rosemary foccacia and fresh pea soup

Dinner tonight was almost an accident; I was planning on making pea soup for the past few days with some of the frozen chicken broth I made a week ago with the bones from an easy grocery-store rotisserie chicken. This chicken proved to be a pretty good deal, as we got 1) the original meal from it 2) the bone pickings mixed with rice/beans/pepper sauce for a quick leftover meal and 3) the 3 pints of chicken broth I made from the bones. I froze the broth in pint jars my mom gave me a couple years ago. I love it because it has a mild but rich flavor without all the sodium found in store bought broth.

You know, I realize that for most people, buying broth to make soup is considered homemade, whereas here I am parsing the merits of home-boiled vs. store bought. I am so blessed. (By whom or what, I'm not sure, but that's for another post). Also I am happy I found another rare way for Erich to enjoy vegetables, as he really liked the soup. It's such a bright spring green color after blending, it makes me once again wonder what is in commercially produced soups to make them so dark and dreary.

* A quick side note: the minute peas are picked, they start losing their freshness (something to due the sugars in them, I don't know exactly how it works), and canning only exacerbates the process. Frozen peas are a great alternative if you are out of season as they are nearly just as fresh, as freezing suspends the ripening process. (Check the ingredients: I love it when they just say :peas. That's it. ) I suppose that's probably where the color disparity comes in...?

Anyway! A few sauteed onions, some garlic, a generous scoop or two of frozen peas and 2 pints broth boil up quickly. Blend in three parts ( and hang on tight to the blender! the hot steam puts a lot of pressure on the blender lid) and mix in the leftover half/half from last night's creme brulee. Add cracked pepper and cumin, pair with the rosemary/red onion focaccia bread I made today.

Some people work on cars or computers or go to the gym on their day off. I bake bread. I've never tried foccacia before, and it turned out pretty well. I made two loaves; the first was spread too thin and turned out a bit crusty, but the second was better proportioned and fluffed-up nicely. I have a few ideas as to improve the next attempt, so hopefully one of you is around then!

Of course, being that I am currently unemployed, I also slept in, read a book, drank some good coffee, played some guitar hero (yes, a video game that actually holds my attention for more than 15 minutes!) and tried to finangle some sleeping arrangements for the upcoming few days in MN. Please don't hate me! The last few days have been so relaxing, and my previous job was so stressful, that I have yet to regret quitting my job. I've also renewed my excitement to pursue bakery work after reviewing some of the fabulous recipes in 'By Bread Alone', a bread-baking book my friend Nat got me.

I figure that once I do get into this field, I'll be rising at the crack of dawn, so I'd better sleep in when I can! Oh, I also began researching washers/dryers since we are hoping to invest in some very good energy efficient ones after we move at the end of Feb. I plan to set up clothes' lines in the summer, but I still want a dryer for the winter. Maybe if we have a lot of room I could set up lines inside during the winter...I guess we'll see. I know some people do it successfully. This is all part of this whole living-my-values campaign I'm engaging, slowly but surely.

*I edited the rest of this post, it was getting too long and rambly. :-)