Category Archives: Life

Fava Bean, Peas and Pearl Barley Soup

What should a girl blog about when she is very loyal to one knitting project that is not a very photgenic big blob these days:

My Pi Shawl that may turn into a throw

(The colours are quite off in this photo, the yarn I am currently knitting is more like a very rich red wine mixed with purples).

I wanted to tell you about our trip to Idyllwild, California last weekend, where we celebrated our anniversary and show you some pretty birds we spotted on the way back home but the soup that is now cooking on my stove won the spotlight.

It is a fresh Fava Beans, Peas and Pearl Barley soup and what made it blog worthy was the process of getting to the part of the Fava Bean that went into my soup! As the idea to blog about it came only when we saw those lovely beans, we had to take the photos in reverse so you will have to excuse our garbage can!

I found the recipe for this soup in an Israeli cookbook called: Haim Cohen & Eli Landau Mevashlim = Cooking (male plural) – the name in English as it appears in the book: Haim Cohen & Eli Landau’s Cook Book. I like this cook book because it is arranged by vegetables and has the most beautiful photos in it and also (probably mainly) because anything I tried from it turned out delicious.

I never cooked Fava Beans before, I don’t know why, In the back of my mind I have some reservation about them but as hard as I try, I can’t remember what it is!

In the chapter about these beans you can find instructions how to clean the fresh beans: they tell you that it is quite easy to take the beans out of the pods

The outer shells of the Fava Beans

but in order to get rid of the thin skin you need to put the beans in boiling, slightly salted water and let them boil for one minute, then strain them and after that it is quite easy to peel this skin.

I opened the first pod and found in it a light green bean that didn’t seem to me to have any thin skin on it. I called Joe to have a second opinion, he looked, opened another pod and said he can’t see anything either but we better do as instructed and see what happens. Instead of going back to his desk he brought the garbage can and helped me open the shells. After awhile he said the pods are quite sensual (no wonder he decided to volunteer and help me,,,,) and he was quite right. the pods are large, easy to open, feel cushiony and have an inner white layer that looks like very soft fur. While we were peeling, I told Joe these beans are really spoiled, look at the tender soft shelter they grow in!

I followed the instructions in the book and after the boiling we found out that the light green outer part of the bean is actually a skin and not so thin at all:

The inner skin of a Fava Bean

Look what we found inside those skins:

Fresh Cleaned Fava Beans

I think there really is something very sensual in these little beauties!

And the soup you ask?

My Fava Beans,Peas and Pearl Barley Soup

Suffice is to say that I am not sure we have enough soup for lunch tomorrow; I ate one bowl and no, we didn’t have any company for lunch today! My man is a well known lover of soups in general and yummy new ones in particular.

The Visitor

We just came back from a Saturday afternoon movie. We saw The Visitor, it made me cry.

 

The Visitor

I am sure the story is similar to the stories of at least some of the 502 new citizens I talked about yesterday but the end – just the opposite – heart breaking!

And to think that we gave this power to the government in order to protect us from a greater evil!

At least there is a very warm side to the story: how people can connect and help each other in any circumstances.

Oh yes and if you are wondering, I am still knitting. I am very loyal to my Pi whatever, it comes along nicely but is right now in a very non-photoable big blob stage.

USA Citizen

I got my USA citizenship today.

The swearing ceremony took place in the atrium of the Sandra Day O’Connor United States Courthouse – it was the first time they held the ceremony in the atrium and it was quite big, 502 new citizens were sworn in. I really enjoyed looking at all the different people that got their citizenship together with me and was really impressed by the Honorable Mary Murguia, she made me realise how important this ceremony is for so many of the people.

I decided to apply for citizenship because if I live here I want to be able to vote but for many people it was more than that, it was a door to a better future for them and their families. People that come from war zones, impoverished countries and dictatorships see a future that they could never have attained in their homeland. You could see the pride and happiness in their faces as family members took photos of them holding up their certificates.

The oldest person was a 82 year old lady from Albania and the youngest a 19 year old boy from Brazil. There were people from from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, China and many other countries, not surprisingly the majority were from Mexico.

After the ceremony I went to submit my application for a US passport at Sheriff Joe Arpaio‘s county court house and unfortunately I had to give them my brand new naturalization certificate along with the passport application – it seems the federal government doesn’t trust Sheriff Joe‘s court officials to determine the authenticity of the certificate. Then I was informed that my passport and my naturalization certificate will be mailed to me by regular mail – I sure hope this was a mistake!

A woman feels so naked without her documents!