Russian Cabbage Soup

Healthy, easy and DELICIOUS soup! I'm going to make some tonight.

You will need:
1 1/2 pounds ground lean beef
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
4 cubes beef bouillon
2 medium carrots, shredded
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (at least)
2 quarts water, divided
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped (I usually put in more)
1 head cabbage, cored and cut into 1-inch wide strips

How you make it:
Crumble the ground beef into a large pot.
Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef bouillon cubes, carrots, onion, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper.
Pour in 1 quart of water, and bring to a boil.
Stir to break up the beef while heating.
Once the soup comes to a boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes over low heat.

Pour in another quart of water, and return to a slow boil.
Add garlic and cabbage.
Simmer for 25 minutes, until cabbage is tender.
Ladle into soup bowls to serve with some warm, crusty bread! (You can also put a dollop of sour cream in the bowl too - YUM!)

American Folk Art Museum and Other NYC Goodies

We were up in New York City for the holiday weekend as part of Michael's Christmas gift (train tickets! He loved the train!). Anyway, I'm sure it comes as no surprise that we end up sight seeing based on architecture. So Michael's been meaning to visit the American Folk Art Museum for some time now and it was thoroughly enjoyable... inside and out! We would recommend everyone to explore this little gem next time you're in the Big Apple.

Some other great places we visited last weekend:
The New Museum Hell Yes!
The High Line
Jing Fong for dim sum
Cafe Fiorello
Armani on 5th Ave has a neat staircase

Natural Gas - It's Complicated

This past week I've seen a resurgence of T. Boone Pickens on TV talking about natural gas. Then I was listening to my podcast of Talk of the Nation: Science Friday and Ira was talking about natural gas regulation too! On his show, one woman was saying how highly regulated it was and the other was saying how it's not regulated at all. This jogged my memory and I recall reading a NY Times article about fracking and how that was polluting ground water.

So of course I google it and (surprise) it's complicated! Now, I am by no means a scientist so I just wanted the down and dirty: Yes, it's good or No, it's bad. Looks like it's both. On the one hand, natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel, producing less carbon dioxide per joule delivered than either coal or oil and far fewer pollutants than other fossil fuels. BUT on the other hand, natural gas itself is a greenhouse gas (methane) and it's far more potent than carbon dioxide when released into the atmosphere. BUT since it's released in much smaller quantities, it's still considered the cleanest fossil fuel. BUT if natural gas becomes a more popular fossil fuel, then it could actually be worse than the carbon emissions that we produce now with oil. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

And it seems that it is actually regulated at the state level but not regulated very heavily at the federal level, with the exception of natural gas transpiration and rates, which prevent price gouging and market manipulation (ironically regulated by my employer FERC).

Does anyone know anything about natural gas? I'd love to chat about it and get some answers. Sorry for the rant.

Pocahontas v. Avatar

Randomly ran across this. Hilarious.

Of course it's no surprise that Disney (and others) totally tweaked the facts relating to the real Pocahontas (most notably, John Smith and her weren't in a romantic relationship - she married John Rolfe), but that doesn't make this any less entertaining. So, if you're super nerdy like me and addicted to googling facts, read more on wikipedia.

Easy and Quick Semi-Homemade Pizza

Thanks to our registry and to Christmas presents, we now have a real pizza stone and peel! But even before our little kitchen was fully equipped, Michael and I loved making our own pizza. Quick, easy, and perfect when you have random little bits of leftover veggies in the fridge...

So here's the Trader Joe's addict's way of making "homemade" pizza:
TJ's Ready-to-Bake Pizza Dough (we like the whole wheat variety)
TJ's Pizza Sauce (we like the one in the jar, not the one in the fridge section)
Use lots of flour, roll it out (the video has a great trick of using a wine bottle if you don't have a rolling pin), and then pile on all the toppings you want or have lying around (On Tuesday, Michael made prosciutto, gorgonzola, sauteed onions, mushrooms, and basil). YUMZ! Our dough never rolls out round and pretty... but I promise it's still super tasty.

Put it in the oven for 7-10 mins... or pretty much until the cheese is melted and crust is browned. And if you don't have a pizza stone, just use a cookie sheet. And now you have your very own "homemade" pizza!!!

And someday, we may graduate to making our own crust... maybe... Here's a great NYTimes Video that inspired us.

All in all, it's cheap (especially if you're using leftover ingredients), super easy and really quick. For those of you health-conscious people out there, it's super easy to do a veggie pizza with low-fat cheese on whole wheat dough. Fun and guilt-free dinner!

And the best part: All your friends will be impressed that you made your own pizza - trust me!

Retirement

I'm not a huge poetry fan, but I am a fan of Ted Kooser's American Life in Poetry emails.

As you all probably know, I am perpetually counting down the days to my retirement. Of course, social security will be dried up and my IRA won't last too long with all the plans I have... but, we can all dream. Here's Ted's pick of the week to highlight simpler times awaiting Michael and me in our old age.

American Life in Poetry: Column 252

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006

My grandfather, when in his nineties, wrote me a letter in which he listed everything he and my uncle had eaten in the past week. That was the news. I love this poem by Nancyrose Houston of Seattle for the way it plays with the character of those letters from home that many of us have received.

The Letter From Home

The dogs barked, the dogs scratched, the dogs got wet, the dogs shook, the dogs circled, the dogs slept, the dogs ate, the dogs barked; the rain fell down, the leaves fell down, the eggs fell down and cracked on the floor; the dust settled, the wood floors were scratched, the cabinets sat without doors, the trim without paint, the stuff piled up; I loaded the dishwasher, I unloaded the dishwasher, I raked the leaves, I did the laundry, I took out the garbage, I took out the recycling, I took out the yard waste.
There was a bed, it was soft, there was a blanket, it was warm, there were dreams, they were good.
The corn grew, the eggplant grew, the tomatoes grew, the lettuce grew, the strawberries grew, the blackberries grew; the tea kettle screamed, the computer keys clicked, the radio roared, the TV spoke. “Will they ever come home?” “Can’t I take a break?” “How do others keep their house clean?” “Will I remember this day in fifty years?”
The sweet tea slipped down my throat, the brownies melted in my mouth.
My mother cooked, the apple tree bloomed, the lilac bloomed, the mimosa bloomed, I bloomed.