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Thursday, January 6, 2011

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

13 comments:

  1. The soup sounds wonderful!! I'm trying to use the crock pot more.

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  2. Love the quilt, and wonderful story!! I know what I'm having for dinner on Saturday, thanks for the recipe. I love bean soup and always looking for new recipes!!

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  3. Thanks for the soup recipe. The crock pot is the best way to cook. Beautiful quilt!

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  4. Your recipes made us get our crock pot busy. Beef stew last night and soup beans tonight. Thank you for the recipes. Hope you will post a picture of the 2" square quilt when you finish.

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  5. Oops. Quilt made with 2" squares.

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  6. LOL!! Your table looks like mine. I have to be careful not to have to many projects out at once. That soup sounds great!

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  7. I will be trying that soup next week, thank you. We have made a complete change of diets around our house and we are trying to get my husbands diabetes under control. It's beans or soup every night...with meat only twice a week...one of those days being fish.

    So, I look forward to bean and soup recipes!

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  8. Great word - love perseverance! We could all use more of that! And, I love your quilt - and the story behind it too! Very sweet!

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  9. Giggle.........you are the most productive person I know. I don't thiink 'perserverance' is a problem for you.

    Cute quilt.

    Billie

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  10. Hi! It's nice to meet another Sharon! Thanks for stopping by my blog today! Your soup looks delicious and I like your word as I need to also persevere and finish some projects.

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  11. Hmmmm, that soup sounds lovely! But I'm a carnivore through and through. Might have to add some bacon. ;) And your Jezebel quilt is just beautiful. Really love it.

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  12. What a lovely quilt....

    It doesn't get better than warm food and a warm quilt!

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  13. This is a great word in so many ways...love it! And thanks for the soup recipe, it is similiar to one I made last week. Love to make a crockpot of soup in the winter, then head to to my sewing room to play.

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