Library Loot #3

   Sooo...the ear infection and tonsillitis and sinus infection and...and...and...well, they won, and my amazingly awesome boss gave me today off to recuperate. Last night after work I had a craving for double dumpling soup, and decided that I would spend my day reading Anna Karenina while drinking pots of jasmine tea. (Yes, that's POTS)
   Soup ingredients? check
   Jasmine tea? check
   Anna Karenina? Anna? Hellooooo? Is Anna here? Nerp. The library's copy was so battered (it wasn't me, I swear) that it has been discarded. No Anna? What am I supposed to do with myself now?? (This as I'm standing in a library full of books...) What to my wondering eye should appear, but a shiny brand-new copy of The Complete Sherlock Holmes. Published by Walking Lion Press in 2011, it contains, in chronological order: A Study in Scarlet (1887); The Sign of Four (1890); The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892); The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1894); The Hound of the Baskervilles (1901); The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1904); The Valley of Fear (1914); His Last Bow (1917); The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1927).
   Incidentally, in a discussion group I recently held at work in honor of Sherlock's birthday (December 1, the day A Study in Scarlet first appeared in print) the residents and I learned that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle rather emphatically loathed Sherlock Holmes, whom he felt took attention away from his more serious, worthy works of literature. And it was news to me that Sir Arthur had written anything other than Sherlock. So much for my literary genius. Anyway, a pot of tea accompanied me on my adventures in a Study in Scarlet last night, and later today (okay, as soon as I finish typing this) I'm going to curl up with a pot of tea and Dr. Watson and ...that doesn't look very good :P (Actually, to be perfectly flip, in the Granada Television Series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, the very dashing David Burke plays Dr. Watson, and I would not mind curling up with him AT ALL. Just sayin'.) SO, I am going to curl up with my tea and MY BOOK and go on an adventure with Dr. Watson and Mr. Holmes.  I bid you adieu, mein dear friends, until I have another free moment to actually update this blog.



And for those of you that are Sherlock Holmes fans of the caliber that I am, here is an image of the David Burke (sigh) and Jeremy Brett television series from Granada Television. I watched this faithfully every Monday night at 9 PM on A&E all thru high school.







    

...and a close up of the BEST Sherlock Holmes EVARR (and the very dashing Doctor Watson!!!)



   


Double-Dumpling Soup:

Another Rachael Ray creation, adapted by me and loved by my family! (And especially tastie when you're feeling under the weather)

Double Chicken Dumpling Stoup

February 2007 by Rachael Ray
 
 
Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
  • 4 ribs celery from the heart, chopped
  • 2 onions, chopped
  •  
  •  2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 4 carrots, shredded (1-1/2 cups)
  • 1 fresh bay leaf
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 6 cups chicken broth
  •  
  • 1 package Cooked Perfect Italian-style frozen meatballs (or make your own)
  • 1 10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach
  • 1 1 pound bag frozen corn 
  •  1 1 pound package  gnocchi
  • Flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped (a couple of generous handfuls)
  • Crusty bread, for dunking
Directions
  1. In a soup pot, heat the EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, over medium-high heat. add the celery, onions, garlic, carrots and bay leaf, season with salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the broth, cover the pot and bring to a boil.
  2. Add meatballs to the stoup. Simmer for about 20 minutes while you wash up. Add the gnocchi to the stoup and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the spinach and corn and parsley and cook for 2 minutes. Remove the stoup from the heat, discard the bay leaf and let cool for 5 minutes. Serve with the bread.
Tip PAIR WITH
  • Georges Duboeuf Regnie Flower Label 2005 (France) (Tho I am in no shape to be drinking any kind of alcohol at this time....)

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