text:
August 22, 2014
By Mitra Ebadolahi, Border Litigation Staff Attorney, ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties at 1:05pm
Imagine this: Several months ago, a young mother realized that if she didn't leave home, she would be raped, murdered, or both. She had two young children – an infant and a toddler – and few resources. She knew she couldn't count on the police to protect her. With no other choice, she decided to risk a voyage of more than 2,000 miles north, much of the trip on foot through difficult and dangerous terrain, in the hope that she would find refuge from her persecutors.
Instead, when she reached El Paso, Texas, she and her children were apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol, who promptly sent the family to a makeshift detention facility in remote Artesia, New Mexico. There, this mother and her children joined hundreds of other women and children from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, many fleeing gang violence, brutal sexual abuse, and a life of perpetual fear and insecurity.
Artesia, it turns out, is the detention equivalent of a black hole. It is a three- or four-hour drive from the closest major metropolitan areas where immigration attorneys might be found.
Equally disturbing are reports that these families – some of the most vulnerable women and children in the world – have been denied information about their fundamental rights under U.S. law, in particular their right to consult a lawyer or to seek asylum or other relief from deportation on account of their real fears of persecution if they are returned to their home countries.
Immigration officers staffing Artesia routinely interfere with the ability of these families to contact a lawyer. Phone calls – even calls to lawyers – are permitted only once per day and are routinely cut off by immigration officers after just three or five minutes. Many lawyers have been denied access to clients or told by the authorities that they are not allowed to speak up in hearings to defend their clients' rights. When one detained mother attempted to find an attorney by asking an official at Artesia if she could get one, he told her that an attorney was not necessary. Another detained mother was told by an ICE officer that an attorney would only facilitate her deportation.
The procedures these mothers have received to evaluate their potential asylum claims have been fundamentally flawed. Because many mothers have been required to bring their children to their asylum interviews, they have been forced to choose between recounting gruesome acts of violence in front of their children, or staying silent and forgoing the chance to explain the basis for their fear of returning home.
As a result of these and other egregious rights violations, the percentage of families detained in Artesia who are given the chance to apply for asylum is far below the national average – even though these families' stories are some of the worst possibly imaginable.
The Obama administration – which has repeatedly stated it intends to send these families back – is violating federal immigration law, the constitutional right to due process, and our obligations under international law to protect vulnerable refugees.
Today, a broad coalition of immigrants' rights organizations and immigration practitioners filed suit to challenge what is happening at Artesia. We seek to ensure that each individual has a real chance to apply for asylum or other forms of immigration relief and to establish once and for all that the government cannot rush deportations at the expense of our Constitution, our obligations under international law, and our nation's finest values.
The case is M.S.P.C. v. Johnson Counsel include ACLU, ACLU of New Mexico, ACLU Border Litigation Project, ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties, ACLU of the Nation's Capital, the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, the American Immigration Council, the National Immigration Law Center, Van Der Hout, Brigagliano, & Nightingale, LLP, and Jenner & Block LLP.
Learn more about children's rights and other civil liberty issues: Sign up for breaking news alerts, follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.
August 19, 2014
Morgan Miller, ACLU of Mississippi, 601-354-3408, email@example.com
Sid Scott, Mississippi Center for Justice, 769-230-2841, firstname.lastname@example.com
JACKSON, Miss. — The American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi and the Mississippi Center for Justice issued the following joint statement in light of the Mississippi Department of Human Services release of revisions to the TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) rules:
"We applaud DHS for adopting a provision that protects TANF payments for children. This action comes after a July 22 public hearing that we called for and that featured heartfelt testimony calling for the change to protect payments for children, among other things. While we are generally very pleased with the new regulations, we continue to express concern about the viability of the chosen screening instrument, and reassert that TANF recipients should not be required to pay for the treatment process."
August 18, 2014
By Nusrat Choudhury, Staff Attorney, ACLU Racial Justice Program at 5:07pm
The tragic killing of college-bound teenager Michael Brown has raised questions about the frequency with which police kill unarmed black men in America. The answer, unfortunately, is far too often.
Just three months ago, on a warm April afternoon, a white police officer shot and killed Dontre Hamilton, a 31-year-old black man, in downtown Milwaukee's Red Arrow Park. According to the Milwaukee police chief, the officer was "defending himself in a violent situation." But the eyewitness report of a Starbucks barista paints a very different picture.
According to the barista, Hamilton had been sleeping on the concrete sidewalk next to Starbucks when two police officers approached him, asked him questions, and left after determining that he was doing nothing wrong. But an hour or so later, she heard yelling. Looking out the Starbucks window, she saw a different white police officer standing up against Hamilton, "who was holding the officer's own baton in a defense posture." The officer "lunged" at Hamilton in an attempt to get the baton, but failed. The barista watched in horror as the officer stood 10 feet away from Hamilton, pulled out a gun, and shot Hamilton 10 times in quick succession without issuing any verbal warnings. The barista reports that she never saw Hamilton hit the officer with the baton.
The tragic killing of Hamilton bears a striking – and deeply troubling – resemblance to the killing of Michael Brown, who was shot by an officer six times, including twice in the head, after being stopped for walking down the middle of a street. Including Hamilton and Brown, at least six black men were shot and killed by police since April in circumstances that suggest the unjustified use of excessive force and possible racial profiling.
In July, Eric Garner was killed in New York by officers who placed him in a chokehold – a banned tactic – and slammed his head into a sidewalk during an attempt to arrest him for allegedly selling illegal cigarettes.
In early August, police in Beavercreek, Ohio, fatally shot John Crawford III in a Walmart, where Crawford had been holding a BB gun that he had picked up on a store shelf.
Just days after the killing of Brown, Ezell Ford was killed by police on a Los Angeles sidewalk during an investigative stop. While police contend that officers opened fire after a "struggle," Ford's mother reports that he was lying on the ground complying with the officers' order when he was shot three times in the back.
And the very next day, pressman Dante Parker was killed in Victorville, California, after being repeatedly shocked with a stun gun by police attempting to arrest him as a suspect in a nearby robbery. Apparently, police suspected him because he was riding a bicycle, and the robbery suspect was reported to have fled on a bike.
The stories of these six people make one thing painfully clear: The killing of black men in incidents that begin as investigatory police stops are anything but unusual in America. In this sense, Ferguson is Everytown, U.S.A.
There is a reason for this. More than 240 years of slavery and 90 years of legal segregation in this country have created a legacy of racialized policing. Killings and beatings lie at one end of a spectrum in which black people – and young black men in particular – are routinely stigmatized, humiliated, and harassed as targets for police stops, frisks, and searches, even when they are doing nothing wrong.
