Postcards from the Trail

I came across this meme and I liked the questions. It doesn't really have a name but I thought the questions were very interesting and a great way to get to know more about a person. I'd love to read your answers.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
   Not anyone specific but a song. Tony Martin had a hit song in titled "Marta, Rambling Rose of the Wildwood" which my parents loved.
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
   Friday at the end of Pride and Prejudice
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
   It is okay - at least it is legible.
4. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
   No.
5. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
   Definitely
6. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
   Well.. hello! Of course.
7. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS
   Yes
8. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
   No but I have ziplined.
9. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
   Cheerios
10. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
    Depends on the shoe. I can't get hiking boots off unless I untie them.
11. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
    Definitely strong willed.
12. FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
    Anything Chocolate
13. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
    Their smile and sense of humor
14. RED OR PINK?
    Pink.
15. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
    My hips
16. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
    My cat
17. WHAT COLOR SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
    Multicolored slippers
18. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
    Leftovers of Cindy's Fish Soup.
19. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
    My hubby practice the guitar
20. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
    Chartreuse
21. FAVORITE SMELLS?
    My shampoo - it reminds me of Villefranche sur mer. Also cookies baking.
22. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
    Clerk at Borneo Rainforest Lodge
23. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
    None - I'm not into sports
24. HAIR COLOR?
    Dark brown
25. EYE COLOR?
    Brown
26. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
    No
27. FAVORITE FOOD?
    Anything Mexican
28. SCARY MOVIES OR SAPPY ENDINGS?
    Sappy endings. I don't like scary movies.
29. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
    Burn after Reading
30. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
    Black
31. SUMMER OR WINTER?
    Definitely Summer
32. HUGS OR KISSES?
    Hugs
33. FAVORITE DESSERT?
    Any seasonal fruit or fruit tart.
34. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
    "Espresso with the Headhunters" by John Wassner and "Kennedy's Brain" by Henning Mankell.
35. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD
    Slow Travel
36. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?
    Didn't watch anything
37. FAVORITE SOUND?
    The sound of wind in the trees and the sound of the ocean.
38. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
    Beatles. I've never liked the Rolling Stones.
39. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME???
    South Africa - 10,000 miles from home (beats Perth Australia by about 1,000 miles!)
40. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
    I can take great close up pictures.
41. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
    California

It is week 7 of the Sunday Slow Soupers ~ a group of Slow Travel members cooking soup and blogging together every Sunday. This week's soup is Fish Soup selected by Cindy at Baked Alaska.

I knew from the ingredients this was going to be great. We love fish, tomatoes, fennel and Mediterranean spices. Plus it is so simple. I didn't have any of the Dean and Deluca Herbs for fishbut looking at the Dean and Delucca mix on-line, I realized I had all the dried herbs in house. So I mixed pinches of dried summer savory, thyme, fennel seed, sage leaf, marjoram, parsley and bay leaf. I crushed them together and added them to the tomato mixture. Perfect.

There is so much you can do to vary this soup. I decided to make it a little bit more like a bouillabaisse by adding a little bit of saffron and red pepper. Next time I make this soup, I'm going to use shellfish in addition to the white fish and a dash of Pernod along with more saffron and red pepper. Hmmmm... and maybe some rouille.The other variation is to go more like cioppino and use red wine, crab and spices. Any way you make this soup - it is great. Thanks Cindy.

Cindy's Fish Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small head fennel, tops discarded, and bulb chopped
¼ cup wine (can be white or red, whatever you have open, or you can skip this altogether)
2 teaspoons fish seasoning (I use Dean & Deluca brand. If you can’t find, you could substitute Herbs de Provence)
1 15.5 oz can diced tomatoes
2 5.5 oz can spicy V-8 juice
1 pound firm white fish such as halibut, cod, or rockfish, cut into 1” cubes
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, fennel, and garlic, and sauté until soft, about 10-15 minutes. Add the wine, and continue cooking for a couple of minutes. Add the V-8, tomatoes, and fish seasoning. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and add the chopped fish. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the fish is cooked through and the flavors have blended, about 15 minutes. Serve with slices of crusty bread that have been toasted in the oven and rubbed with a garlic clove.
Variations: If you would like a spicier soup, you can add a chopped jalapeno to the onions when sautéing, or add some red pepper flakes. I’ve also made this with the addition of potatoes, or with chopped zucchini or yellow squash if I want more veggies in add. I also sometimes season with Sherry Rum Peppers Sauce or a dash of Worcestershire sauce.

