Well, NaBloPoMo was a bust. It didn’t really help that we were on vacation for a week. Turns out week of driving 1600 miles round-trip with three kids and your mother-in-law is less a vacation and more an exercise in patience and planning. (It was actually great to have my MIL along for the ride. I’m not sure Mike and I could have handled all three kids on the road as easily without her help. Thanks, Judy!)
We were very thankful for this during our road trip.
Anyway, I suppose I should post one or two things on this last night of November to try and make a showing.
I made another new recipe the other day – Ina Garten’s ribbolita. This rich tomato-based soup has pancetta, parmesan, white beans, and kale and is thickened with sourdough bread. I read the recipe dozens of times and kept getting hungrier and hungrier – it sounded so good!
Alas, despite a 5-star rating on the Food Network website, I found the soup just okay. Instead of all those yummy flavors I just mentioned, it really just tasted like tomatoes. If I make it again, I’d probably use beef stock instead of chicken stock, and probably add some braised beef as well. Although I suppose then it would be beef stew, not ribbolita. Hm. At least it looked yummy!
Mmmm… Shaved parm…
Along with the soup, I enjoyed some leftover samosas that I had made the night before. Also pretty good, although I think they would have been better with a less-flaky dough. (The recipe calls for puff pastry. Maybe pie dough would be better?)
You can’t tell here, but the samosas are quite large (each uses a quarter sheet of puff pastry), and filled with potatoes, chicken, peas, and spices. Tasty!
Samosas
strivingtobesupermom 