Asparagus Leek Soup

So, I am a day late posting this. Our recent vacation has gotten me a bit off my schedule, but it was worth it. For this week, the recipe we tried was Asparagus Leek Soup. I got a recipe off the Taste of Home website and changed it a bit. We thought it was alright, but no one was clamoring for seconds.

1 large leek, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
3 Tbsp. butter
4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
3 medium carrots, thinly sliced
1 tsp. salt
2 1/2 quarts vegetable broth
1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 pound fresh asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 cup heavy cream

In a saucepan, saute the leek and onion in b utter until tender. Add the potatoes, carrots, salt, broth, and rice. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes. Stir in the asparagus, cover, and simmer for an additional 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add the pepper and cream; heat through.

I cannot say why this was not really our thing. We did like the Potato Corn Chowder we had a while back. Maybe we are cream souped out? I think a variation of this done with more of a tomato broth would be better for us. Perhaps in the future you will see it here.

Live Green Eco-Festival

We attended the Live Green Eco-Festival in Salt Lake City, Utah this afternoon on a whim of sorts. We just got back from a family vacation and we're all still a bit tired, but the drive down to Salt Lake was well worth it!



There were several vendors selling ready-to-plant vegetables. The widest variety came in the form of heirloom tomatoes. Since Tara and I are both very interested in propagating seeds from our garden to plant the next year's crops as much as possible, we were very interested in the unique heirloom varieties. Here are a few that we decided to bring home with us (click on the pictures for a larger view):





There were several other attractions to the Live Green Eco-Festival as well. We didn't have time to watch any of the movies or presentations, but we perused the booths and grabbed a bite to eat from the zero-waste food vendors.



Tara also found some very nice soap and couldn't help but bring a few bars home with us. (I guess there are worse things to be addicted to!)

One of the more prominent highlights of the festival, though, was the kombucha Tara found! This was quite a surprise as we've been wanting to start brewing our own kombucha tea but had no idea where to find a live culture.


(Special thanks goes out to Catalyst Magazine!)

Playing for Change

What is it about people who tote the green agenda and their seemingly universal views of peace? I don't know. Maybe when you start to become more conscious about your own actions and how they impact the world around you, you become faced with the monstrosities that impact the rest of the world. It can be overwhelming at times, carrying the weight of not feeling like you can make a difference. Sure, some wars should be fought, but if you step into the fray for one situation, aren't you obligated to get involved to right every injustice? What about Darfur and the genocide that the world has mostly turned a blind eye to? Does it all come down to the lyrics of a song, War - What is it good for? In the end, we can hope for peaceful resolutions, but we all know that the world is far more complicated than that.

On a lighter note, I am proud to present a video that I stumbled across on YouTube. It is an immaculate representation of human ingenuity that so many people could come together from so many parts of the world to create something as beautiful as this: