Tomato Soup and Spaghetti with Clam Sauce (and some New Year musings)

It's been awhile since my last post. The holidays have come and gone. They culminated in a quiet Christmas Eve dinner watching the second Tinkerbell movie and eating a dinner of cocktail meatballs, spinach dip, and ensaladillo russo (an awesome potato salad that can typically be found in certain regions of Spain).

Needless to say, the dinner was a bit too rich--it's always sickening to me to eat appetizers for dinner for some reason. It always sounds like fun beforehand . . .

When I'm at a party eating appetizers, I typically don't get enough. But when I'm at home, I get way too much. I would love to solidify a menu that I make every year for my immediate family on Christmas eve that is fun and different and not sickening! Any ideas?

But now that the holidays are over, for the New Year I'm hot on my resolutions. I have the hope of being a better parent. Specifically I want to stop telling my son (nearly five) to be careful (along with a lot of other naggy, worrying comments) so often and give him more credit for the responsible little person he is just starting to be. And then there are the plans to lose 10 pounds and cook healthier meals. For me that means a little less meat and fats. Plus I will continue to have a whole foods (not the grocery store) approach.

In my mind, a whole foods approach means minimally processed, lots of things from scratch, real sweeteners, real butter, milk, cream, etc. Plus I'm always striving to get more things locally and seasonally. For example, we bought bananas the other day as a special treat but normally try to get food from local farmers and/or eat foods from Washington. Generally we still fall far of the mark, getting potatoes from Canada, and other veges from who knows where--USA--but the intent is there anyway. Plus we have our home-grown operation. Right now we have 11 laying hens (only one is laying right now, the rest will start in a few months) plus three rabbits.

Rabbits?? you say. Yes, we have two females and a male (the male in his own cage) and we plan to breed them soon. We will keep the three and then eat their offspring. Barbaric sounding, I know. Our culture is so steeped in bunny . . . it's been a shift for us to think of them as food. But I had already eaten rabbit in Spain and it offers a delicious, economical and extremely low-fat meat. The trick is cooking it (braising or stewing) so it doesn't get too dry.

Around the web you can find lots of people who are raising and eating rabbits and foodies who say it's the up and coming meat and then there is probably a much larger contingent of people screaming about how horrible it is. For our family, it's about safe and sustainable meat and knowing where our food comes from and how the creature has been treated in its life. I just read yet another article about out industrial food system. Specifically, the pink slime (ground up bits from the slaughter-house floor mixed with amonia to kill pathogens) that they put in burgers at MacDonalds, Burger King etc. The filler most notably is purchased for public school lunch programs to save money. (Thanks to Tom Philpott and Grist for that disgusting story). Since raising a cow is not really an option for us, stories like that make rabbit seem ever-more appealing. I have to say, though, the kids are not overly enthusiastic about it.

Now, before I close out this post, I want to circle back and share the two recipes I promised in my last post:

Tomato Soup (adapted from a Better Homes and Gardens recipe)

1 28 oz can of tomatoes in their juice (or whatever equivalent you have on hand, fresh or jarred, you can add their juice and/or some chicken broth to make it whatever consistency you want)
I can of tomato paste (optional for consistency)
I stalk celery
1/2 onion
2 T Parsley fresh (or 1/2 t dried)
2 t lemon juice
1 t sugar
A glug of milk (if you like creamy tomato)
a few dashes of tobasco
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute celery and onion and parsley until soft and just starting to brown. Put this mixture into a blender with rest of ingredients (minus milk) and blend until smooth. Then add a glug of milk, reheat in saucepan and serve.

Spaghetti with Clam Sauce (my mom used to make this when I was a kid, and I just made it for my kids for the first time and they totally loved it)

2 cloves garlic, crushed
2/3 cup olive oil
1 cup bottled clam juice
1/4 t salt
Fresh cracked pepper
1/2 t oregano
2 cans minced clams
1/2 cup minced parsley (I served this on the side at the table since it would put off my kids)
1/2 cup spaghetti, cooked
Parmesan cheese

Saute garlic in oil - add clam juice, salt, pepper and oregano. Simmer 5 minutes. Add clams with own juice. Cook uncovered 10 minutes or longer, so liquid will reduce (it didn't reduce much for me, but made a wonderful broth in the pasta good for sopping up with bread). Mix in parsley and onion. Toss 1/2 of sauce with pasta and top the pasta with the other half of sauce and Parmesan cheese.