The numbers show the reality.
Studies of Rhode Island traffic stops and New York pedestrian stops confirm that police stop blacks at higher rates than whites. Even more troubling is that the New York study determined that a neighborhood's racial composition was the main factor for determining NYPD stop rates, above and beyond the "role of crime, social conditions, or the allocation of police resources." In other words, New York cops targeted blacks because of their race – not because they happened to live in a dangerous place or in an area flooded by police.
Data from Ferguson mirrors these racial disparities. Last year, blacks not only accounted for 86 percent of stops, 92 percent of searches, and 93 percent of arrests by Ferguson police, the state attorney general's office calculated that blacks were overrepresented in these encounters in light of their population figures. Even more damning is the fact that although police were twice as likely to search blacks than whites after initiating a stop, whites were far more likely to be found with contraband.
It is not a leap to conclude that the same biases that cause those racial disparities also make it more likely that black men will die during the course of police arrests. According to the Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, although black men made up only 27.8 percent of all persons arrested from 2003-2009, they made up 31.8 percent of all persons who died in the course of arrest, and the majority of these deaths were homicides.
Why does racialized policing persist despite the end of slavery and Jim Crow? While explicit racial bias may be less prominent today (albeit anything but eliminated), implicit racial biases plague all of us, including those charged with keeping our streets safe. A large body of compelling research has demonstrated how these unconscious, automatically activated, and pervasive mental processes translate into action with devastating consequences for black people.
In particular, researchers have well-documented shooter bias. One video game study simulated the nearly instantaneous decisions made by police officers to shoot armed individuals and to refrain from shooting the unarmed. The study revealed that participants were more likely to shoot black people than white people in error.
Both explicit and implicit biases lead far too often to the killing of black men in police-civilian encounters. And they undergird the daily indignity and humiliation experienced by blacks who are stopped, questioned, and searched by police when they have done nothing wrong.
Police are sworn to serve and protect everyone equally, not disproportionately stop and harass only certain communities. Rather than express surprise and shock during a summer where six black men have been killed by police in highly questionable circumstances, it is up to us to do something.
The single most important first step is to provide accountability—including through the Attorney General's issuance of a comprehensive ban on racial profiling. Accountability will advance justice for past harms and pave the way forward for a future in which we are closer to the promise of equal justice for all.
Sign our petition asking the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Justice to stop funneling billions into the militarization of state and local police forces.
Learn more about racial profiling and other civil liberties issues: Sign up for breaking news alerts, follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.
August 14, 2014
August 14, 2014
Morgan Miller, ACLU of Mississippi, 601-354-3408; email@example.com
JACKSON, Miss – On Thursday, August 14, the ACLU of Mississippi sent the Harrison County Chancery Court a letter requesting the clerk record the out-of-state marriage licenses of two same-sex couples for public record. The letter is in response to a refusal on the part of the Harrison County Chancery Clerk to record the marriage licenses during the Campaign for Southern Equality's day of statewide action. The letter requests the Clerk comply with the law and record the vital document. It also asks that the Clerk treat all people with dignity and respect.
August 12, 2014
By Constance Gordon, Advocacy Coordinator
I remember waiting anxiously for the last day of school, then by July, being ready for the first day again. That was the rollercoaster that was summer break! Only after the bad years was it any different. There were so many good times but the bad times to a child are the ones that shape their future. Each day, a child is bullied or discriminated against in their school. Each day, an innocent child leaves their school campus with a frown and many have no one to turn to once they arrive home. I know that I can't be there for each child, but I do know that we can educate and empower them through knowledge. The first step in protecting our children is empowering them with the knowledge of their rights.
In a 1969 case called Tinker v. Des Moines, a Supreme Court judge deemed that students nor teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate. The Constitution still applies, therefore it still protects. Students have the right to feel comfortable and not threatened in schools. Students have the right to equal education. Students have a right to tell an adult and that adult must protect that child. If not, that child's rights have been violated. There is no room for bias in an environment that is to nurture the future decision makers of our country. There is no specific look of success and no specific personality trait that leads to it. All children must know they are equal and be treated that way.
Knowing that there are systems in place to criminalize our children for normal adolescent behavior makes it imperative that we educate them on their rights. Many times, a student simply "didn't know," or someone "told me I couldn't do this," or more importantly, "didn't think anyone would do anything." This is where we (adults) come in because the more of their rights they know, the less wrongs they will be a victim of. Bullying, harassment and/or discrimination does not always come from other students. Sometimes students are being mistreated by faculty and/or staff. That's why it's as important for you to be involved in a student's school life as it is for you to make sure they know their rights. Sometimes knowing isn't enough and they need guardians or other caring adults to step in.
It's hard for a kid to tell an adult that they are afraid. Know this. Know and pay attention. There are things you can look for such as: decline in grades, lack of social activity, depression, unexplained fear or lack of interest in attending school, or blaming themselves for everything with feelings of helplessness or rage. Never disregard a cry for help. Many children don't know adults care and feel like no one will do anything to protect them. Act.
I couldn't imagine my rights being violated by my educators and others I look to for guidance and protection. Most importantly, I don't want to think about youth not being heard, not being led and not being protected. School is about to start, not only for the kids but for the adults who make up their community. We all have to know our rights and protect the rights of students! Make sure the youth in every community are protected, educated and leave their school campus with a smile.
August 08, 2014
July 25, 2014
By Alison Steiner, President, ACLU of Mississippi Board of Directors
"The capital punishment system is discriminatory and arbitrary and inherently violates the Constitutional ban against cruel and unusual punishment. The ACLU opposes the death penalty in all circumstances, and looks forward to the day when the United States joins the majority of nations in abolishing it." -ACLU Policy Statement on Capital Punishment
The ACLU has long been known and respected for its unstinting efforts at the elimination of capital punishment, and to securing systemic reform of the death penalty process so long as it is still with us.
Success of the abolition campaigns has been particularly impressive of late. In the last six years six states have decided that they, like U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, will "no longer tinker with the machinery of death,"i.e.will no longer try to systemically reform something that is not worth the effort of fixing.
Arguments for abolition have successfully invoked the undeniable racial discrimination in who is even prosecuted for death-eligible offenses. They have also relied upon disproportionate rate of DNA-based exonerations of people on death row and the unacceptably high risks of condemnation and execution of the innocent. Where they have worked, these arguments have propelled legislatures and executive branches to find the death penalty not worth its very considerable expense any more.
However, this has happened mostly in states where the death penalty was already falling in to disuse, or, as in Illinois, had already been stopped by executive moratoria and pardons. In most of these places, new death sentences were rare. In some, actual executions so uncommon that no one in the corrections systems had ever performed one.
