Run Out Soup

Every so often I’m reminded that this blog began when my newlywed daughters were in the habit of calling for recipes … almost 17 years ago!

The reminders come when I manage to make something that I want to remember, as I did last night. Don was recovering from a routine colonoscopy, so I wanted to make something easy on his stomach using homemade rotisserie chicken broth …

I was of a mind to make Brunswick Stew, but belatedly realized I was out of potatoes. So I thought I’d pivot to tortilla soup, but I was also out of poblano peppers and cilantro (oh the joys of restocking after going out of town).

Then it came to me that I had just bought fresh corn and coconut milk (which is not usual for me, but for some reason I had picked it up at the store). Combined with onions, celery, grape tomatoes, a sweet potato, chipotle powder, salt and pepper, I had just what I needed to create a chicken soup riff on Rundown Chowder. Which turned out pretty darn well …

All that was left to decide was what to call it … Don, wag that he is, suggested Run Out Soup. And so it is. I do think I’ll add some poblanos and thyme for the next go round, but otherwise the “recipe” (sorry, no amounts) should be good to go in the future, whether I’ve “run out” of ingredients or not.

P.S. Fortunately, we did have some tortilla chips in the pantry that added the requisite crunch that I always crave with soups … and salads, and sandwiches. Ha!

Christmas 2025

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then our Christmas held a dictionary’s worth of joy-fullness.

There was art and BBQ, bowling and cookie dough, lights at the Missouri Botanical Gardens, Dave’s Hot Chicken and Top Golf …

But wait, there’s more … pizza and card games, more art and much silliness, along with candlelight and carols …

All of it fleeting, as these two pictures from 2022 and 2025 show …

We are so very rich in love and happiness.

Happy New Year

Ten years ago when I turned 60 I blogged everyday …

Five years later I made it halfway through 2021 (and all the way through turning 65) …

So here I am, contemplating a third try for my 70th after a year when I barely showed up (because 2025 absolutely did not inspire). Which is to say, no promises … but I dare to hope that 2026 could be different.

As always, I find inspiration from Kindred Spirits. Today’s inspiration comes from Fiona Dempster in Australia …

May each and every one of us experience peace, joy, and wellness in the year to come!

No Kings

 

Kyle, Texas today ✌️

Let there be peace

It has been a quiet joy to see peace unfold in my blog list today …

I went out this morning to hang the latest weathergram for peace on my front porch …

With thanks to Barry and Fiona, who are such inspirational peace-keepers. I may not be blogging much of late, but I continue to keep the faith …

along with Mo and Katja. 

Breakfast tacos for 14

Cooking for this crew at the beach is the best “food is love” challenge …

So after last night’s dinner it occurred to me, somewhat belatedly, that it would be a good idea to note some basic quantities for future reference. Hence, breakfast tacos for 14.

Assemble 20 HEB flour tortillas, 15 eggs, two packages of shredded cheese, two pounds of bacon, 10 hash brown patties (or half a bag of tater tots), 2-3 avocados, and assorted salsas.

Put the bacon in the oven at 350 until crispy, about 30-40 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

Raise oven temp to 425 and bake potatoes until done.

Peel and slice avocados

Toast tortillas on open flame, turning frequently for about thirty seconds each

Preheat frying pan, add copious amounts of butter, and scramble eggs until gently set

Try to have lots of coffee and some leftover blueberry crumb cake on hand to keep everyone happy until the breakfast taco bar opens for self service.

Clean it all up and start thinking about what to have for dinner whilst everyone makes sandwiches for lunch on the beach.

Gotta love a week in Avon, NC …

Desperate hope

There has been terrible flash flooding two hours west of us and the rain has put the kibosh on the Red White and Buda celebration that was planned. So I’ve been doomscrolling and found this, written by the son of the Sandra Boynton …

Peace pin variation

‘Tis the season

Tomato season doesn’t last long in Texas, where we’ve already weathered a week of triple digit heat. But oh how we love every precious day of it …

And yes, the Peace Pin Project continues on. These two pins, reading “Fenna” which is a Dutch name associated with “peace,” were made for the proud grandmother of newborn Fenna Elizabeth in The Netherlands …

Fair linen

The Episcopal Church, into which I was born, is known to be a stickler for details. And here I pause to wonder if that's why I find it attractive, or if it is in part the cause of my own fascination with details. In any case, after some 10,000+ stitches and 30+ hours of work, the 100" x 26" fair linen was completed the day before Maunday Thursday. On deadline, in other words.

I did take some process photos along the way, as I haven't done this kind of embroidery for a while and want to remember what and how I did it this time so that I can refer back. The linen is a mid-weight Belgian linen from Almy (60 threads per inch) and the thread is 80/3 linen from Burnley and Trowbridge, which turned out to be a bit too slubby, so I'll be switching to 100/3 linen threads from Londonderry in the future.

 

Outline drawn in heat-erasable pen using a light box borrowed from my grandkiddos

Outline backstitched with two threads, then whipped with a single thread

 

Close-up of finished stitching after ironing erasable pen

Finished size 3"

And while I didn't think to get a close-up photo of the fair linen once it was ironed and on the altar, you can see it draped over the end of the altar in this photo taken the day before Easter ...

 

 

One final note: I emailed my iPhone photos to my laptop thinking it would be easier to compose this way ... it wasn't (sigh).