Last Day in September

It's fitting that I would be wanting to clean the house on such a drizzly, grey- almost October morning. We are planning to get organized today... Nothing is tempting us outside even though I think about the loyal farmer's market shoppers in their raincoats. It makes me want to find my ratty string bean pajama bottoms and make Italian wedding soup with my sugarbeet- my pet name for my husband.

Italian Wedding Soup
Recipe by Giada De Laurentiis

Meatballs:
1 small onion, grated
1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 large egg
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp kosher salt
1 slice fresh white bread, crust trimmed, bread torn into small pieces
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
8 ounces ground beef
8 ounces ground pork
Freshly ground black pepper

Soup:
12 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 pound curly endive, coarsely chopped (1 pound of escarole would be a good substitution)
2 large eggs
2 tbsp (or more) freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup small-sized pasta

To make the meatballs:
Stir the first six ingredients in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the cheese, beef and pork. Using 1 1/2 teaspoons for each, shape the meat mixture into 1-inch-diameter meatballs. Place on a baking sheet. Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs, pasta and curly endive and simmer until the meatballs are cooked through and the curly endive is tender, about 8 minutes. Whisk the eggs and cheese in a medium bowl to blend. Stir the soup in a circular motion. Gradually drizzle the egg mixture into the moving broth, stirring gently with a fork to form thin stands of egg, about 1 minute. Season with S+P

Wine Making Series

This is the beginning of a long dream of mine coming true. This is the second year of making my own wine. This year, along with my aunt and uncle and my husband we are making old vine zinfandel, petite syrah, riesling and chardonnay. More to come...

Some day this blog will be up and running. For now, I am writing in hopes of gaining inspiration for my 9-5. Medical billing, biometrics, alcohol hair testing...all subjects I've become somewhat aquainted with, who new I would be writing about these things even six months ago as I peeled 10 pounds of fava beans until my gloves tore, then continued on with fava bean green fingernails.

GOAL~ getting a menu sorted for the October cooking class, finding food that pairs well with whiskey