These same arguments have not had as much traction in the hard core, particularly southern, death penalty states where death rows are large, new sentences, though rarer than before, are still regularly imposed, and executions are being conducted with disturbing frequency.
I think that this may be because the debate has mostly focused on the condemned people – is it unfair to them to be subjected to this racially disproportionate punishment, or face a not insignificant possibility that they are innocent yet condemned, when other, effective means of punishment are also available? Only indirectly does it talk about "us" and our distaste at collaborating in these injustices.
The event in Oklahoma, where the slow, agonizing death suffered by Clayton Lockett was, at least for a short time, witnessed by the world, have shifted that focus. Though it was Mr. Lockett who was being tortured to death, it was "us" – and by "us" I mean even the people conducting the execution – who were horrified by what we were witnessing. Even strong death penalty proponents had to admit that what happened to Clayton Lockett violated the Eighth Amendment.
Most recently, in Arizona, it took the state 1 hour and 57 minutes to execute Joseph Wood who gasped for air 660 times. Arizona rushed to execute him in secret and ignored the warnings of the botched execution of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma and Dennis McGuire in Ohio.
The conversation about capital punishment is once again questioning whether death penalty can, at least in practice, ever be anything other than a barbarity to which we must just say no, and that taints us as much as it harms the person we have condemned to suffer it.
The mostly conservative, mostly white politicians who, for now at least, still control legislatures and state-houses in the hard-core southern death penalty states, including Mississippi, have no reason to put themselves out politically for the people on death row, even the innocent ones. They can easily rationalize, ignore or deny the arguments that focus on the condemned people.
But like all human beings, most of these powerful men and women want to appear morally upright to the rest of the world. When the conversation focuses on their own part in maintaining a system that can allow someone to be strapped down, improperly sedated and then given just enough poison to cause a fatal heart attack half an hour later, we may be able to get their attention.
At the very least, we need to try.
July 21, 2014
CONTACT: 212-549-2666, email@example.com
WASHINGTON – President Obama signed an executive order today to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from workplace discrimination during a ceremony at the White House.
The order bars businesses that contract with the federal government from engaging in discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. It also explicitly bans discrimination against federal employees based on their gender identity, building upon prior actions by the administration to extend basic fairness and explicit protections to transgender people.
The following statement can be attributed to ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero:
"This is one of the most important actions ever taken by a president to eradicate LGBT discrimination from America's workplaces. By signing this order, President Obama is building on a bipartisan tradition, dating back over 70 years, of barring discrimination without exception when taxpayer dollars are involved. While there remains much work still to do to achieve the goal of full civil rights protections for LGBT people, we must take time to celebrate the landmarks along the way, and this is a huge win."
The executive order notably does not include a religious exemption that would have given religiously affiliated government contractors a special license to discriminate using taxpayer dollars against LGBT people. The ACLU recently withdrew its support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) over the bill's religious exemption.
July 08, 2014
CONTACT: 212-549-2666, firstname.lastname@example.com
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union today announced that it is withdrawing its support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in a statement also signed by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Transgender Law Center. The ACLU objects to a provision in the bill that would allow religiously affiliated employers to continue to discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
"Federal legislation to protect LGBT people from workplace discrimination is way beyond overdue, but Congress has no place giving religiously affiliated employers a license to discriminate against LGBT workers," said Laura W. Murphy, director of the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office. "We can no longer support a bill that treats LGBT discrimination as different and somehow more legitimate than other forms of discrimination."
President Obama has announced his intention to sign an executive order that would ban discrimination against LGBT people employed by federal contractors. The ACLU opposes any inclusion of a discrimination exemption in this executive order.
The full statement announcing the withdrawal of support can be found here:https://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/aclu-statement-withdrawing-support-enda
July 02, 2014
By Jed Oppenheim, Advocacy Coordinator
They came from all over. By bus, train, airplane and car. From June 23-28, young people from all over Mississippi and our country came to Jackson, MS to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Freedom Summer. Part of this contingent was a large scale Freedom Summer Youth Congress (FSYC). Although participants commemorated the civil rights victories achieved partly because of Freedom Summer '64, such as the Civil Rights Act and, later, the Voting Rights Act, the FSYC was a deliberate call to action by youth-led organizations. These organizations are on the forefront of the current movement defining what we need to do to keep pushing social justice and civil liberties forward.
In the last decade, we have seen our public education system attacked by private interests (much like they were just before and after Brown v. Board); we have seen SCOTUS back track on the pre-clearance required by the Voting Rights Act; at the state and federal levels we have seen attack after attack on a woman's right to make her own health care decisions (most recently, the June 30 SCOTUS decision regarding contraception); we are hearing of young people who have only ever known what life is like in America—being deported to countries they have never known due to decisions their parents made decades ago; we are seeing black and brown youth incarcerated more than ever because private corporations are looking for profit; and so much more. We will not resolve these issues without the engagement and leadership by and for our young people.
If you've paid any attention to the news over the last year, you've seen the youth-led Dream Defenders sit-in over the Stand Your Ground Law in Florida; you have seen the DREAMers take to Capitol Hill and push the Obama Administration on immigration reform; and, right here in Mississippi, you have seen the Mississippi Student Justice Alliance (MSJA) organize for a union at the Nissan plant in Canton for workers' rights. These stories often get missed in the mainstream because our elders and our media are quicker to judge young people as apathetic, uninvolved and selfish. By the end of last week's Youth Congress, it was obvious that this paternalistic rational was debunked.
At the FSYC, the youth, who came to Tougaloo College in Jackson, strategized, collaborated and shared ideas that cut across the highly-silo'd way in which we normally operate in social justice work. Youth, who normally work on access to quality education, were working with youth on access to the ballot. Youth "DREAMers," who came together as undocumented students, collaborated with other youth on breaking down the Prison Industrial Complex. Every issue is inter-connected and nowhere was that more clear than at the FSYC.
At FSYC, political power was a main topic of how to change perception, but also how to change the power structure. On the last day of the Youth Congress, I walked into a room where representatives from the Dream Defenders, United We Dream, Freedom Side, The Young People's Project, Advancement Project and many other groups were talking about a new political structure with more political voices. The discussion revolved around political power and how to obtain it. Amazingly, FSYC was filled with rooms of young people who have made a drastic impact on their communities, yet young people are constantly told to wait their turn. Moving forward, these young activists will be the voices of change because it is their turn.
