Guests

[liv]

So lethargic_man came here for a long-anticipated visit last week. Not everything went entirely according to plan, but it was delightful all the same. I didn't really manage to join lethargic_man for the tourism, but the hanging out in between, in the company of ploni_bat_ploni, was great.

There was a lot of very good food involved, including treating ourselves at Lao Wai, the vegetarian and kosher Chinese place, and a less sumptuous but still tasty lunch at the little veggie cafe on Hornsgatan. The most exciting food was what we cooked ourselves for shabbat though. For various reasons we ended up spending the weekend chez moi, which meant not going to synagogue as the other two don't travel on shabbat. Friday afternoon was a bit of a panic to get everything ready, but ploni_bat_ploni is the most amazing cook! She did something entirely mindblowing to some humble salmon, not to mention putting together two very tasty and multi-part meals in the space of about an hour.

Shabbat itself was really lovely. I really needed to spend some relaxed time with friends like that. And the three of us have very compatible ideas about liturgy so we had great fun with the services and blessings, even if praying with less than ten people is supposed to be second rate. Another highlight was a walk to the Fairy Lake I believe my suburb is named for. It was twilight, and decidedly autumn, and we were singing the Saturday afternoon songs, Heart's beloved and Psalm 23, a little quietly so as not to embarrass ourselves too much, and it was just a lovely moment.

In other news, the syngagogue have voted to become fully egalitarian. I'm greatly relieved; this was by no means a foregone conclusion, and it'll make life here so much more pleasant.

Comments

Oh, and there was soup too

[liv]

It's easy soup. It goes like this: Chop and fry an onion with 3 or 4 cloves and some garlic. Peel, wash and chop as many carrots as you can be bothered with. A potato and a single parsnip are optional extras; both thicken the soup slightly and the parsnip adds to the flavour. Fry the vegetables with the onions for a while. Then fill up the pan with stock (the Osem pareve chicken soup works very well, but otherwise vegetable stock is fine). Bring to the boil, add salt, cover and simmer until the vegetables are soft.

If you are clumsy and nervous like me, allow the soup to cool, or if you are dextrous like ploni_bat_ploni skip this step. Blend the soup with any kind of powered blades. If you have no access to a blender or similar, cook the soup until everything falls apart and then mash it with a fork or something; it will be slightly lumpier and somewhat harder work, but it will still be fine.

Continue cooking the blended soup for a while on the lowest heat possible. Overnight is fine, which is why I made it for shabbat. Less than several hours will probably be ok but the flavour ends up slightly blander. When you are about to eat it, add the juice of a whole, large orange. If you're feeling ambitious, add the zest as well. Don't on any account serve it to hatam_soferet; she has an irrational prejudice against orange coloured foods.

If you need to thin it out having stored it, you can add milk. It will curdle a bit, because that's what happens when you mix milk with orange juice. I don't think it matters, but if you or your guests are horribly squeamish about curdled milk, you can add water instead. For fancy effect you can put a swirl of cream into the bowl and not bother to mix it completely. But that probably wouldn't appeal to you with your views on cream.