Caught Up

Today has been the best day. I slept ‘till eight-thirty … at nine-thirty I made individual green onion and cheddar cheese omelets … plus link sausage and toasted English muffins. They weren’t really even omelets. They weren’t folded in half – or in thirds – (because I got impatient and stage fright on the first one) – really they were just scrammy eggs with green onions and cheese. Yet – my hosts thought they were “great” … “amazing” … and “outstanding” as if I’d done something complicated.

After breakfast we hurried to get the kitchen clean up (and not once did I wish I could crawl back into bed and sleep) so we could head into town. Thankfully only the men in the house were going to watch the South Carolina Bulldogs meet the Appalachian Mountaineers in thirty-two degree weather … while we headed to Mast General Store. Shopping is not my thing … but Mast is pretty special – and spending an hour or two in there didn’t strain my temper.

We left the store and took a short drive up to Sugar Mountain. The weather became slushy so we came on home – without any further detours.

When we got home (I did not take a nap) but I did start on our dinner, corn and potato chowder. The recipe is out of my “Great Greens” by Georgeanne Brennan cookbook. I bought this book three or so years ago – just because it was so pretty. Now as I’m trying to cook my way through the CSA box it’s become my favorite “go to” source for recipes with greens in inspired combinations.

This soup is billed as the perfect “summer” soup – highlighting the bounty of the garden. I think it’s a great winter soup too. True, corn is a summer veggie – but I think with a tweak here and there – switching the corn out for hominy and adding some shredded chicken and cumin spice would turn it into an awesome Caldo de Pollo. However, the roasted red-pepper chili cream and avocado garnish really made this soup shine and no tweaking is necessary to get rave reviews.

After dinner we’ve all plopped down ‘round the fireplace and TV. We’ve watched Wake Forrest and Vanderbilt, Duke and UNC, University of Southern Cal and Notre Dame in between scenes from “How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days” and “The Empire Strikes Back”.

Now however … the best of the day … Bing, Danny, Rosemary and Vera Ellen are going to end our evening with a White Christmas and I’m not even yawning!

Seems as if this trip really HAS been the perfect tonic.