In 2064, I hope we will not be talking about the same topics in 2014 nor the topics of 1964. Going forward from FSYC, we will use youth-driven people power to create new conversations and institutions. We will also continue the work to creatively break down systems that don't work for black, brown, LGBT or DREAMer youth and create new one's that actually serve the people. Most of the youth who came to FSYC are already doing the work. FSYC was an opportunity to build and expand on that foundation.
The ACLU of Mississippi applauds these courageous young people and were glad to participate in the FSYC. It is this youthful base that will forge into our future and finally allow our potential to be realized. It is this potential that will make our state and our nation great. A place where justice, fairness and equity are not just words on a paper (or in a blog) to be academized, but real acts of vision and love meant to exist in a great society.


text:
Amazing that most in this demographic probably don't have a mortgage or pay taxes or have a job that isn't hourly… Pretty much all you need to know about a majority of what's wrong with this entire generation on a whole is that they have had most everything handed to them and this sense of entitlement from mommy and daddy has carried over to the rest of their lives. They should dub my generation the entitlement generation.
What a cynical conclusion … that young people want to see health care overhauled because they get to stay on mom and dad's policy. Why is it so difficult to see that the health care system in this country is badly in need of changing. Unfortunately as long as rich people don't feel the pain of rising costs, nothing will change.
As a member of the demographic in question, I can say with confidence that most of my peers are idiots. They know virtually nothing about this law and support it because their favorite comedians told them to love Obama.
While it is nice to be able to stay on our parents' insurance until age 26 – the age when students can generally leave school – I wonder how many in this demographic population knew of the changes to student loans that were included in the "healthcare" bill. Or that the same population will carry the bulk of the cost of the bill in years to come. One gain in healthcare in exchange for so much…. and most of this age population doesn't understand this.
Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what's happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.
Sign up for Capital Journal Daybreak

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Sign up for our emails and be the first to
know about special offers, sales,
the latest arrivals and much more!
Your Bag Is Empty.
$42 $29
Reach the highest height of shoe chicness with the GoMax Zenith 01X Brown and Yellow Kitten Heels! Burnished light brown vegan leather pumps have a sleek pointed toe, with a vibrant yellow vegan suede-wrapped cone heel beneath. 3" kitten heel (with rubber tip). Cushioned insole. Non-skid rubber sole. Available in whole and half sizes. Fit is true to size (round up if you're between sizes). Measurements are for a size 6. All vegan friendly, man made materials. Imported.
How it fit:
"Not a fan of these shoes. The vegan "suede" cone heel felt more like felt, and looks really really cheap. I stepped outside for a second and lightly caught the edge of the heel on the sidewalk and the material kind of scrunched up. Also the tip of the shoe is really long and doesn't look very elegant on the foot. The only good thing I guess is that they were true to size. Just my two cents!"
RESPONSE FROM LULUS.COM: Hi Lauren! Thanks for the review! We're sorry to hear you were not happy with these shoes! Please know that Customer Service is here for you and we will do our best to help if you are ever unhappy with an item you receive! There are several convenient ways to reach Customer Service which you can find here: http://www.lulus.com/customer-service.html. We appreciate your feedback!
24 hours a day
7 days a week
1 (866) 918-5858
From 5 am to 9 pm PST
7 days a week
Sign up for our emails and be the first to
know about special offers, sales,
the latest arrivals and much more!


text:
Photo-blog dedicated to the things we dream about... muscle cars. Most of the photos found on my blog are found on the internet. If I can give credit I will. If you wish to have a photo removed, please message me and I will remove them.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
American muscle: '66 GTO
I love GTO's.
Always wanted to build a GTO with my dad, bring his high school car back to life.
Pretty *_*


text:
skip to main content
Join 3,556 readers in helping fund MetaFilter
Best Of
New User
Help me make some delicious soups!
October 25, 2006
It's that time of year again...it's getting cold and I'm craving soup more and more. The only problem is I'm sick of canned soup and I'd rather make most of it homemade. Lay your best soup recipes on me, ingredients/prep the works! Any type of soup accepted! Hot, cold, lukewarm! Chicken, cream-based, potato leek, broth-based etc. I want to start a good collection of new recipes to try!
posted by
Food & Drink
(49 answers total)
283 users marked this as a favorite
This is my fave because it's so simple, and good. It makes a great winter dinner with some bread:
Peel and cut winter squash (any kind but spaghetti) into cubes.
Sautee briefly with some chopped onions, carrots & celery (a mirepois).
Add water to cover. Simmer until squash is tender (~20 min).
Roughly mash for a rustic soup, use an immersion blender for a more smooth soup.
Add some greens for, greens-kale, chard, spinach.
Finish with a bit of vinegar, a few Tbs of butter, or a bit of cream.
Salt and pepper to taste.
posted by
on October 25, 2006 [
3 favorites
On the other hand, one of my truly favorite soups, which takes more effort, is
, which is a hominy soup, usually with pork. There are as many recipes as there are regionsXpeople, os I'll let you find one that seems good to you.
posted by
on October 25, 2006
Tool lazy this morning to type my own recipe, but second OmieWise's squash soup with three tweaks:
1. Add garlic to the sautee. They say it's good for the immune system in winter;
2. Add chicken stock to the water for some extra flavour;
3. Sour cream is great on top at the end too.
posted by
on October 25, 2006 [
1 favorite
My wife and I just take some canned peas, corn, string beans, kidney beans, butter beans, new potatoes, tomatoes, etc. and throw them in a crock pot with some sliced onions.
We have learned that you have to rinse the canned veggies first, or the soup will be too salty. All in all, a very easy recipe.
posted by
on October 25, 2006
I love
this beet soup
with anchovy and walnut paste from Chocolate and Zucchini.
I'm sure you'll get a million and one recipes for wintery squash soup. I like to add croutons made from cubed pumpernickel tossed with olive oil or melted butter, chopped chives, maple syrup, salt and pepper. Bake in oven until crispy (idea courtesy of Oprah Magazine sometime last year).
posted by
on October 25, 2006
I'm lazy, and therefore I try to keep my cooking to a bare minimum. This is the soup I made yesterday:
1 lb. hamburger meat
2 cans tomato sauce
1 can corn
1 can cut green beans
1 can diced green chiles
Cook the hamburger with the chiles in a pot until the hamburger is browned. Add everything else then heat until boiling.
You can add onions to the burger and diced potatoes to the pot with everything else if you like. I didn't have any, so I went basic. Cheap, easy, good.
posted by
on October 25, 2006
This is my favorite quick and easy soup:
Cheesy Rice Poblano Soup
If you put the rice on to cook first, it is ready just about the time you cook everything else, so total prep/cook time is twenty minutes.
