Soup for the Soul

Slow-Cooker Bean and Barley Soup

Ingredients
1 cup dried multibean mix or Great Northern beans, picked over and rinsed
6 cups water
1 (14-ounce) can whole tomatoes, with juice
3 cloves garlic, smashed
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup pearl barley
1 bay leaf
1 Tsp salt
2 teaspoons dried Italian herb blend
1 Tsp black pepper
3 cups cleaned baby spinach leaves (about 3 ounces)
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Directions
Put beans, water, tomatoes and their juices, garlic, celery, carrots, onion, barley, bay leaf, and seasonings in slow cooker; cover and cook on LOW until the beans are quite tender and the soup is thick, about 8 hours.
Stir in the spinach, cheese, and vinegar, cover, and let the soup cook until the spinach wilts, about 5 minutes. Serves 6 - I like to serve those flakey biscuits with this.

Our challenge for the year of Charming Girls is to select one word to base our year. I chose 'perserverance' as my word. I have a lot of UFO's in a short amount of time that really need to be addressed. This will, also, help in trying to get my MOM to pull out those boxes and finish some things instead of telling me that I will get them to finish. I would rather people enjoy her finished work while she is still with us - so I should really practic what I preach.

And I am still sewing fun things as they strike me. I love working with small bits and the 2" squares are over-flowing, so I am working on another postage stamp quilt. As my work table shows, I do tend to jump from project to project but I think it keeps it all fresh. And I hate to put things back in place until I'm sure I am done with it.

I have this little quilt in the Quilt Gallery theme contest - favorite quilt of 2010. Jezebel is a Red Rooster pattern and I fell in love with it when I saw it. I had so many similar fabrics that it all came from my stash. But it is a memory quilt for me as my DAD loved Bettie Davis (Jezebel was his favorite name - thankfully none of us got blessed with it) and always told me as a child that I had Bettie Davis eyes. Dad passed in Jan 2010.
I'm ready for Spring, but Mother Nature isn't cooperating. So I'll keep warming the soul with some hot, homemade soup until then.
Sewingly Yours,
Sharon