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I thought, after a bit of a hike in responsibility level at my day job, I'd do something fun & breezy to chillax (I said it).  And what could be easier than a self portrait? Lots of things are, especially when you've not looked at yourself properly for a bit & you forgot how mad you look.   

I’ve been trying new recipes, trying to get inspired to cook again. I really lost my cooking mojo after a long period of food sensitivities with my son (thankfully now he can eat anything) and then moving here to Germany, where the groceries are so different. Well, they’re not soooo different, and the quality is great, but it’s sometimes hard to make the recipes I was used to making.

I really liked this soup, and the hubs gave it a thumbs up. I thought the kids would really dig the orange color and slurp it down, but they weren’t into it. I’ll try again with them. The combo of spices works well: obviously ginger but also cumin, ground fennel, cinnamon, allspice, dried mint. I like orange veggies, which are kind of sweet, complemented by savory flavors, and with onion, garlic, and the added citrus hint (lemon juice), this had a really nice complexity.

A few notes:  as the recipe states, it is quite a thick soup. I like a thinner soup texture, though, so I think next time I would crank up the spices a little and water it down. I accidentally cranked up some of the spices already, having used the 1/2 tsp measure for a few of them—-I must be getting old, I could’ve sworn it was the 1/4 tsp. Oh well, it didn’t seem to matter. I also used nutmeg instead of allspice because I didn’t have it. The recipe was forgiving. I didn’t measure the lemon, either, and used one lemon and one lime because that was what I had. I don’t know if that’s more citrus that it called for, but since I’m a citrus-lover, it didn’t matter.

You can get the recipe here (along with lots of other Moosewood recipes). Also, if you haven’t discovered the cooking blog 101cookbooks, that’s another great place to go for inspiration. She does some amazing things with vegetables.