(I've substituted veggie broth for chicken broth and it works fine that way)
posted by
on October 25, 2006 [
1 favorite
My relatives are from San Marino, and they have this with almost every dinner:
Make some chicken broth with bullion or stock
Throw in some tortellini (cheese works best)
Ladle into bowl and sprinkle with Parmesans cheese.
It's simple and delicious. The only downside is that the tortellini absorb a lot of broth, so if you have leftovers you have to add water the next day.
French onion soup is also pretty easy, and very delicious. Beef broth, fresh onions, croutons/stale bread and swiss cheese.
posted by
on October 25, 2006 [
1 favorite
The key to most soups, IMO, is a good chicken stock. There are a ton of threads here on the subject, but to summarize- throw some chicken parts/bones (as cheap as you can get) in a large pot with some loosely chopped onion, carrot, celery. Add some parsley stems (NOT the leaves). Cover with cold water. Bring to the slightest boil you can manage (you don't want to disturb the material too much), and let it go for about 3 hours, skimming constantly. Strain.
If you like, you can take the meat off the bones, put it back in the soup with some noodles and fresh veggies, and you've got kick-ass chicken noodle soup.
posted by
on October 25, 2006 [
1 favorite
Chop a couple of rashers of bacon into tiny pieces. Sauté in olive oil, in a large pan, along with a couple of cloves of garlic, chopped as fine as you like, and an onion, also chopped.
When the onion is transluscent, add one large head of celery, sliced into little pieces, and three or four large carrots, finely chopped. Stir. Put the lid on the pan and let the veggies soften slightly (not too much).
Stir in some chopped fresh herbs - parsley, basil and rosemary.
Stir in 2 pints of chicken stock. Bring to a low boil.
Simmer for 30 minutes or so until everything is softened.
Taste. Add salt/pepper to taste.
For a veggie version, leave out the bacon and use vegetable stock.
This soup is low in calories and fat and is incredibly tasty.
posted by
on October 25, 2006
All Recipes: Soups
posted by
on October 25, 2006
Count me as another soup devotee. I highly, highly recommend the cookbook Soup Suppers by the 'food maven', Arhtur Schwartz. It's one of those rare and wonderful recipe collections from which anything you choose to make far exceeds expectations. His black bean soup, in particular, is excellent.
But for a good, wintry throw-together soup, here is my no-fail plan. I used to make this when I was much more broke than today. One potlful will keep you in lunches and dinners for days.
Start by purchasing one of those 89-cent dry bean 16-bean mixes. The night before you're going to make soup, throw them in a pot with water, bring them to a boil once, then turn off the heat and let them soak overnight. Easy.
Take 1/2 lb. spicy pork sausage - purchased in links or in one large roll, either way. Freeze the other half pound for later.
Saute the sausage in a frying pan. Add a chopped onion and some chopped celery and cook until fragrant. Then put all of that into a large soup pot. Rinse your soaked beans off, then add them to the kettle along with copious amounts of water or chicken broth. Set to simmering. Let it cook for an hour or so.
You can now go two ways here. You can add a large can of crushed tomatoes and some pasta and turn it into sort of a Tuscan bean soup. Or (my winter preference) you can add diced chunks of potato. The potato softens and incorporates into the soup stock as it simmers, thickening it beautifully into a hearty soup. Chopped kale works well in either version, too.
posted by
on October 25, 2006 [
13 favorites
Dice and sauté garlic and onions and a red pepper with minced parsley and lots of dried oregano and basil and curry powder (and some salt and pepper) until the onions are soft and translucent. Add a couple of thin-sliced chicken breasts and stir till they're cooked. Now add two cups of water, cover, and bring the heat up till the water's boiling. Add a cup of rice and simmer till the rice is cooked and the water's gone.
Store this in ziploc bags in the fridge, and when you want soup, empty a bag into a pot and add chicken stock. Garnish with fresh minced parsley. Oh god it's good.
posted by
on October 25, 2006 [
1 favorite
Whoops, forgot to link you.
Arthur Schwartz
Soup Suppers
posted by
on October 25, 2006 [
1 favorite
One word:
Okay, two words:
miso soup with an egg
posted by
on October 25, 2006 [
1 favorite
Good chicken broth
Here's a tasty one:
chicken salsa chili
from Cafe Latte, St. Paul, Minn.
posted by
on October 25, 2006
Cook's Illustrated (my bible) has a chicken noodle soup recipe that could make the dead to walk. It solves the anemic broth problem that plagues so many homemade chicken soups. The secret is browning the chicken pieces, then "sweating" them so they release all their goodness into the stock.
It does take a whole chicken, but believe me, that bird will not have died in vain.
Makes about 3 quarts, serving 6 to 8
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 whole chicken (about 4 pounds), breast removed, split, and reserved; remaining chicken cut into 2-inch pieces
2 medium onions, cut into medium dice
2 quarts boiling water
2 bay leaves
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 celery stalk, sliced 1/4-inch thick
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 cups (3 ounces) hearty, wide egg noodles
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
Ground black pepper
1. Heat oil in large soup kettle. When oil shimmers and starts to smoke, add chicken breast halves; sauté until brown on both sides, about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside. Add half of chopped onions to kettle; sauté until colored and softened slightly, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to medium bowl; set aside. Add half of chicken pieces; sauté until no longer pink, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to bowl with onions. Sauté remaining chicken pieces. Return onions and chicken pieces (excluding breasts) to kettle. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until chicken releases its juices, about 20 minutes. Increase heat to high; add boiling water along with both breast halves, 2 teaspoons salt, and bay leaves. Return to simmer, then cover and barely simmer until chicken breasts are cooked and broth is rich and flavorful, about 20 minutes.
2. Remove chicken breasts from kettle; set aside. When cool enough to handle, remove skin from breasts, then remove meat from bones and shred into bite-size pieces; discard skin and bone. Strain broth; discard bones. Skim fat from broth, reserving 2 tablespoons. (Broth and meat can be covered and refrigerated up to 2 days.)
3. Return soup kettle to medium-high heat. Add reserved chicken fat. Add remaining onions, along with carrot and celery; sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add thyme, along with broth and chicken; simmer until vegetables are tender and flavors meld, 10 to 15 minutes. Add noodles and cook until just tender, about 5 minutes. Adjust seasonings, stir in parsley, and serve.
Serves 6 to 8
Follow steps 1 and 2 of Master Recipe for Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup. In step 3, substitute 1 medium leek, rinsed thoroughly, quartered lengthwise, then sliced thin crosswise, for one onion. Substitute 1/2 cup orzo for egg noodles. Along with orzo, add 1/4 pound trimmed asparagus, cut into 1-inch lengths, and 1/4 cup fresh or frozen peas. Substitute 2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon leaves for parsley.
