Ruby Tuesday

It's Tuesday, so that song popped into my head. It's my last day of vacation, so I elected to be a vegetable and sit on the couch all day. With some exceptions. I walked the dog twice. I went shopping. I walked to the bakery to get bread. I made homemade vegatable soup with  chunk of cabbage left over in the fridge (and carrots, a potato, an onion, and a turnip...) I added a dash of hot pepper flakes and a bouillion cube (beef broth) and that is dinner. (With the fresh bread). It's calm here today. The weather is blustery but not rainy. The kids are not here. The tree is blinking and there are three candles flickering on the shelf (gift from my SIL - candles that run on batteries, look and feel like real wax, and can change color!)

We spent an hour shelling walnuts for my cake recipe while watching Sherlock Holmes. Now there is "The Bodyguard" on, and my husband is asking me (rhetorically - I have no idea) why Whitney Houston committed suicide. "She had everything!" he says, shaking his head. "What a voice. What a waste." I admit that it was tragic, and go back to reading a restaurant critic who wrote about his dismal experience at the Georges V in Paris - He said it was depressingly bad. It cost 600€ for a meal for 2 people. At that price, I would be depressed too. Suicidal, actually. Are there people who can afford to spend that on one meal? I don't even spend that much on a while month's grocery shopping - and that includes veggies for a wonderful, creamy, tasty soup.

Recipe for a wonderful, creamy, tasty soup:

4 carrots, 1 potato, 1 turnip, 1 onion, A wedge of green or white cabbage, 2 bouillion cubes or a quart of rich beef broth, a pinch of hot pepper flakes, 2 dollops cream.

Chop and cook the vegetables (except for the cabbage) in butter until they start to brown slightly. Add the broth and cook for ten minutes, covered. Slice the cabbage into strips and add the cabbage to the veggies and cover tightly. Cook until all the vegetables are very tender (about 40 minutes). Let cool in the broth, then puree in a blender. Add the pepper flakes and cream. Reheat and serve nice and hot with a fresh baguette, sweet butter, and cheese. We have Vacherin.


According to Wikipedia, it is a soft, rich, seasonal cheese made from cow's milk in France, usually in villages of the Jura region. It is traditionally made in the winter months when the cows come down from Alpage (mountain pastures) and there is not enough milk to make Comté cheese.And when the cows are kept undercover & fed exclusively on Hay & not fresh grass. It is marketed in round boxes of various diameters made of spruce.The strips of spruce are harvested by specialists called "sanglier". It is often served warmed in its original packaging and eaten like fondue.

For dinner, I heated it up, and we dipped pieces of fresh baguette into it. A new favorite is born! And to make everything perfect, we have ice cream left over from our Christmas dinner - so desert was homemade sweet chestnut ice cream with candied chestnuts.

Bon Appetite!!