Avgolemono is one of my all time favorite soups. I first had it in a little greek restaurant in the U-District of Seattle and it was one of those "Oh my god! What is this?! I need more!!" type foods.  Some people like chicken noodle soup when they are feeling sick (and that's good too) but this is my top choice when I'm feeling a little under the weather.  Its slightly more labor intensive to make but well worth it! 

Its creamy, lemony, tany and herby all at once. So much flavor. 

Recipe below: 

My second soup this fall was what I'd describe as a kitchen sink soup... soup is one of those lovely ways to use up random bits in the refrigerator and that is how this soup came to be. It was actually very tasty. 

The ingredients (except for the bacon) are quite healthy, There's other vegetables besides the mushrooms so it made it a very fallish soup with the additional root vegetables
Here's my recipe: 

As the season started to turn cold last September and with the approach of mom going south for winter I decided I needed a project to make at least one soup a week through winter.  I've been mostly good about it, except for when I've been sick or my back too upset. 

I'm not generally speaking a big fan of broccoli there are two exceptions... I good broccoli cheddar soup and a good broccoli salad.  Its not the prettiest of soups, but it is tasty and reminiscent of childhood.  
​Recipe below: 

My mother always says time flies when you are having fun, and even when you are not. I find thats true. 
I've been home almost two years now, and I did mean to document my healing journey... but I just couldn't bring myself to sit down and write the words. While I'm not where I was, I still am not yet where I want to be.  They say it takes 5 years to recover from serious burnout and I'm only on year two...when you throw in all the other trauma... well who knows.  But like the phrase in 'What about Bob' "Baby Steps".

2024 was riddled with health issues, kidney stones, colonoscopies, gynecological/perimenopausal concerns, various random autoimmune responses and skin concerns, and once again, herniated discs.  I am a firm believer in the mind/body connection, and I cant help but wonder if some of these flare ups and issues are in part a part of my overall processing of all the traumas... and hopefully as I continue to work on all of that maybe I'll not be sick all the time or have so many injuries... I can hope anyway.  Despite all the health stuff I tried a quick foray into dating, but quickly gave up on the notion.  

The world is scary right now. Especially America... as a result of my ongoing healing from burnout and a life full of trauma I find myself especially overwhelmed by it all. As a result I'm deleting my Facebook and Instagram accounts. I'm going to try and order from Amazon less (thats a really hard one as there are certain things Its hard to find locally and Amazon makes it so easy to find just about everything). I'm trying to be more mindful about which brands I buy (There's an app called Goods which will show the political leanings of companies). I sign the petitions and email my representatives (what good it does, who knows). I try to keep the balance of being aware while not losing my mind and all hope. 

My 2025 goal is to read, and write more. For christmas I got myself an ipad as part of my upgrading my phone and already in that time I've read 9 books on the ipad and finished one of the physical books I've been reading. I'm barely watching TV/movies. I've put together 4 jigsaw puzzles. All of this is to try and find some peace and sanity. I'm thinking of taking a watercolor class. Everything is in an ongoing search for peace and contentment. 

Chai and Mango keep me entertained and cuddled. Chai has just decided that right now is the precise time he needs to sit on my lap, and was not best pleased with me when I moved him to the side.  My friend circle grows ever smaller as time goes on and I work on me.  But I am increasingly content in solitude. 

I had been posting recipes on Instagram and I will be working today transferring them over to here today and tomorrow. I'm mid Soup project where I attempt to make over 100 soups. I still find that cooking is one of my favorite creative/peaceful/meditative things. 

So I'm back.. and will try to remain so. 

I've been in a funk... the combination of starting a new job and feeling insecure with learning new information, receiving bad news (betrayal of someone I thought was a friend), physical pain, not sleeping well, and starting the therapy journey and thinking about all the life time traumas. 

I slept a lot this weekend... which I suppose is good since I slept poorly all week. Today I decided to actually do something fun/creative and make Moussaka. 

​It may not be the prettiest thing.. but it sure is tasty and very comforting. 

Mom harvested more Rhubarb last night. I went to bed pondering Rhubarb possibilities. 

​I thought about one of my favorite desserts sticky toffee pudding and thought to myself... what about Rhubarb and Rum... a pinterest search revealed many delicious sounding cocktails but not much in the way of recipes. Well I am sometimes a clever girl (only sometimes)... so I thought I can do this...  So I've made a Spiced Rhubarb Rum Poke Cake. 

It's a lovely spiced cake with cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, vanilla and Falernum rum with the Rhubarb speckled throughout and a nice buttered rum caramel drizzled over the top. 

​Sometimes the answer to sadness is to bake.
 
Mom harvested some rhubarb from the garden and It brought me to mind of my grandmother … she showed love through food and more often than not pie. Rhubarb custard was one of her favorites to make (and my grandfather’s favorite to eat). I skipped the crust because the good stuff is the inside anyway, right?
 
This sort of turned out somewhere between a Dutch baby, a clafoutis and a crustless custard pie. I’ll skip right to the recipe and save the extensive thoughts for after, shall I?

It's often hard to know when you are making the right choice. Even when it comes to parking. Mom and I were reflecting on that earlier today. You see a spot and park and then as you are walking towards you see a better one, closer. Life is so often like that. We make choices based on the information we have available to us at the time.  Sometimes we realize we had better options but we've already committed. 

I'm working on a longer fun post about cheese but it's 11:30 and I'm only 3 cheeses in and it's going to take me a while. but within that coming post I also reflect on choices. I was working at a job that I liked with a boss I loved and left to go pursue my dreams of being an actor. What would have happened if I had stayed? Who knows.  I made the choice. 

I realize I posted on Instagram (give me a follow if you've not already), but not on here. Yesterday that I left my job at TJ Maxx. My physical pain was just too bad. I know leaving was the right choice. My body already feels better. I've never left a job without giving two weeks before, but I know I was endangering my physical and metal wellbeing by staying. And my focus now is health. My amazing friend Francisco contacted me shortly afterwards to join him at the gym and I had some therapeutic time in the hot tub and pool and that helped my joints and muscles immensely. 

So now I'm unemployed again. I know the right answer will present itself. I've applied for several things today and have a couple interviews lined up already for Monday. I'm going to try to look into Voice Over work and copywriting/freelance writing to supplement my income. 

It will be ok. 

Today I wandered a farmers market and garden nursery with my Mom, took a nap and planted some things in the garden it was just the therapy I needed. (I also applied for 6 jobs).

This post is in memory of one of my favorite bosses of all time Karen Sanderson from Brix Bottleshop. The picture is from when I was working Taste of Kalispell for Brix in 2014. Lots of Cheesy goodness!

I worked for Karen only one year (life is often filled with regrets and I sometimes wonder how things would have been different if I had stayed at Brix and not gone to L.A.... oh well)

Anyway... I've been going through old files and clearing out my computer space as well as my physical space. I found a list I had made for her about Cheeses we should get. So I thought I'd share... because... CHEESE! I've actually edited this down quite a lot believe it or not. Some of them were similar enough I thought I didn't need to list them all... but if you want more cheese recommendations let me know.

Try one of these delicious cheeses out soon. You'll be glad you did.  They are in no particular order. Some of these you can order directly from the makers, If not hopefully your local grocer or cheesemonger can hook you up.  I also recommend Murray's Cheese they have pretty much everything... and SHIPS! (I'm not affiliated but would love to be... hint hint.. nudge nudge... send me cheese please). You can also find an increasing amount of good cheese on Amazon. 

However, despite the pain there is much that I'm am thankful for.