Lentil Soup for a Small Planet

Lentil Soup topped with melted Swiss Cheese - in this case a reduced fat Lorraine.

I've been cranking out a lot of soup lately - partly because it's so darn cold, and partly because Dave is a soup junkie. If you give him an option, during the winter months, he'll pick soup first. If you ask him for suggestions as to what he'd like for dinner, he pops up with soup as first choice - invariably.

The Vortex of Barbecue: Billy's Bar-B-Q in Lexington, Kentucky

BBQ, Barbecue,  Que, Q -- whatever you call it, we, Dave and I,  spend an inordinate amount of time seeking and savoring it.  Que seems to be one of the common threads that weaves its way through our travels. We seek it out.  We hunt it down.  We go way out of our way because of the signs.  It is the signs -- perched perilously on the sides of  mountains and propped up in the middle of cornfields -- that draw us inextricably towards The Vortex of Barbecue.

Great Expectations of Spring!

My Freecycled garden table, painted the same cabbage green as my no-tills.

In all this snow and gloom, dreaming of my garden is what keeps me sane.  The thoughts of buying and starting seeds, building new garden beds while protecting the ones I have,  and playing with my most recently purchased gardening toys puts a smile on my face and keeps the winter blahs at bay.

This week, for example, I purchased $100 worth of seeds from Johnny's Seeds, and bought a new Dramm water breaker garden hose nozzle and a nifty looking Touch N Flow Shut off Valve, also by Dramm, both of which look like they're going to make garden watering much easier, especially on the little seedlings.  I hate it when I spend so much time starting seeds only to have them blasted out of their loamy home by water pressure that could blast the paint off a Chevy.  These two little items should prevent any more plant power washing.

Soup Again? Chicken Noodle in a Hurry!

I've not made it a secret lately that, this winter, I've been under the weather quite a bit.  That being said (no point beating it to death here), I've been making and eating a lot of soup.  Believe it or not I have another pot of soup on the stove as I write this (Lentil Soup -- about which I will probably write tomorrow).

Remnants of The Cold War

Recently, I took a trip to The National Air Force Museum in Fairborn, Ohio.  I hadn't planned on doing any photography.  I just wanted to spend the day with my family and look at all the airplanes.  Truth be told, I'm a bit of an aviation nut. I suppose I come by it honestly.

Soup, Soup, I Need Soup - the Senate Kind

Winter really takes it out of me.  Since Thanksgiving, I've been dancing with every virus and bacteria out there that can make your life miserable.  Sick of being sick -- that's what I am.  Flu shot be dammed.  I've spent so much time in bed my memory foam mattress has lost it's memory.  There's a permanent hollow shaped just like me in the spot where I recline.