Serves 6 to 8
Follow steps 1 and 2 of Master Recipe for Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup. In step 3, add 1 medium zucchini, cut into medium dice, to sautéing onions, carrots, and celery. Increase sauté time from 5 to 7 minutes. Add 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned) along with broth to kettle. Substitute 1 cup small shells or macaroni for egg noodles and simmer until noodles are cooked. Substitute an equal portion of fresh basil for parsley. Serve with grated Parmesan, if you like.
Serves 6 to 8
Follow steps 1 and 2 of Master Recipe for Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup. While broth is simmering, cook 1/2 cup wild rice, following package instructions. Use 1 cup hot chicken broth to rehydrate 1/2 ounce dried wild mushrooms, about 30 minutes. In step 3, substitute 1 leek, rinsed thoroughly, quartered lengthwise, then sliced thin crosswise, for one onion and omit celery. When leek and carrot have softened (about 5 minutes), add 1/4 pound sliced mushrooms (domestic or wild); continue to sauté until mushrooms are softened, about 5 minutes longer. Drain and chop dried wild mushrooms; reserve soaking broth. Pour soaking broth through strainer lined with coffee filter to remove grit. Add this liquid and dried mushrooms, along with chicken broth, to kettle. Simmer according to Master Recipe, stirring in cooked rice during last 5 minutes of cooking.
posted by
on October 25, 2006 [
11 favorites
Absurdly easy garlic soup. Good for cold winter nights and if you have a cold. But everyone in the household must eat it, or there will be tears and recrmination due to halitosis. As rendered below, serves 2.
Smash and peel 6-8 cloves garlic. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in saucepan. Crush garlic thru a press into hot oil -- not too hot; you don't want the garlic too brown (or, god forbid, burnt, in which case you'll need to start all over). Sautee at a lowish heat for a few minutes. When it is making the house smell delicious, add 2 cans of chicken broth with herbs. (I like the fatty, salty Swanson kind, health concerns be damned.) Adjust heat so it is simmering. Beat two eggs in a bowl, then drop the beaten eggs into the saucepan as you stir. The eggs will turn into long strings of goodness. Now it's done. A little pepper might be nice. Serve with lots of hot crusty bread, or a grilled cheese sandwich, or for a more substantial meal, with roasted root veggies like carrots and potatoes. Oh, I'm drooling on the keyboard again.
posted by
on October 25, 2006 [
6 favorites
Easy potato-leek soup:
4 cups diced Yukong Gold potatoes - for a little extra yum, make one cup sweet potato.
2 leeks. Cut off about two inches from where the green starts, then cut thinly down toward the root. Wash all the cut pieces really well to get the dirt out. You'll get lots of rings.
1 quart chicken broth. Making it from cubes is fine, I use vegetable-based 'chicken' bouillon.
1/2 cup butter or margarine. Butter may make the soup too rich.
2 cups milk. You could also use light cream, but again the soup gets really rich that way. I use skim.
1 Tbsp. cornstarch.
Melt the marg. over medium and cook the leeks in it, stirring, frequently, until they're tender - 10 to 15 minutes. Stir the cornstarch into the broth and add to the leeks, add potatoes and bring to a boil. Add milk and simmer until the potatoes are done, probably at least 20 minutes. Then use a hand mixer to beat up the potatoes a bit until the whole thing is a more even consistency (but don't make it a puree, either). Salt and pepper to taste.
Makes lots, keeps a week, can be vegetarian.
posted by
on October 25, 2006
Oh, and there's a company called Ramone's that makes frozen egg noodles, available at most/many supermarkets. If you're not going to make your own noodles, these are the babies you need to be putting in your chicken soup.
posted by
on October 25, 2006
I second the vote for Moroccan Harira
posted by
on October 25, 2006
Anyone have a good Thai Chicken noodle soup recipe?
posted by
on October 25, 2006
vegetable soup:
* pressure-cook one kind of vegetable until soft (broccoli, cauliflower, pumpkin, carrots, butternut squash) with some salt. (If you have no pressure cooker, just boil normally, but it'll take longer)
* drain cooking water into a bowl
* mash/blend
* add some sour cream and/or heavy cream
* add back previously drained water until consistency is less baby-food-like and more soupy.
go crazy on the spices!
I experiment by color, so e.g. tumeric, chili, paprika, and garam masala has served me well for pumpkin and squas
h, ground coriander and pepper for broccoli, white pepper for cauliflower.
* enjoy!
posted by
on October 25, 2006 [
1 favorite
I really like
"Nile River Lentil Soup". Don't bother pureeing it.
posted by
on October 25, 2006
Peanut Butter Soup (A Ghanaian delicacy)
Meat of choice
1 mid sized Onion
3 large tomatoes
half jar of all natural non sweetened smooth peanut butter
1 habanero (or 2, depending on your tolerance)
garlic, ginger, salt (to taste)
Steam meat of your choice (chicken/beef/pork) in a pan with the whole onion, whole tomatoes, habanero, garlic cloves and ginger. When veggies look soft and mushy, scoop out and blend smoothly and pour back into pot and add half the blender jar of water...leave to simmer and cook the meat.
While the soup is simmering, put peanut paste into a pan, preferably non stick. Add water and squish and mix with fingers till you get a peanutty liquidy yucky looking mess. Add a dash of salt to this mess, and stir on the stove, careful to avoid it lumping up. Stir for about 10 mins until the oil starts to separate from the peanuts (the water will evaporate).
Take the cooked peanut mixture, add about 2 cups of water to it, stir vigorously, and dump the entire concoction into the simmering soup.
Let simmer some more for about 30 mins, until surface of the soup is lightly coated with peanut oil.
Season to taste (i tend to use maggi sauce/salt).