It is week 6 of the Sunday Slow Soupers ~ a group of Slow Travel members cooking soup and blogging together every Sunday. This week's soup is Hoppin' John Soup selected by Slow Travel member Shannon

Shannon found this great recipe for Hoppin' John Soup from Kalyn's Kitchen. Hoppin' John is a traditional Southern US dish of black eyed peas (crowder peas), rice and ham. Hoppin' Johns and collard greens is a dish eaten for good luck on New Years. The black eyes of the pea beans represent coins and the green of the collards represent money. Good luck and prosperity. That is something we definitely need this year in our hard economic times.

I had two challenges with this soup. First - I wanted it to be vegetarian so the eliminated the ham and ham broth. I knew it needed to substitute something for the smoky ham flavor. My first thought was to use smoky Spanish paprika. I like it but sometimes it results in a flat taste from the paprika.

I stumbled upon today's article from the Washington Post by Kim O'Donnel for Meatless Monday. She was making a vegetarian version of Hoppin' John and had the same challenge - how to get the smoky flavor without the meat. She used smoked salt. Wow - what a great idea. But I came across the article too late for purchasing some smoked salt. (Note to Marta - find some!). But she also suggested chipotle chile. Kalyn's recipe did call for a pinch of pepper flakes and many of the other recipes suggested a dash or two of Tabasco. Hmmm... I had a bit still from the previous soup. I tried it and it was perfect! Some olive oil and a little bit of butter - I didn't miss the ham at all.

Second challenge - I don't like cooked greens especially collards or mustard greens. I decided to use some milder baby spinach which worked perfect. I only added a handful which was too little. I could have used a couple of handfuls. I also wanted to add some cooked rice but I forgot. But the soup was still great. We both lapped up our bowls.

I made grilled Fontina cheese and mushroom sandwiches along with it and it was the perfect cool December night dinner. Thanks Shannon!

Here is Kayln's recipe and my modifications are on the side in italics. Enjoy!

Hopping John Soup
From Kayln's Kitchen

1 onion, chopped in fairly small pieces
1 cup celery, chopped in fairly small pieces
1 T olive oil
1 tsp. minced garlic
2-3 cups diced ham (cut off the ham rind and save) (Omit for vegetatian)
8 cups homemade chicken stock (Vegetarian Broth or Better than Boullion)
(or use water with chicken soup base or canned chicken broth)
2 16 oz. packages frozen black-eyed peas
(or use 6 cups freshly cooked black-eyed peas)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 bunch fresh collard greens, chopped (about 2 cups when measured after chopping, but next time I would use more) (For milder flavor - use baby spinach)
pinch red pepper flakes (optional) (1 tsp chopped chipotle for vegetarian smoky flavor and pinch of smoky paprika)
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar, or more to taste (omit if using chipolte)
Optional: ham flavor base if needed, see note at end of the recipe.
Optional: 1/2 cup cooked long grain rice

In large frying pan, saute onion and celery in olive oil about 5 minutes, until starting to soften. Add garlic and saute 2 minutes more, then add ham and saute over very low heat 10 minutes. (Don't skip this step, which concentrates the ham flavor into the vegetables.)
Transfer mixture to large soup pot, add chicken stock, black eyed peas, and ham rinds if available, and cook at very low simmer for one hour. (skip ham if making vegetarian)

After soup has cooked one hour, taste for flavoring. Add more water and ham flavor base if needed. (It will depend on your ham, but I usually add a tiny bit. I added about 2 cups more water to the soup at this point.) Add chopped collard greens, stir into soup and simmer one hour more, or until black-eyed peas are quite soft. (If using spinach - add when beans are almost soft and cook only 15 minutes or so) When black-eyed peas are as soft as you want them, remove pieces of ham rind, then use an immersion blender, food processor, or hand masher to partially process about half the soup. You want a mixture of broken and unbroken black-eyes peas, with some thickening of the soup from the pureeing process. Be careful not to over process. Add red pepper flakes and vinegar ( or chipolte and rice for vegetarian version) and simmer 10 minutes more. Serve hot.

(Makes 6-8 servings, recipe created by Kalyn Denny with inspiration from The Gourmet Cookbook.)

Note: I also added about 1/4 cup of chopped fresh tomatoes about 1/2 way through cooking the beans.

This week's PhotoHunt topic is squeaky. Boy was this one a challenge. Several items came to mind - door, pet toy, snow, shoes but I didn't really have any pictures that conveyed the topic until G mentioned mouse. Ah ha! I just took a picture last week of a small mouse that was coming out in the snow to the bird feeder. We only saw him one day and he was stock piling seeds. We think he may have had a small nest in a group of pots. We never see him except during snow storms. He's probably always out there but he blends in well with the surrounding colors.

I hope he is still around. We saw two hawks in the yard yesterday looking for food. He would make an excellent meal for them. Winter survival is harsh.

I hope everyone has a great holiday season especially my Slow Travel buddies. I have enjoyed reading about your travels and adventures. And wish everyone many travels in the New Year. My gosh, the decade is almost over. Happy 2009!