The gumbo base I made was horrible. Too greasy, then it separated. Chef Ryan came to the rescue and and he redid it with a new roux – luckily I hadn’t added the seafood. Ryan used butter for the roux, whereas I had used oil. I also made 2 cups of roux and used it all,- I should have MAYBE used about 1/2 cup. His was more reddish in color (we added tomatoes) and it ended up really good.

Trying out a new, way-out-of-my-box recipe for our family Christmas celebration, which is today. Southern Seafood Gumbo. I made the dark brown roux yesterday without burning it -yay, and it took over 1 1/2 hours. Next time, I think I will be buying that roux.

The jury is still out on the Gumbo. That will go together today and we’ll see how kt all tastes.

Mostly writing this because I do things and later forget what I did. This soup was so good, I will want to make it again.

So, here’s what I did.

• 2 slices of onion
• 6 mini or 1 large carrot, chopped
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 cup frozen green beans , in thirds
• 1 can cut- up tomatoes (fire-roasted is best) – include juice
• 1 can beans (I like light-colored, like cannelloni, but any other is fine) – rinsed 4
• 1/2 cup small pasta shells or elbows
• 1 1/2 cups Better than Bullion broth
• Other vegetables as you like . You can used green or red pepper, celery or zucchini in the sauté step. Just don’t overfill the mini-pot. If you add spinach, chop it up (defrost if frozen) and add at the end after cooking.
• Grated parmesan for serving

Sauté about two slices of onion (used red as that is what I had) diced up in a couple of T’s olive oil, with about 1/2-3/4 cup chopped carrots, a squished garlic clove on sauté setting of the pot. Add about 1 cup frozen green beans (I only had whole, so I cut into thirds) and stir; for a few minutes.

Add remaining ingredients (except cheese) and seal pot. Use SOUP setting. Let it sit for 5 mins, then release pressure. Top with cheese and serve. ACTUALLY WAS BETTER THE NEXT DAY. If you make it ahead on purpose to reheat it another day, I would cook the pasta separately and add it when reheating. But so convenient to cook right with the soup, so you decide.

Let me start by asking how did I miss this? Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult was published in 2014, and I just finished it tonight. I am writing through diamonds – oh, wait, could those be tears? That is how moved and frankly blown away by this book I feel right now. The story is narrated through the eyes and experiences of several characters, two of whom study and care for elephants in different settings – one on the wild in African and the other at a sanctuary in New Hampshire. The elephant information and research woven throughout the book are factual. Both are related to humans throughout the book, and sometimes in surprising ways, Do not go look this book up before you read it. If you already know story, it will not have anywhere near the same impact it does as a blind reading or listening. Highly recommended. Be prepared for feelings – lots of them.

Seems to be my favorite subject, right? Right! So beautiful and I can’t resist the urge to capture this subject in colored wool. You can visit my Etsy shop at the link below to see this and more.

Blue Ridge at Sunset – Felted Landscape

https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewtopic.php?p=2002869#p2002869

I like this one!

If you are interested in understanding more about how combat or violence affects people, I recommend this book. However, any reader seeking a beautifully and humanely written story will want to consider reading And Throw Away the Skins. Read more at entire view, link posted above.