HER girlfriends!

The Apronista: Share your Apron Day!

The Apronista: Share your Apron Day!

Be sure and share your apron-love with the girls at The Apronista.
Mwah!
Kitchen Madonna

Today is National Wear Your Apron Day and I Made a New Apron To Celebrate!

This camo apron is for those days when you want to command the respect of a full-bird Colonel! Or a full-bird Mrs. Colonel! You know, the days your house feels like a DMZ zone or a battlefield. Check out the dingleballs - also known as passamenterie - on the bottom.

Maybe, I might call it La Generialisi-mama. That's not original. SFO Mom - Barb - first came up with that name for a camo apron I sent her. Also, G.I. June Cleaver comes to mind as a good name.

Today, I plan to go to the post office, the grocery store, and to an all-girl party with this apron on. Maybe I'll change aprons throughout the day.

National Wear Your Apron Day is May 11th

My Son Cooking in a Talent Contest

Doing a cooking show demo is not your usual talent show fare but leave it to my son to insist on it! Check out that cooking show rig. Check out his confidence. The dude can cook. Here is his recipe:

Penne Rustica

2 cans of basil flavored tomatoes, diced
4-6 cloves of garlic to taste or tablespoon of the chopped garlic in a jar
1 can tomato paste
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely minced
1-2 carrots, peeled and finely minced
copious olive oil
fresh basil and rosemary, chopped
red pepper flakes to taste
1 large package of penne (not the reduced size box for the same, old price)

Saute the olive oil, garlic, onion, celery, and carrot for at least 15 minutes on medium heat, until carmelized; add fennel seed toward end of this process. Chop the can tomatoes and add. Stir in the tomato paste. Cook for 5 minutes or so until heated through at a higher heat. At the last minute - since a fresher, more "rustic" taste is the aim - add the basil and rosemary and red pepper flakes. Serve over al dente penne.

Then say a prayer that Graham is surrounded by angels always, spreading his splendid cheer wherever he goes!

National Wear Your Apron Day is May 11th

National Wear Your Apron Day is May 11th plus a Recipe!

I recently came across this idea of using pumpkin and applesauce to sweeten muffins. For my tastes, I could put 1/2 cup white sugar in this recipe (brown sugar would be even better) and be very happy. As we know, white sugar is part of the White Death: white flour, white potatoes, and white sugar.

Next time, I think I’ll add some of that ground Flaxseed I have.

This is how I actually made the muffins:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar (or use less or use brown sugar or honey)
1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice (I used cinnamon, freshly ground nutmeg, and allspice)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt (opt.)
2 eggs, beaten
1 can (16 oz) pumpkin
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups chunky applesauce
1 cup All-bran cereal (or less or not at all, depending on your taste)
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts

In large bowl, combine flours, sugar, spices, cereal, nuts, soda and salt. Add beaten eggs (I just mix them up in the same bowl off to one side), pumpkin and oil. Stir well. Add applesauce and mix until smooth. Don’t overmix. Fill greased muffin cups. Bake in preheated 350° oven for 30-35 minutes.

Makes 16 muffins.

My First Quilt Made from Apron Scraps!

Isn't my husband handsome and handy, holding my unfinished lap quilt with a pillow sack (that also holds the quilt) on his head?

I'm making if for Mary Grace, who has had a second round with cancer and it is my hope it will keep her warm during her chemo treatments.

National Wear Your Apron Day is May 11th

After your funeral, do you think your granddaughter will bury her face in your professional looking briefcase or in your treasured apron? When a woman puts on an apron, it makes no less of a statement than a fine leather briefcase. It announces she is on duty to be receptive to whatever happens in her home and everyone that encompasses. And that is a wider sphere of influence than many would allow.

An apron is like a uniform that conveys authority and unconditional regard and motherly wisdom all at once. Who said aprons are just about cooking and cleaning? They are also about emotional availability, hospitality, and femininity. They state in clearest terms that to serve is to reign.

There is an apron renaissance going on out there and much of it is recorded on the internet. Women everywhere are taking pictures of their aprons and posting them on certain blogs. They are scouring the internet looking for vintage patterns and materials. They are writing about what being a mother and a housewife means to them. These women aren’t depressed. They don’t need valium or to secretly drink or to watch a wildly popular television show that is a diabolical inversion of their lives.

I think a National Wear an Apron Day should be the day after Mother’s Day. Amidst the quiet drama of our everyday lives, we can celebrate in gratitude our homes and families by toasting each other with tea and homemade cookies and fresh buttered bread. And go ahead, on Career Day at your local school, invite a girl over to see what your life is like. She most likely will have no idea how to hold a baby or how to make a stew or how to bake a casserole to take to a bereaved family or how soft your apron is for drying tears.

The devil very well may wear Prada but authentically feminine women wear aprons!

If you support a National Wear An Apron Day, please email the Kitchen Madonna at kitchenmadonna@mac.com.

© 2006 The Kitchen Madonna