Knight's helmets and a kettle of soup

These are the "knights" bashing each other during the demo at the Twisp farmer's market this past weekend. It's the age old debate of which is better a sword and shield or 2 swords?

My head is clear enough to respond to the question, just what did we get at the Twisp market? Besides a beautiful drive over the mountain pass and lots of sunshine. The answer is red onions, garlic, a winter squash, lemon cukes, peppers, pears, soft wheat berries, heirloom seeds, and lots of organic apples.

Today, we went to our local farmers market for yellow onions, cucumbers, bok choy, squash, sweet potatoes, asian pears, and still more apples. We really love our apples!

It was Ari's long day at college today. She sneezed her way through as she now has the cold! Alex was practicing his monologue for his theatre class. I think I have it memorized now. Anni worked with her speech therapist, her OT, and her vision teacher today.

I had a bunch of kale I needed to use so I made a kettle of Italian kale and bean soup. It's easy, very fall and so delicious! The basic soup is veggie (vegan even!). Here's the recipe:

1 large bunch of kale
4 large cloves of garlic
1 Tbsp. of olive oil
3 small peeled (or new) potatoes, cut in half and finely sliced
6 cups of cooked canneloni beans (canned and drained are fine)
4-5 cups of bean liquid, veggie broth, water or a combination of these
4 fresh sage leaves or 1/4 dried sage leaves
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
Salt and pepper
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup fine cornmeal or corn flour
2/3 cup water

1) Wash and stem kale leaves. Chop into course pieces. Put in large bowl of cold water. Leave to soak.

2) Heat oil in large pot over medium-low heat. Add finely minced garlic. Cook for 1 minute. Then add potatoes. Cook for an additional minute, taking care not to burn garlic. Add 1/2 of liquid and 3 cups of the beans. Stir gently to combine flavors.

3) In small batches, combine remaining beans, liquid, tomato paste, and sage in a blender or food processer. Puree. Add to pot, along with salt and pepper to taste.

4) Drain kale, add to pot. Cover and simmer for at least 30 minutes.

5) Mix lemon juice with fine cornmeal or corn flour. Add enough water to make one cup. Whisk to remove any corny clumps. Once soup has cooked for 30 minutes, add this to it and cook and additional 10 minutes over LOW heat, stirring occassionally. Season to taste again with salt and pepper.

6) Serve this soup with freshly grated parmesean cheese, and with red pepper flake for those who like spice. For the carnivores out there, it's wonderful topped with a few slices of chicken sausage. Serve it up with fresh bread and cherry tomatoes. Enjoy!

(Yes, Lisa! I'll bring you some tomorrow!)