The best laid plans...

It's taken me until this weekend, more than halfway through January, to really get into the new year spirit. I finally feel like big things are gonna happen, it's time to turn over a new leaf, and all of the other things that one is generally supposed to feel the first two or three days of the month, not in the second half of it. This explains why my Pinterest is full of new pins on exercise routines and healthy meals, week one of a C25K podcast is downloaded and going on my iPod (to be busted out when the snow goes away), there is a bowl of big juicy grapes next to my bed where the chocolate bars usually live, green tea in my coffee mug (mehhhh...) and my lesson stuff has been reorganized into individual folders in a lovely shade of aqua (there is no point being organized if it doesn't look nice). This may have something to do with the fact that I can no longer continue to blame Mom's fancy American dryer for shrinking my clothes and will just have to face facts that I'm getting pudgier than I care to be. Donut keeps quoting Despicable Me:

His days are numbered.

In keeping with this theme, I finally finished up a painting that has been sitting half-done in our living room for about two months. Well, mostly finished. Have one final step before I'm happy with it, and then you can see.

Also in keeping with this new enthusiasm, I decided today was going to be Soup Day. It's been very cold and snowy and grey for weeks and weeks here, so all I want to eat is yummy, hot, comfy foods, which soup is obviously the king of. So I decided I was going to whip up a big pot of something creamy and delicious, but make it healthy. And everyone knows if you want to make something creamy without actually using cream, you throw some cauliflower in that sh*t and magic. (Well, that's what they say. I'm not 100% sold on this.)

So I pulled out my ingredients and off I went. Now, unless it's baking, I generally just approximate measurements and kind of throw in whatever looks/smells like it would work, so here's what I did, should you care to recreate:

I took two of the most tear-inducing small onions on the planet and rough chopped them, and threw them in a big pot with some EVOO and let them sweat until soft. Then I added in a ziplock bag's worth of turkey stock that was left over after Thanksgiving. Now, because I didn't really think this through before jumping into this culinary adventure, my turkey stock was still a frozen block that had to be cut out of the bag, so in that big ice block went. It was at this point that I realized we are also completely out of garlic (basically unheard of in this house), so in went a generous amount of granulated garlic instead. And some salt.

Meanwhile, I hacked a big head of cauliflower into pretty little florets and when that stock block finally melted, I added it to the pot. Then I realized I would need more liquid, so added in enough water to almost cover the veg. Then realized this probably diluted the stock, so added in a bouillion cube. I put two bay leaves in, some white wine (why not), and brought it to a boil, then simmered until the cauliflower was tender, which was about 15 - 20 minutes.

It was at this point that I started looked for our blender so that I could puree the whole thing and have deliciously creamy soup, only to discover that our blender has grown legs and scampered away. A complete search of the apartment, a few foot stomps, and a scream later, I gave up. So now I have a huge pot of poultry flavored liquid with some cauliflower floating in it sitting on the stove. I'll tell you what though, it smells glorious. So there you have it. Cooking with Laur. Throw some crap in a pot, keep adding until it's good. When in doubt, add wine. And when the whole thing falls apart due to a key missing kitchen appliance, do what anyone in your situation would do, and have a bowl of ice cream instead.

Bon appetit! 

Dobrou chut'!