Winter is finally here, blanketing Chicago in beautiful snow.
This afternoon I hung the suet feeder in my backyard, and I expect to be inundated with juncos, kinglets, siskens, tanagers, and titmice at any moment. These are just a few species of songbirds that Garfield's Energy Suet claims to attract.
Indeed. I'll keep you posted as to how that goes! One might guess that bird-watching and urban settings don't mix terribly well, but there are some pretty decent bird preserves along Lake Michigan (such as the
Jarvis Migratory Bird Sanctuary), and this has been a record year for
snowy owl sightings in Chicago.
The back of my
Aidez cardigan is complete, and I've just done the ribbing for the left front! I have visions of wearing Aidez while sipping a mug of coffee and peacefully gazing upon my snowy backyard full of cheerful tanagers and titmice. A girl can dream...
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in the kitchen
Alicia recently highlighted
this curried lentil soup recipe, so I gave it a try. Delicious! Hearty and substantial, with plenty of flavor but not too spicy. This is one of those lentil soups that gets a little mushy (if you don't like that quality, you could substitute French lentils). I really appreciate that this is different from our standby
curried lentil soup recipe, which has lots of tomatoes and balsamic vinegar to make it tangy. (I use chicken stock instead of water and add a couple of carrots, diced, to that recipe.)
14 comments:
That soup looks awesome! I love lentils and Indian spices, especially in the winter. I made a red lentil dal for a soup swap hosted by my friend back in December, and it was awesome (and amazingly easy!) as well.
Snow looks beautiful as does the cardigan. I'm definitely going to have to try that recipe. I've been mildly obsessed with lentils this winter - if an obsession can be mild? :)
That cardigan will be very cosy! Lovely cables.
I hope you will attract lots of birds to your garden. We discovered that garden birds simply love the dark striped sunflower seeds that are sold for parrots! We also have a few cherry trees that are hugely popular.
Indeed winter has finally come! If I hadn't retired from teaching last year, I would have had a snow day today!
Wow, snow! O.O
We have the tiniest, near-imaginary dusting of snow.
I envy you your progress on the cables! My own cable sweater is stalled out.
Your blue Aidez will be beautiful! Thanks for the soup receipe. I love lentil soup!
So cozy! I can't wait to see more of that cardigan ... it looks perfect for winter. And bird watching!
Snow. I remember that. We are at 26% snowpack here in the west. A few inches of snow in town during November and nothing since. Firefighters are going to love it next fire season...
You are cruising on that sweater...looking great so far! Thanks for the recipe...I LOVE lentils so I may be trying both!
Thanks so much for the recipe link and recommendation. One of my New Year's resolutions is to make more soup/stew, and I'm adding this one to my list to try.
The snow somehow looks ten times more beautiful in that picture than it does in my backyard in Milwaukee. That's a lovely picture!
The sweater looks fantastic! Will have to try that soup recipe too
I'm doing my Aidez seamless and am up to starting the sleeves, but I've been procrastinating. Now I had work come in so it'll be hibernating for a bit I think. The soups sounds great. I love lentil soups so shall have to give that one a try!
It takes a awhile for the birds to find your yard. They get programmed once they discover you are feeding them. Add some fresh water and they will come.
A friend is looking at knitting Aldez. SHe just can't decide on the yarn. I may have to break down and buy some Eco wool to make it. Right now it is Warriston though. And swatching! Stay warm
I love the view of your back yard! It's definitely not what comes to mind when I think of urban living - the snow makes it look so peaceful.
Have you tried the NYT recipes for health take on red lentil soup? It's another curry based recipe (this time with tomatoes as the other substantial ingredient) and is our go-to lentil soup recipe.
Looking forward to seeing Aidez next month!
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