Hurricane day+Sausage Lentil Stew

I am sure, for some people, Sandy was not kind. And I'm guessing for the 300,000 in Massachusetts without power, it hasn't been exactly fun and games. But for me? I'm thankful for Sandy...for a forced restful day, for a quiet afternoon and night with my husband.

I was by myself until 2:00 when Nick got home...Lupe and I built two forts. Once for her, and one for me, to pass the time. Mostly I did the building and Lupe watched in a mopey way from her dog bed. She pretty much just drags around the house when Nick isn't home. Which hurts my feelings, but its good training for daughters I guess.

My fort

Lupe's Fort

When Nick got home, we donned our rain boots and trudged to the grocery store for 'emergency supplies'. Which consisted of SO MUCH marked down specialty beer (on Nicks part) and chocolate chips and popcorn on my part. The walk was fun-- not scary like my foolhardy run had been-- because a. my rain boots added a solid four pounds to my body to root me to the ground and b. things like wind blowing super hard against you and creaking the trees around and above you are a lot of fun when you're with someone you like a whole lot. 

When we got home, I put together some homemade hot chocolate and popped a big bowl of salted popcorn. Then we curled up in our fort at watched Shakespeare in Love. 

Lupe stayed in her own fort for a while because she's not so into sappy love stories, but eventually joined us when she felt lonesome.

After dark, our friend Jon joined us for a hurricane dinner, which consisted of the thick, hearty lentil stew that had been crock-potting it all day long. Thankfully we didn't lose power. It was the perfect dinner. Warm, cozy, and vaguely nostalgic for an older time. Filled with farm grown lentils, farm fed sausage (well. It was farm fed before it was a sausage...back when it was a pig.) and seasonable root vegetables in a flavorful beef broth, it called up visions of a wood fire and a log cabin. To me. And I'll be honest...my imagination can get carried away. Which is probably why I think Alice the Cat actually goes to bars on Saturday nights with his Cat friends. 

Sausage Lentil Stew

Ingredients:

about 2.5 cups uncooked lentils

1/2 white onion, chopped fine

3 cloves garlic, chopped fine

1 stalk celery, chopped

two carrots, chopped

salt

1 sweet potato, chopped

1 russet potato, chopped

1/2 lb sausage meat, broken up

48 oz container of beef broth

salt and pepper

1/2 tbs each: marjoram, sage, oregano, thyme, herbs de provence

a dash of crushed red pepper

Put the lentils in a lot of water and bring them to a boil, then simmer them until soft. Meanwhile, saute the onion, garlic, celery, and carrot in a nonstick pan with a little dash of olive oil. Throw some salt in to bring out the flavors. Once the stock-starter is translucent, put it into the crock pot (if you're crocking. Otherwise put it in a normal pot). Add the sweet potato and regular potato to the pot, and put the broken up sausage into the frying pan and cook it until it is slightly browned. Add this into the pot with some salt and pepper and all the spices. Pour the beef broth over it, and then drain the softened lentils and put about half into the soup. Reserve the other half so you can make lentil burgers like I am going to do tonight.

Then, turn your crock pot to high, or your regular pot to low, and cook it for an hour (in a pot) or 6+ (in a crock pot). 

Garnish it with a little Parmesan cheese, and dig in to this rich, tasty soup.

I am completely slightly obsessed with soup. It is, to me, the perfect cool/cold weather meal. Filling, healthy, and low in calories to boot. So, get ready for roughly two million soup recipes through the coming months. On  the menu for tonight though: My mom's delicious Lentil Burgers with sweet potato fries. And now? Off for a (dry) run. Happy Hallows Eve.