Fly (in my soup), Ornament, and my busy life...

Saturday and Sunday were days 7 and 8 of my creativity workshop. It was a busy weekend... with new arrivals, unexpected visitors, and lots of brainstorming about an upcoming trip to Honduras. I didn't have much time to dedicate to the projects for the weekend... but I did give them some thought... if not a lot of action. I know myself well... and I fear that if I get too far behind on this workshop then it'll stall me and I won't finish it... so in the interest of moving forward here are my thoughts on the words for the weekend.

Fly

I was talking to my husband about the creative prompts for Saturday and what they made me think about within my medium... airline food, poultry, and those pesky insects that invade the kitchen every spring. Flies in the kitchen are usually not a good thing... and he immediately thought of this old gag...

Customer: Waiter... is that a fly in my soup?
Waiter: Why yes it is sir
Customer: Well what is he doing in there?
Waiter: It looks like he's doing the backstroke, sir.

Yes... yes I know it's not really all that creative... but it is foodlore which is the subject of this blog. The joke is an old one... surely not as old as soup... but possibly as old as waiters. With a little web search I found the joke credited to a witty New York waiter or possibly a comedian in the Big Apple in the late 1800's... It has also been credited to an old belief that having a fly fall in your food or beverage was a good omen (a classic case of finding the silver lining). I'm not really sure where it comes from... but it exists in countless variations...

Waiter is that a fly in my soup?
Shhhh do you want everyone to want one?

Waiter, there is a fly in my soup!
Don't worry sir that spider on your plate will get him.

Waiter, there is a dead fly swimming in my soup.
Don't be silly, dead flies can't swim.

Waiter, there is a fly in my soup.
What do you expect for $2.50, a beetle.

Sopa da Ajo (Garlic Soup)

Garlic is know for it’s healing and regenerative properties. Next time you get a cold I recommend trying this instead of the traditional chicken soup. For a main meal this serves two, but for a soup course it serves 4.... serve with our without the fly!

4 thin bread rounds, toasted with olive oil.
4 C. chicken or vegetable broth
6-7 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1/2 small onion
olive oil
1 1/2 T. paprika
1 T. cumin seeds
2-4 large eggs, beaten
parsley or other fresh herb, to garnish

Coat bread rounds lightly with olive oil and toast. Place a bread round in each bowl (two in each bowl for a main course). In a sauce pan cook the onion in olive oil. Add the garlic and cook until lightly golden. Add the cumin seeds and paprika Until blended with the garlic mixture. Add broth. Season with salt and cook for at least 5 more minutes. Stir in beaten eggs slowly (like in egg drop soup)*. Ladle soup over bread sprinkle with parsley and serve at once. Or for a more interesting presentation ladle the soup into oven proof bowls and break an egg into each. Place the toasted bread on top of the egg and place in the oven for about 3-4 minutes, until the eggs are set. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
Of try garlic noodle soup by adding uncooked pasta to the soup before the egg. Cook until the pasta is tender. Add the eggs if desired and serve with the bread rounds on the side.

Ornament

I might come back to this one at a later date. I was planning on doing some sort of a decorating project for my kitchen... but I ran out of time. For now I will post a couple of pictures of dishcloths and dish towels that I've knit as practical ornaments for the kitchen... I started writing a pattern and I will probably post it on my worth a knit blog as soon as it is finished.