The Corporate ABCs: G is for Gum

gigantic green globs grossly glued to

garbage pails and gym facilities  

Thinned Veggie Soup

This morning I did a final round of thinning in my garden.  I always feel guilty when I thin, as if I am cheating my vegetables  - "here, grow this much and then if you are in the way of your bigger siblings, I'll uproot you!"  

Today's thinning yielded baby veggies big enough that I decided to make them into soup instead.  Boy was that a good idea!!

To the thinned carrots and beets I added two small potatoes, half an onion, some garlic, and two tablespoons each of yellow and green split peas from my pantry. 

 aren't they cute?

I diced everything up, added enough water to cover, and threw it in a small pot with some thyme, salt, and pepper.  Twenty minutes later, everything was tender. I gave it a few pulses with my hand blender to puree the veggies and thicken the broth.  

It ended up with the most wonderful color - a beautiful rich red - and the specks of the green & yellow split peas really made everything pop.  While the soup sat, I roughly chopped the beet greens and put them in the bottom of a bowl.

 

I ladled the hot soup over the greens, allowing them to sit and blanch as the soup cooled.  They turned a lovely bright green and added a wonderful texture to the mixture.  The delicate flavors of the tender veggies and the slight bite to the greens were perfect for a nice slow lunch after a morning in the garden.  It almost makes me wish I had more veggies to thin.  :)

  

The Devil's in the Details

On a good day my company would be described as quirky.  On a bad one...well...I got a cheesy thank you email this morning from a department I've been helping this week that contained this. 

I am still trying to figure out if the things sprouting from my shoulders are supposed to be.  Any guesses?  
 
I shudder to think of the variations of this photo they may have concocted closer to the beginning of the week when they weren't so happy to be working with me. :) 

I am glad to be working for a company that isn't afraid to be a little wacky sometimes.

5 things that remind me of high school

5)  Loose-leaf college rule notebook paper
4)  Walking anywhere with my violin
3)  Gigantic Sharpie markers
2)  Pearberry lotion
1)  Songs by Smashmouth

The Corporate ABCs: F is for Fact

when fleece and fluff fail

it falls to frankness to face front

Scrambled Egg Muffins

I made these this morning with great results.  I wish I had taken a picture because they came out so pretty (even after sticking to the sides of my muffin tin a bit).  You can cut the recipe back if you don't want oodles of leftovers - I will probably do that next time.  Click here for the original recipe; the adaptation I made is below. 

1/4 pound pork sausage

12 eggs

1 c finely diced green onion

1 c finely diced green pepper

1/2 t salt

1/2 t pepper

1/4 t garlic powder

3/4 c shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a skillet, cook sausage, onion, and green pepper over medium heat until sausage is no longer pink.  Drain.  Beat eggs and spices together.  Stir in sausage, onion, green pepper, and cheese. Spoon into greased muffin tin.  Do not overfill.  Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until eggs are no longer runny. 

The potential variations for this recipe are promising, just swap around the meat and veggies to find different flavors.  Diced ham & red bell pepper, diced tomato & green chile...or to take this recipe through to dinner, maybe diced zucchini & italian sausage, spinach & parmesan, steak & chive, or even sauteed summer squash & shredded chicken.  I can't wait to play with this one!