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Showing posts from October, 2016

A Soul's Companion

A Soul's Companion : I grew up in a house surrounded by trees. The backyard maple was a favorite perch for reading the afternoon away when I was a child. Before I climbed I was careful to loop a rope around the branch above me so I could pull a basket of apples and books up after me. The willow tree often found me seeking faeries among her branches, and later, after I ...

Ellie's Kitchen: Crockpot Barley Vegetable Soup and Sweet Potato Knots

It's 39 degrees in my little Massachusetts town: a beautiful crisp, sunny October morning. The trees are glowing in shades of flame and gold, and mist is rising off the river like wraiths. There is no place like New England in the fall. And nothing says 'cozy' like coming in at the end of the day to a warm home smelling of baking bread and hot soup. Thus, while my family is away at work and school, I'm prepping dinner in the slow cooker: Crockpot Barley Vegetable Soup   Ingredients 1 cup medium pearl barley 1 bay leaf 1/2 tsp. fennel seed 3 carrots, peeled and sliced 1 onion, chopped 2 stalks celery, chopped 3 garlic cloves, minced 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped 2 cups frozen corn 2 cups frozen green beans 1/4 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. pepper 3 (14 oz). cans vegetable broth 4 cups water 14-oz. can diced tomatoes with herbs, undrained 2 cups baby spinach   Preparation 1. Place all ingredients except the can of d