Voila...Ghana style peanut butter soup.
posted by
on October 25, 2006 [
7 favorites
What, no split pea? Throw a couple of smoked ham hocks into a pot w/ about 8 cups of water. Add a pound of split peas. Bring to a simmer and let cook for about 30 minutes. Add 1 cup each diced onions, carrots, celery, plus a bay leaf. Simmer for another 30 minutes or so, then season w/ salt and pepper. Remove the ham and either set it aside or shred it up and put back into the soup. I've also heard of people doing this with a smoked turkey leg.
posted by
on October 25, 2006
i make two soups constantly through the winter. one is a super rich baked potato soup that is time-consuming to make and is not for the health-conscious (seriously, you add butter to bacon grease. i don't think even and the other is a ridiculously easy chicken tortilla soup.
baked potato soup
first, bake some potatoes in your microwave. i usually use about 6 red potatoes, but yukon golds make a good soup too. these can be cooking while you make the base.
in a dutch oven or stockpot, fry 12 slices of bacon. take bacon out, drain. add 1/3 cup butter to bacon grease. saute 2 cloves garlic, 1 chopped onion in butter/grease until translucent.
next, whisk in 2/3 cup of flour. this will make your roux. continue to whisk, cooking on medium heat until the roux turns a golden brown. make sure not to burn it. when roux is finished, add two cans of chicken broth and 2 cups of milk. continue to whisk until thickened.
once soup base is thickened, add about a half cup of chopped green onions and your baked potatoes (chopped up into pieces). bring to a boil, stirring frequently. turn down heat, let simmer for about 10 minutes.
add 1 cup half&half, 1 cup sour cream, 2 cups cheddar cheese, and the bacon you cooked earlier, all crumbled up. also some salt and pepper to taste. cook until cheese is all melted through.
chicken tortilla soup
cook a couple cut-up (into tiny soup-sized pieces!) boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a bit of olive oil, chili powder, cayenne powder, garlic, and a bit of chopped onion.
in a stockpot/soup pot, add 2 cans of chicken broth, 1 can of corn, 1 can of black beans and 1 can of diced tomatoes with green chiles. add cooked chicken to soup. heat through. serve with cheddar cheese, sour cream, tortilla strips/crushed chips.
posted by
on October 25, 2006 [
2 favorites
Here's my version of potato-broccoli-leek. As usual it will require a little bit of winging it.
4 medium to large baking potatoes (e.g. russets) or that much of whatever potato you like
1 large leek
2 cloves garlic (or more if you like garlic)
4 cups broccoli (use the florets and the stalk. Just use a vegetable peeler on the stalk if seems tough.)
vegetable stock
2 containers non-fat, plain yogurt
Cut the bottoms and the tough parts of the leaves off the leaks. Dice and clean and then saute on medium in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil until translucent. Toss in the garlic and saute for a couple minutes more. Turn off the heat and set aside.
Peel and slice the potatoes into ~1/2 in slices. Put in a stock pot and cover with chicken stock. I use half stock and half water because I find pure stock to be too much. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook potatoes until they're soft (about 15-20 min.)
While the potatoes are cooking steam the broccoli pieces until they're crisp-tender (about 10-15 min.) I like to do it this way because I think it makes the soup tastier and thicker. If you want to though, you can put the broccoli in with the potatoes for the last 10 or 15 minutes. Be sure you've added enough water/stock to cover them too.
Add the steamed broccoli to the potatoes and blend up. I use a wand blender, but you can do it in batches in a regular blender. Put everything back in the pot (if you have too) and add the leeks/garlic and the 2 tubs of yogurt. At this point adjust the consistency to what you want with additional stock or water. Bring up to simmer and season with salt, pepper, and good curry to taste. Add the curry slowly so you don't end up with too much.
Serving size: big bowl
It freezes well, it's practically fat free, and tastes great. Serve it with a handful of fresh spinach and/or some chopped up toasted walnuts.
posted by
on October 25, 2006
If you make soup in large batches, because it can take time and you freeze portions, one good idea is to make if fairly basic. You can then customize it in various ways at serving time.
For example I make split-pea soup from 4 pounds of peas, a pound of carrots, 5 onions, a bunch of celery, and 4 ham hocks. I don't add salt (see below). I cook it a long time (because I don't like the texture of unpopped granules) and put it through a food-mill sieve. The end product is like babyfood.
At serving time you can add various flavors and textures. Lots of things work: soy sauce, hot sauce, hot sesame oil, wet Indian curry from a jar, sherry, olive oil, butter, bacon bits, cubes of meat, sauteed vegatables or even apple cubes, raisins, diced (hot) peppers, ...
If you are adding strong flavors, it is best to test out the quantity in a small sample. The soup seems to moderate hot peppers so I often wind up adding more than my initial guess. I once added smoked oysters. My sample convinced me they were a strong surprise, so I wound up cutting them in pieces.
posted by
on October 25, 2006
If you're making soup because it's cold, try adding some spice to it. Spicy food has a lovely warming effect. You can put chiles into the soup along with the other ingredients -- try chopped chipotles en adobo (these come in cans), or sliced fresh serranos or jalapenos. They're hot, but not too hot to eat along with the soup. You can also sprinkle some hot sauce or chile powder into the broth. Cayenne or red chile powder is probably best for this.
posted by
on October 25, 2006
Here's my chicken wild rice soup. Real wild rice, mind, not that Uncle Ben's long grain and wild rice stuff, although you can find recipes that use that too. It would be even tastier if you made your own stock, etc.
Cook 1 cup wild rice in 3 cups water for 50 - 55 minutes. Drain excess water and set aside.
Cook 1 lb. boneless chicken breasts in 1 quart canned chicken broth for about 20 minutes, until cooked through. (I also add some pieces of carrot, celery, and a bay leaf to the broth). Remove chicken and skim or strain broth. When slightly cooled, cube the chicken. You could use chicken pieces with bones for more flavor. Or use leftover chicken.
Slice up 2 carrots, 2 stalks of celery, a medium onion, then saute in some butter in a large saucepan for 5-10 minutes. Add some sliced mushrooms and saute for another 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle 1/2 cup flour over vegetables and cook for another minute or two.
While stirring, add the strained broth to the veggies, plus another 2-3 cups of broth. Stir in rice, chicken, salt and pepper to taste, and 1/2 cup white wine. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until veggies are tender. Add 2 cups of half and half, and extra broth if it needs to be thinned out a bit.
It will thicken over time so you may need to thin it again if you serve it the next day. If you plan to freeze it, do so without the half and half, then add it after you've reheated it again.
posted by
on October 25, 2006 [
1 favorite
I make a pretty good cream of tomato soup:
1 large can of whole, peeled tomatoes
1 tbs tomato paste
2 cups water or stock
1 large onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 cup (depending on soup thickness) whole milk
some cherry tomatoes
handful of basil
Saute the onion (diced) in some olive oil on the bottom of a large pot (no extra dishes to clean). When it is translucent, add chopped garlic and stir until soft.
Then add your liquid- I usually use veg stock- and your tomato paste and mix it all up with some salt and pepper and a tiny bit of cinnamon. When it is good and hot, add your canned tomatoes and cook until they don't smell raw anymore. I usually let it cook for 15 min or more just so all the flavors are married.
