Tuscan Vegetable Soup

My friends and family really like this Tuscan Vegetable soup. I made this for the first time when my good friends Dawnia and Ruth were coming to visit. It was an invention of necessity, since I was forced to use ingredients that I had on hand.  Over the years, this recipe has changed a bit, to adjust to my changing dietary habits, but the flavor is still just as delicious, and healthier.  

Gluten and dairy free...

1 package Tuscan-style frozen veggies

1 package frozen artichoke hearts

1 can beans (I like cannellini or kidney)

I can diced tomatoes

1 onion chopped

minced garlic to taste

mushrooms, sliced

1 quart chicken broth (I bottled my own ;)

1 tablespoon Tuscan Salt (found at Andre's in Amador City --YUM!)

In my large crock pot, I pour in the chicken broth, add in the frozen veggies, the artichokes, the beans and tomatoes, and turn it on high. In a pan on the stove, I saute my onions and garlic and mushrooms until the onions are clear and start to caramelize, then I add them to the crock....and simmer until it smells so delicious you can't wait another minute!

This is hearty, satisfying and delicious served by itself. 

Or, serve it over a bowl of fresh pasta with Parmesan cheese grated over the top, with a fresh slice of Andrea's sourdough. 

...Tuscan Veggie Soup...served at FiddleSong Farm today...:)

...impact tremors...

I am constantly surprised that the most casual events can cause such long reaching effects.  Friday night it snowed. It was beautiful!!! Saturday was an extraordinary day. It was colorful and interesting and...unexpected :)
Sunday morning I was thrilled to see the sun.  There were 12 inches of snow in some places and I pulled on my Mucks, grabbed my camera, and headed up the hill. My dogs were as excited as I was! They love the snow. I took 75 reference photos. The sunlight cast prisms of sparkling diamond colors, and rich periwinkle shadows. I know that there is a Wendy painting in there somewhere....

This coming Saturday, I am going to be at the Heritage Oaks Winery holiday arts and crafts event in Lodi. I will be selling  original watercolors, prints, cards, and painted glass. I am looking forward to it and already thinking about how many layers I will need to wear...


...do you believe in divine appointments?

"Early Rising"

"Early Rising"

This little painting was inspired by a soulful experience during the November full moon. I had just arrived home from work after a very difficult day. I was tired and in very low spirits. My head ached and my feet were complaining. I pulled into the driveway and the house was lonely and dark. I climbed out to open the gate, turned and gasped!  The moon was in full, luminous splendor! I was enthralled. I could see every needle on every pine tree in silhouette. I could make out the very tiniest tips of the oak branches. I stood for long minutes just soaking in that magical light ~I felt my dark mood draining away, and my soul's battery recharging. 

Of course I didn't sleep that night...I rarely do during the full cycle...but I don't know anyone who has ever died from lack of sleep... ;) Thank you to my new friend (and art critic) Gordon for his suggestion for the name...it is perfect.

...I must paint those moments that take my breath away....

Focus on the positives...

...newly planted red lettuce bed...

..."Peppermint" Swiss chard...about 8 inches high....

After a wonderfully decadent Thanksgiving yesterday, I was ready for a serious workout and some healthy meals.  Today dawned bright, sunny and warm, so I took a really good walk, then worked out in the garden for the afternoon.  Raking and cleaning up pine needles, digging compost into my veggie beds and generally enjoying the fresh air and sunshine really helps lift my spirits.  As usual the hens are eager to help, as is Tilly, and Jack always has my back...that is, he sits behind me, wherever I am working, facing away, and LITERALLY guards my back.  I LOVE that dog.

I dug out and replanted my asparagus bed. I bought fresh roots from Sallye's garden center, and researched in Mother Earth online discovering that I hadn't planted my last year's roots deeply enough, so they failed miserably.  This time I dug in a wagon load of 

goat-berry compost, too...that ought to do the trick.

