Sunday cookin' with Jeff and Brad

Hey guys! Wassup? Been a busy Sunday here in eastern Canada. I did stay in bed though until almost 9:00 a.m., which was very nice. After walking Kaiser and feeding both dogs, I gobbled down my half grapefruit for breakfast, checked my losing lotto tickets - twice! - just to make sure, and gathered mom's stuff together and headed down to her place. It was bright and sunny here today, but very cold, minus 15 C and windy. Brrr.

When I arrived at mom's she was feeling a bit under the weather, but she looked fine. I later came to find out that she had misunderstood the gal who had taken her blood pressure earlier in the day... Mom thought she had heard 123 on the bottom (systolic, diastolic, I'm not sure which the bottom No. is). In any case, no. The gal later told us that it was 123 over 90something, which is really good, especially for my mother.

I pursuaded her to go out and have some lunch even though she didn't want to. They had chicken noodle soup, most of which mom ate, but later complained that the chicken must have died of old age, it was so tough. Jersey... She's a hard old gal to please! The place was absolutely beautiful there today with the bright blue sky and frozen lake. I keep telling mom and her fellow geriatric inmates that one day soon, they will have to don their skates and rip some lines on the lake! They nod and smile, as if I'm the one who's out of his mind.

After a little somethin somethin this afternoon, I finally got a chance to make a new soup that I've been wanting to cook for a while now. It's a tomato and Israeli couscous potage, which, as it turns out, is really is delicious. Here's the recipe and a pic:


Tomato Soup with Israeli Couscous

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
6 cloves of garilc, roughly chopped
20 oz can diced tomates
6 cups vegetable stock/broth
2 or 3 sprigs fresh mint, chopped, or a pinch of dried mint
1/4 tsp ground cumin
cayenne pepper, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

In a large sauce pan, simply stir fry the onion and carrots until softened (about 10 minutes).

Add the spices, half the garlic, tomatoes, vegetable stock/broth, and couscous.

Bring to a boil, add the remaining chopped garlic, reduce heat, and simmer for about 10 mintues. Throw in the chopped cilantro and let sit for at least 10 minutes. Ladle into bowls and serve. Serves 6 to 8 easily.

Yum! Here's a pic of the finished product: