Saturday, April 21, 2012

S is for Shrub, Soup and Saturday!

- Does anyone know what this shrub is?  Just curious.  It seems to have a slight fragrance, but the scent does not seem like Tea Olive to me.

 - There it is again, down on the right.  I took a noon time walk on Friday at the park near my office to clear my head.  That's Peachtree Creek - lovely on an overcast cool day. 

- This is Red Lentil Soup with Lemon, made from a recipe from Joanne's delightful blog, "Eats Well With Others." Here's a link to the recipe. You are supposed to use an immersion blender or food processor to puree the soup, but my experience in doing that turned comical. I was holding the bowl of the food processor next to the pot of soup, filling it up, when the blade floated out of place and soup started running out onto the countertop and floor. Oh my! After some fast salvaging, the soup remained unpureed. :) But it still tasted just as good. As you can see, from the line around the bowl, I had already eaten a little before photographing it. The rest went into individual portions in the freezer and I had some for lunch at work just yesterday. Blissfully good.  And made last Saturday morning.

It's not only Day 19 of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge and the letter "S", but it's also Saturday!  How I love Saturday - especially Saturday morning.  Waking up slowly, deciding between coffee or hot tea, poached eggs on English muffins.  Watching something peaceful on TV or reading.  Saturday is my most favorite day of the week.

Thanks for sticking with me this far on the challenge.  We take Sundays off during the challenge, but I'll be back on Monday with the letter "T" and three more things that give me pleasure.

16 comments:

LL Cool Joe said...

I bet you are looking forward to your day off on Sunday. I admire you sticking with this challenge so well. :)

I have no idea what the shrub is but it looks beautiful.

I haven't had lentil soup for years, but I used to love it. I must try it again sometime. My 17 year old daughter is a massive soup fan. :)

Riot Kitty said...

That sounds delicious - I've been having lots of lentil soup since the wisdom teeth came out, but a bit of lemon would make it even better. You are braver than I am; I wouldn't even attempt the blender. Lives would be lost. ;)

Claudia Moser said...

The soup sounds delicious!

Elephant's Child said...

Sundays off would be atreat after your hard work during the week. I love peachtree creek.

Snaggle Tooth said...

Can be tough to ID shrubs- I don't know. Very pretty Creek shot! The soup looks good- you find such interesting recipes to try!
Have a fun Saturday n Sunday Off!
I'll be working a "busiest" night-

happygirl said...

This has happened to me with soup, too. I love my immersion blender so much. Here is a blog that finds out what mystery plant are. Maybe you'd like to send the pics to her and see what you discover. http://helpwithmysterythings.blogspot.com/

Maude Lynn said...

I love lentil soup. I'll have to try this.

Granny Annie said...

And "S" is for sharing wonderful things,which you always do. We bought some lentils a while back and had no idea what to do with them. Now we do. Enjoy you Saturday and good luck identifying the shrub plant. Just don't make tea with it until you're sure it isn't poisonous.

Lynn said...

Joe -

Actually it's really kind of Saturday that's the day off. I just put together my T post for tomorrow. I have no idea what to do for U.

Riot Kitty -

It is easy to make - I had to get the red lentils at the natural food grocery. They tend to dissolve for the most part, but give the soup its lovely color.

Claudia -

It is. :)

The Elephant's Child -

I love it, too - so odd that such a beautiful place borders an industrial area.

Snaggle -

I hope you find some time to rest!

happygirl -

Thanks for the tip - I'll do that.

Mama Zen -

Let me know if you do. So good.

Granny Annie -

This is my favorite lentil soup so far. Making tea with shrubs is something I haven't tried, but there's a thought!

Ileana said...

That soup looks delicious and I will check out your link to try it on the family. I love all your nature photos, btw! This challenge has been fun for all of us. :)

Happy Sunday, mi amiga!

Laura said...

Lynn,
I'm pretty sure that's a privet. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privet. They are blooming in Atlanta right now, and they attract a lot of bees when they are in bloom. A lot of people hate those because they are non-native and invasive, but I love the smell because it reminds me of my childhood.

Sparkling Red said...

Peachtree Creek looks so peaceful. I love the fresh green of new spring leaves.

Lynn said...

Scarlet -

I'm glad you've enjoyed it. It's taken a lot of planning ahead and in some cases, I completely forgot photos I had planned to use. I can use them for future after challenge posts though.

Laura -

I looked up privet and I believe you have identified it! Anything that reminds us of our childhoods is always a good thing.

Sparkling Red -

Thank you - me, too.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Lynn - I don't often have soup, but when I do I rather enjoy it ... and yes have electrically charged food scattering in all directions is easily done!

The shrub I hope someone knows what it is .. Peachtree Creek looks very pretty ..

Cheers Hilary

Lynn said...

Hilary -

I hear it is privet!

Chatty Crone said...

That lentil soup looks great I am going to check it out. sandie