It’s only been a short while since I was praising the joys and simplicity of making stovetop tomato soup and now, only weeks later, I shall have to eat my words, as well as my soup, as I’ve found an even better recipe! In the oven! And, miraculously, it’s even simpler than the one I’d been raving about. Really. As one no longer has to peel off the skins! Hallelujah! (It was the hardest part.)

The tomatoes above I secured at the local farmer’s market this morning all for three dollars! Seriously! They were all a bit deliciously ripe, so their shelf life was probably somewhat limited from the farmer’s perspective, but they were precisely what I was seeking: organic heirloom ripe tomatoes. Yum! Perfect and thank you so much! Don’t they look scrumptious? Because they are.

So what I did was cut them up into chunks, adding a chopped red onion, and a couple of cloves of sliced garlic. I put them in my lovely green Crueset baking dish, drizzled a bit of olive oil over them, added a smidgeon of salt and white pepper, and popped in the oven for an hour and fifteen minutes at 350 degrees F. Then they look like this.

Then I let the mixture cool a bit. Then I spooned small portions into my blender, hitting puree.

And then I served with a very good freshly baked sourdough bread, brought over from the coast this early morning, slathered with sweet butter. Fabulous!

If one were so inclined a bit of cream could be added to the soup as you heat it, an even richer version for chilly, rainy weather.
Either way, enjoy!

Love and kitchen blessings,
Kathryn xoxo

Footnote: I want to thank my many loyal subscribers, many of whom have read this blog for its full six years of history! And I would like to invite any of you who have also read my book Plant Whatever Brings You Joy: Blessed Wisdom from the Garden, to consider leaving a review on Amazon, if you have an account and are able to do that. I can’t tell you how much it means to an author to hear from you! Thank you so much for reading the blog, for reading the book, and for leaving your precious comments below. I hope you like the new look of the blog, and I want to give a special thanks to artist Linda Scott for her suggestions. Her beautiful blog can be found in the blogroll on the right, Musings of a Country Woman.–Watch for an excerpt from Plant Whatever Brings You Joy in the GreenWoman Magazine in November!

Posted on September 28th, 2013 by Kathryn
Filed under: People at Life | 10 Comments »

In grad school one of the many classes I took with Angeles Arrien invited us to explore our relationship with the various Greek goddesses and the various archetypal qualities they engendered. Did we embody the virtues of each, or were we missing the integration of some of the intrinsic qualities they held? Hestia is the virgin goddess of hearth, and while I have long held an endearing and esteemed place for her in my life (I call her “Susie Creamcheese” blasphemous as that might appear), I knew that many of my sister classmates were struggling to embrace her. Wasn’t that passe? If Emily Matchar’s new book Homeward Bound is any indication Hestia is making a righteous comeback as women around the country are turning to what Matchar calls “the new domesticity.” Gardening bloggers and longtime readers of this blog will smile, as we have for half a decade held sway that growing our own vegetables, baking our own pastries [think weekly scones!], and selling our crafts on Etsy is de rigueur for us. And we knew by our large and ever-growing networks we were not alone, but did we truly know it’s a fast emerging movement? Maybe not.

It’s not hard to imagine why such a thing is true. The Agrarian Movement was organic and intrinsic and an inescapable reality: we need to eat. The Industrial Revolution and what followed might have driven some women to the workplace, and rightly so, but wasn’t it inevitable that one day we would awaken to the reality that farming out our most precious commodities and resources to indifferent corporations would lead to, well, disaster? Is it any wonder we are reclaiming our need and right to grow our own food, or to at least buy locally and organically and to realize the beauty and wonder and artistry of creating and reinventing our homefronts for ourselves and our beloved families?

Matchar brilliantly articulates the history of women’s evolving roles, including the emergence of “feminism” in its various forms. Does the retreat of women back into their kitchens and gardens mean feminism is on the wane? Homeward Bound thinks not. Instead “the new domesticity” describes an empowered female, reclaiming all the parts of her complex self. What unfolds is not June Cleaver, but a super connected woman who is more balanced, aware and happy. Gardening bloggers will especially appreciate Chapter Three: June Cleaver 2.0: Bloggers and the Rise of Domestic Chic. Did you know you were part of creating that trend? Some of you do. Other chapters include topics such as Cupcake Feminists, The Rise of Homesteading and DIY Parenthood.

“Nowhere is the new domestic chic so apparent as in the blogosphere. If you’re a young woman, chances are you already know all about the ‘domestic porn’ blog phenomenon, which is overwhelmingly female dominated and overwhelmingly enamored of a cozy vintage aesthetic.”

Author Emily Matchar is a Harvard educated freelance journalist. She lives in Hong Kong and Chapel Hill, North Carolina with her husband. Her primary focus is culture, women’s issues, work and food. Homeward Bound is a smart treatise on what’s happening with many young women in today’s world as they search for healthy lifestyle choices and answers to the dilemma of living in a global community increasingly run by socially unconscious corporations. Recommended reading. Enjoy!

Love and blessings,
Kathryn xoxo

Book News: Part Two of my interview with Slade Suiter has now been posted both on Authenticity Radio’s site and more recently conveniently on YouTube. Also you might watch for an excerpt from Plant Whatever Brings You Joy appearing in the September issue of Stillpoint Arts Quarterly. Thank you!

Posted on August 25th, 2013 by Kathryn
Filed under: Book Notes | 6 Comments »