Domestic Goddess

The bushwhacking is under control enough that I have moved my venue indoors. Tom helped out as we did light housecleaning and laundry this morning. He is getting ready to go outside to resume pruning, but it's down to a one man job now. Yesterday Tom took off to go to a glass blowing class, just for the fun of it. I stayed home and began my next sewing project and made soup. Last summer we cooked a ham on the outdoor grill when our kids were visiting. We had several dinners from it, plus sandwiches. It was time to take off for one of the cabins, so I wrapped the remaining ham bone and stuck it in the freezer. This weekend I decided it was time for a good winter soup. I sauteed some onion and celery in a bit of olive oil in a big heavy stock pot, then added water and the meaty ham bone, seasoning with salt, pepper and marjoram, and let it simmer for an hour. In the meantime I had lima beans soaking. Now I have to confess I don't really make soup that much anymore, and I was just making it up as I went, getting some ideas from the bean package. The stock had a wonderful smoked ham aroma as it simmered. I let it set to cool, and pulled the meat off the bone. I added the beans and some diced carrots to cook an hour and a half before dinner. Later I added chopped cabbage and the meat. I whipped up some corn bread to go with the soup. Yesterday Lin wrote about compliments and that we should even compliment ourselves. So I did. The was one wonderful soup supper for a cold winter day. And I have leftovers so I don't have to cook today! I am finally making progress on my next sewing project, another dress for my granddaughter. I have been putting it off because once again I am sort of making it up as I go along and I had some engineering to do in my head. And of course I have to overcome the fear of screwing it up and the inertia of getting started each time I launch a project. I'm on my way now. But the sun is shining, so I'll have to take time to go for a walk. After all, dinner is already cooked.