Trying New Things: Fennel

We received fennel in our CSA box last week (if you sign up with FFTY, use promo code 6164 for $5 off and please mention my name). I've had it for over a week and a half and I've been procrastinating cooking it because I didn't know what on earth to do with it. I've had fennel only once before - recently my mom made a fennel and orange salad, which was pretty good, but I wanted to cook with it - not prepare it cold. So I went to allrecipes and typed in 'fennel.' The first result I got was Fennel Soup. It had really high ratings and I had all the ingredients I needed on hand, so I went with it.

This was one of The. Best. Soups. I have ever made. My adapted recipe below. :)


Myriah's Fennel Soup
adapted from allrecipes

Ingredients:
2 T butter
1 fennel bulb, quartered twice
1 russet potato, cubed
1/2 yellow onion, diced
12 oz broth
1-2 T reduced fat sour cream, optional

Directions:
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the fennel, potato, and onion; cook and stir until golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Pour in the broth, and simmer until tender, about 15 more minutes.

Ladle the soup into a blender and blend until mostly smooth (some small chucks are ok). Return to pan, thin with a little more broth, if necessary. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with a dollop of reduced fat sour cream and enjoy!

I loved the sour cream in this. It went really well with the potato in the soup!

Tam-uh-ruh

This weekend I will celebrate the birth of my dear friend Tammy. 9 girls are going to a beach house in Capitola :)

Here's what my life without Tammy would have looked like (not a pretty picture):

• I would not have danced in City Gate.
• I would not have worn a toilet seat cover around my head in a public place. Or made out with a Ronald McDonald statue. Or played with a fire hose on the roof of a building. Or swim with water wings... in college. Or sit in the back of a police car. Days of Virtual Criminal Activity would not exist.
• My goat island would have a few less residents.
• No Lost Savior Tour for our band.
• I would have probably weighed 10 lbs less in college. ;)
• I would never have met Frank or little Sam (oh my heart!). 
• I would not have met my husband.
• I would be short 1 really amazing friend.

Happy Birthday, Tammy. ily lots and lots. 

Reggie loves his Auntie Emily

Smoooooooch!

Myriah

My little love

As most of you are well aware, I really like my puppy. With Greg working full time and starting grad school last year, I told him that we needed a dog - that I needed a dog.

So began my search. I looked on petfinder.com - no luck. Local shelters - no luck. Local purebred rescues - no luck. Craigslist - kinda scary honestly. I had no idea it'd be so difficult. Most shelters/non-profits wanted an in-home evaluation. I'm sorry, I'm not trying to hide anything and I understand their intentions are good, but that's way too intrusive for me. Then my friend Elizabeth told me about her coworker's brother's beagle who'd gotten out, gotten pregnant, and just had a litter of puppies. She showed me this picture:

I claimed the little boy puppy (3rd from the left) with the white chest within seconds.

Elizabeth brought Reggie and his brother Rocky (who belongs to our friend Nick) home to us just a few days later.

Reggie was just 2 months old at the time. Now he is a wise, mature dog at the age of 8 months. ha! Not really, he's just as hyper as ever :) But he has changed and grown a lot. He's graduated:

He's made tons of friends, both human and animal:

Dakota

Jenn

Luke

Auntie Stef

Riley

Joseph

Lulu

Molly

He's gotten into trouble:

(Sorry, I can't figure out how to rotate a video on here)

But mostly, he's stolen our hearts:

It's a big world out there. I'm so glad I get to be the one to see it with you, little buddy. 

Myriah