tomato-cheddar soup, an addendum

As I mentioned last week, I recently made tomato-cheddar soup on a hot day for my book club, and a couple of those talented, industrious, non-Twilight-reading ladies have not only cooked up batches of their own, but made improvements, which I thought I'd share with you.

Rebekah added sauteed shrimp, which I think is brilliant in spite of the fact that I hate shrimp; this would be a delicious addition for you weirdos who like fishy rubber.

On Sarah's recommendation, Kerrie substituted half of the sharp cheddar cheese for smoked cheddar cheese, which sounds pretty dreamy. Kerrie also added some chipotle adobo sauce (I love this stuff: smoky and spicy and a good addition to just about anything except dessert, and in the right hands it would probably be good in dessert, too) and finely grated some garlic in at the end.

Rebekah and Kerrie and Sarah need to start bl*gs. Anon.

woman cannot live by gruel a la nuts alone

I was going to title this post, “gruel a la nuts out the ass,” but there were so many possible misinterpretations.


I made a big batch of gruel a la nuts on Sunday and have been eating it for dinner ever since, with the exception of the night I had scary Mexican. Not a scary Mexican, scary Mexican food. And although, as Chris can attest, I have an incredible capacity for repetitive eating and an abiding love for gruel a la nuts, I think that tomorrow night I’m going to have to cook myself a new pot of gruel.

I want something that I can make a big batch of and heat up or eat cold for the following couple of nights. I would like something with a grain or bean, a vegetable or two. It could have parts that need to be assembled into a whole (e.g., a burrito, although I’ve been eating a burrito every day for lunch), but I don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen after the first night, because I have wine to sit around and drink with my new friends. I mean, I have shake weed to smoke and a novel to write.

Suggestions, anyone?