In the greenhouse, which I noticed is showing some signs of wear and tear, I weeded the Swiss chard and green lettuce, and planted some assorted beets and some red lettuce seeds. I am experimenting this time with some home-made seed toppers, to see if they get a better start.  The soil was pretty dry, so I watered lightly. I would like to weed my kale patch, but the seedlings are too small--I can't tell which ones are the kale yet!

I have to spend more time in my garden this coming year.  I am going to get automatic water installed, and build a rainwater collection system.  We will be constructing a covered chicken run, and I need to plant more fruit trees, too. There is NOTHING more satisfying than picking an organic, tree-ripened apple and eating it right there in the garden.

Gardening has a way of reminding the gardener that success is often found with patience. I produce large quantities of the most excellent compost. I grow delicious figs, pink lady and Arkansas black apples, almonds, cherries, apricots and grapes. I produce salad greens and raspberries, healthy goats, and lovely egg-laying hens. If my tomatoes aren't the best, I will help support a local farmer by purchasing from her at the farmer's market. :)

...I love this life...

Autumn sunrise...

I didn't realize that it had been six weeks since I wrote in this blog. It seems like these weeks have been a blur...so much happening in my life. It really helps me keep things in perspective when I write, so I vow to be more consistent in my writings....

I saw the sunrise this morning. It was singularly colorful.  Pinks and bright yellows streaking across the sky, back lighting pines and oaks, ridge lines layers of intense golds and yellows. The light comes sparkling through branches, setting the leaves and needles aglow. 

As every morning that I am driving, I watch for the wild ones. The deer are gathering now. I often see large herds of does and fawns with their bucks. I see turkeys, too, and quail.  Fox, coyote, an occasional bobcat, and even more rarely, an elusive mountain lion.  

I feel God in the sunrise. It feels like a promise. 

...it feels like hope....

Art ALL day....:)

"Fiddletown~ Chinese General Store"

First place--watermedia division

Stockton Art League

I left the house at 8:15 am. It was a beautiful, sunny, warm early autumn day. 

Today was a really fun and beneficial day! 

I hung out with artistic people, learned an interesting and beautiful new painting technique from Jeannie Vodden. At my lunch break, instead of buying food, I explored University Art, bought some new art supplies including some watercolor pencils and a 

VERY sexy new brush. 

There is food, then there is food for the soul. Today, I needed soul food.

After the workshop, I headed my Tacoma down Hwy 99 to Stockton. I arrived at the Goodwin Gallery at about 5:15...just in time for the awards presentation. I visited with my good friends Judy Day and Melissa Doyel and her husband Michael, received my first place award and my check, met some more nice and very talented people.  Got BACK in my trusty Tacoma, and headed back to Amador County. HOME sweet home. 

...the air just smells right...

"Relax, Cowboy"

I heard myself tell my friend Anje "Cowboys make me drool."  
She answered "So maybe you should paint cowboys." Tsk.  Anje was right again.

I had taken my good Nikon Cool Pix camera to the fair this year.  It was VERY hot and sunny, and there was a working horse event in the big arena. I wanted reference photos of western horses in tack, so I wandered around shooting horses and their riders from lots of angles, hoping to get some interesting horses for painting. One thing that I have learned is to take LOTS of photos, because you never know what detail you may find on one that you may need in a painting. When I got back to my computer and started sorting through these images, I was so excited about what I had captured! I found several different horses of interest, and I especially loved the face on this mare.  I sketched her out three different ways but was not satisfied with the results. It took me a few tries to see that the mare needed her cowboy! The two of them together made a much more interesting painting. 

I was intrigued by the way this guy was resting his right hand on the saddle and holding his beer and reins in his left hand. I liked the folds in his jeans and the light falling on his boots. I liked painting the tooling on his saddle...his hat is perfect....

While I was painting this, I played with a new technique that I had learned from the fabulous Jeannie Vodden, lifting out color to add highlights. It was really fun to paint different areas separately and watch the image come together. I turned up the color on the mare and and once I got my painting down, it was time for prismacolor!!! 

...this cowboy is entered in the Stockton Art League show...