Res Ipsa Loquitur

Space Needle and Monorail in sepia.

Via this flickr.

9am

There is nothing better than coming home to the smell of soup, simmering on the stove.  My aunt brought this ham and bean soup over to my parents’ new place this weekend and I loved it and had to make it at home, even though I had never made soup.

Pretty damn easy.  I rendered two chopped up pieces of bacon, then briefly sauteed one big (sweet) chopped onion, almost a head of chopped garlic, three peeled and chopped carrots, and three stalks of celery in the bacon drippings.  I added two cartons of chicken stock, a half dozen bay leafs, some dried mustard powder and a lot of white pepper and some chili flakes.

I then added two ham hocks (something I had never worked with before) and a pound of white navy beans, which I had soaked in cold water overnight (something I thought was only done in Steel Magnolias).  Brought it up to a boil, then simmered all day.

I serve it with a few drops of jalapeno hot sauce and a crunchy English muffin, because I cannot seem to eat soup without an English muffin.

5pm

It is a question so terribly vexing.

(posted with tweetshots.com)

8am

Wow.  Christina Hendricks is the picture of joy.

12pm

My dad, who just retired from Big Oil after 30+ years, is buying a VW Jetta diesel wagon for his first post-retirement ride. It is a little Alanisonic.

4pm