Greek Pasta e Fagioli

The beginnings of the recipe starts in Bittman's How to Cook Everything Fast. I have tinkered with it enough though that it this point the recipe is mine and I'm proud of it. :)

A Greek Variation on Pasta e Fagioli (serves 6)

3 Tbs. olive oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

4 stalks celery, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

28 oz can of diced tomatoes

4-6 cups water or vegetable stock

oregano (2 sprigs fresh if it's on hand but 1 tsp of dried works just fine)

2 c. frozen lima beans (if you can find them frozen favas are a nice swap)

1 1/4 c. pearl couscous 

juice of one lemon

8 oz feta, crumbled

Nice additions: chopped parsley and kalamata olives as part of the garnish or mixed in

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over low heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery to the oil and raise the heat to medium-high. When the veggies start to sizzle, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir occasionally until they soften and begin to brown, 3-5 minutes.

2. When vegetables are ready, add tomatoes with their juice and 4 cups of the stock or water. Raise heat to high.

3. When the soup boils add the lima beans. When the soup returns to a boil add the couscous. Return to a boil again and adjust the heat so that it bubbles steadily.

4. Start tasting the pasta after about 5 minutes. It should be tender but not mushy. If the pot starts to look dry, add more water or stock.

5. When the pasta is tender, turn off the head. Fish out the oregano stems if you used fresh oregano. Add lemon juice about 1 Tbs at a time. Stir it in and taste. The lemon should enhance the flavors but not become overwhelmingly lemony. Add salt if necessary.

6. garnish with feta and serve.

Brief Update or A Stub For Life

Unbelievably, I'm a week into the semester and I am utterly caught up on grading. That probably doesn't sound like much of a feat to the average person but English teachers are almost always chasing up from behind. Our assignments tend to be less objective and require more consideration on top of the sheer reading load. That being said, in the past four days I've collected five batches of homework. Everything I've collected is graded. I consider it a win. I'm not sure how long I can keep it up, but it is a good start.

In other news, I'm behind already in my reading goals. It looks good in terms of complete books, but I'm substantially behind in page count. I'm not really surprised. I figured keeping the reading load up was going to be hard.

Vacationing

It has been a strangely busy winter break. We saw a lot of family and checked in on an ailing coworker a couple times. I did a lot of cooking and Thomas did a lot of playing. It was a good time but I am more than ready to get back to work. It would be one thing if we'd had good weather, there is so much to get done out in the yard, but I'm not willing to get drenched to do it. I can hand working in a drizzle when the weather is warm, or in the cold when it is dry out, but I loath being both cold and wet at the same time. 

I'm hoping for a good reset on the year with the new semester, but I somehow already feel behind. I guess that's just being a teacher. I need to come up with some stratified lesson plans for teaching the entire student body about plagiarism. Necessary stuff, but I'm not looking forward to it.

I finally finished my "Insane-o" indexing project on Bittman's How to Cook Everything Fast. Now I can start my "Insane-o" project to cook every recipe and variation in the book. Realistically, that's probably not going to happen but it's fun project to work on that gets me to try things that I would normally pass up. We've already tried a "Radish and Arugula Sandwich" which was actually quite nice even if very light. It's a recipe worth fiddling with.

Yay 2019! (also a 2018 recap)

Right. So. New year. I've been thinking about this post off and on for about a month and I have to admit that I'm still not sure how it is going to come out. Life has a way of shifting on ya. In fact, change being a gradual process and all, it is possible to change as a person and not really notice until some sort of watershed moment. I suppose I've been "watershedded". The problem is that I still haven't quite sorted out what it all means.

Here's what I know:

1. I'm an excellent cook. I'm actually really good for a home cook. I'm not a chef by any means, but I've come to realize that a lot of the differences between a home cook and a chef are logistical in nature. I have no idea how to run a big kitchen and I get twitchy having other people in my cooking space. In terms of flavor, I can absolutely produce professional quality meal...on the small scale. In terms of food and cooking knowledge, I can hang with most chefs - by which I mean, I wouldn't embarrass myself.
2. My love of books is really a love of story. This one isn't a big shocker really, but it's a little bit of a refining detail. I love a good story. Really I do. Most of the best stories are in books. Hence, I love books. However, I'm a sucker for a good story no matter the medium and the more I read/consume them, the more I have the urge to create.
3. I should write. I should write all the time. I should write without restraint or concern for audience. I just should. I tried not writing for about two months. It made me miserable and twitchy. So either it is write or go back into therapy. Writing is cheaper...and more satisfying.
4. My blog has a readership split. Most of my readers are family and they are more interested in the posts like this one - the personal ones. That being said, my heart is in my book oriented posts and I get...sad...when they are skipped. I mean I get it, really I do, my book mania is not interesting to everyone. I have a plan. Explained below.
5. Ok. Teaching. So, here's the thing and not everyone gets this - teaching is the hardest and most wonderful thing I do with my life. I get frustrated, worn down, and wrung out. In moments of exhaustion and despair, I think about quitting, and maybe some day I will. BUT, the other side of it is that all teachers spend their lives ensuring a future for us all. Every single teacher I know feels tired, worn out, and wrung out. Teaching is a demanding profession but it is as necessary as, and perhaps more so, than any other. Without teachers, there could be no innovators, no doctors, no engineers, no whatever it is out there. Most of the issues I have with people don't come down to basic intelligence, it comes down to education. I spend my life knowing I make a difference in the future....even if it is unmeasurable, so don't ask me to quit or find a different path. What I do, even if it isn't forever, is worth it. If intelligent talented people won't take on the burden, who would you all prefer be in charge of our future?  One good teacher positively affects hundreds of children every year.
6. It really feels like we are living in a time when the margin for error is shrinking-as a species. I feel like the choices and actions we take now are becoming more and more critical. It is easy to think that individuals have no power to effect change, but change is really just a bunch of individuals moving in the same direction. I feel a growing need to be part of that change. I don't know what that means yet in a practical sense but it is on my mind.

Ok, so moving into the next year, the big news is that I've split my blog. All the personal posts will stay here. All book related posts will be moving to my new blog: https://tsundokulife.blogspot.com/ . I will do weekly or bi weekly summaries here of what is in by book blog, but otherwise this is a more or less book free zone.

I still have a reading goal but you'll have to go over to the other blog to check it out :-P In terms of other goals, the big one for 2019 is the garden/yard. I really want to finish turning the front yard into a mini-urban farm. Thomas is at an age where he is interested in it and he and I are going to work on his very own box. I'd also like to clear the backyard of invasive nonsense and start planning the shade garden. I will be enlisting help because the clearing alone is going to be a process.

So that's it for now. I love you guys, even those of you I've never met. I hope you all will check in on the new blog from time to time.

Peace and love.