Blend it all together until smooth, put it back in the pot, then add your milk and basil and any other fresh herbs you like. Add a few halves of cherry tomatoes and you are done.
posted by
on October 25, 2006
everybody who glossed over it needs to go back up and read ramix's recipe for Ghanaian peanut butter soup. and after you read it, go make it. that stuff is -the- -best-. signed, another soup devotee.
posted by
on October 25, 2006 [
1 favorite
Great color and enough of a kick to warm you up . . . Simple but a little time consuming, both in assembling the ingredients and chopping -- but worth it.
It's from the
Boston Globe Recipe section
Carrot red-lentil soup with Asian spices
Adapted from ``The Union Square Cafe,' by Danny Meyer and Michael Romano (HarperCollins, 1994).
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon curry
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
3/4 cup sliced onions
3/4 cup peeled and sliced parsnips
4 cups scrubbed and sliced carrots
1/2 cup sliced celery
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup red lentils
1/4 cup basmati rice (adds really nice flavor)
7 cups vegetable stock or water
3/4 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons lime juice
In a 3-quart saucepan, melt the butter over a low flame. Stir in the ginger and spices and cook for 1 minute. Add the onions, parsnips, carrots and celery. Add the salt and pepper. Raise the flame to medium and cook for 10 to 12 minutes. Soften but do not brown the vegetables.
Stir in the lentils and basmati rice, mixing until well combined with the vegetables. Add the stock (or water) and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover the pot, and simmer for 30 minutes, until the vegetables and rice are tender. Puree the soup in a blender until smooth.
I am going to try another red lentil soup soon . . . but I am posting this one because I can vouch for it!
posted by
on October 25, 2006 [
8 favorites
Cream and blended soups are where it's at for the winter. My mum was all about the classic 3-2-1 cream soup (that's 3 parts stock, 2 parts vegetables, 1 part dairy), but I tend to make them with about 2-3-1.
For any soup, cream or otherwise, try to make your own stock. Most butchers where I am (London) are happy to give you bones for next to nothing. Throw the bones in the largest pot you've got with whatever vegetable scraps you've got around (and maybe a few bay leaves), cover them with water, then let them simmer for a few hours. If you're making a cream soup, use the fullest fat option you've got. I use sour cream or something they have over here called double cream that's about 35% fat.
My standard soups are:
Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato:
Garlic, Peeled and Chopped
Dried Basil
Olive Oil
1 Cup Full Fat Sour Cream
~2 Cups Fresh Tomatoes, Chopped
4 Fist-sized Red Peppers (I've got fairly large hands...adjust as necessary)
~2 Cups Chicken or Pork Stock
Roast the peppers whole under your broiler, turning them as the skin on top blackens until you got them black all over. Once they've cooled off a bit, peel the skin off with your fingers and
scrape the seeds out. Chop them roughly, as you'll just be blending them later.
Soften the garlic in a tablespoon or so of oil. I use anything from half a head to a whole head.
Add the tomatoes and simmer until they start to break down a bit.
Add the peppers, basil, and oregano. I use a bit of oregano and loads of basil.
Add your stock, blend the crap out of it, then let it simmer for about half an hour or so.
Let it cool off a bit, whisk in the sour cream, then season it to taste.
Cream of Potato and Various Other Things:
1 Cup Full Fat Sour Cream
Two Cups Potatoes, Chopped and Unpeeled
One Cup [Celery|Onions|Celeriac], Chopped
~2 Cups Chicken, Pork or Lamb Stock
Saute the potatoes in the butter. When they're about half-way to tender, add the other vegetables and keep sauteing until it's all nicely soft. If you're using garlic, throw it in with the 'other vegetables'.
Add your stock, blend the crap out of it, add the dill if you're using it, then let it simmer for about half an hour or so.
Let it cool off a bit, whisk in the sour cream, then season it to taste.
Carrot and Pumpkin:
Coriander, Ground
Black Pepper, Ground
1/2 Cups Onion, Chopped
1 1/2 Cups Pumpkin, in 2cm by 2cm Cubes
1 1/2 Cups Carrots, Prepped As Above
~2 Cups Chicken or Pork Stock
Roast the pumpkin and carrots in the oven at about 350 until they're soft.
Saute the onions in the butter until they're soft.
Add the pumpkin, carrots, coriander, and pepper. I tend to use about three times as much coriander as pepper.
Saute it a little, add your stock, blend the crap out of it, then let it simmer for about half an hour.
Season it to taste.
Man, that ran on a bit...I'll cut it off here.
posted by
on October 25, 2006 [
3 favorites
Easy Split Pea Soap:
1 bag of split peas.
Two quarts or so of broth or water. (I use an organic veggie broth, because it adds an extraordinary amount of flavor.)
1 pound or so of lean ham, cubed.
Carrots (I use a lot of them)
Celery (I use two stalks_
Garlic (I use about two cloves)
Salt and pepper.
Bay leaf or two
Wash beans. No need to soak them. Combine beans, broth, chopped veggies and ham in pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low simmer. Cover. Ignore. Stir once an hour or so. Soup will be done in 3-4 hours, but the longer you cook it, the thicker it gets.
Some people like to use a stick blender, or a blender to puree the whole thing, I prefer mine unpureed, but I'll sometimes add a dollop of real cream to the soup when I serve.
Chicken and Dumplings:
1 3-5 pound chicken, disjointed, but still boned.
2 quarts or so of chicken broth
Carrots, celery and any other veggie you think would taste good.
Salt, pepper, bay leaf, tarragon, savory, oregano, basil, rosemary to taste.
1.5 cups flour, 1 tbsp baking powder, about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of milk, salt and tarragon (if desired).
Put everything in the first list into the pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until chicken falls off bone.
Remove bones and icky bits from soup. Return soup to pot and raise temp to a low boil.
Meanwhile, mix your flour ingredients to form dough similar in texture to biscuit dough.
Raise temp of soap to fast boil. Drop spoonfuls of dumpling into boiling soap. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
Reduce heat, serve.
posted by
on October 25, 2006 [
1 favorite
My favorite quick-ish soup is one I sort of cobbled together from a bunch of different recipes:
Improv Curried Lentil Soup
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 medium yellow onion
1 inch fresh gingerroot, peeled and diced small
2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. curry powder
1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 large carrot, grated
2 medium potatoes, unpeeled, chopped
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 cups veggie broth, or 2 cubes veggie bouillon dissolved in 2 cups water, or just 2 cups water (more or less as needed)
1 can (yellow) lentils (19 oz. can)
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. coriander
1/4 tsp. red pepper
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cardamom
juice of 1 lemon
*Saute onion, ginger, and garlic in olive oil on medium-high heat about 5 min. Add salt.
*Add one at a time, mix well after each: curry powder, bell pepper, celery, carrot, 1/2 cup of the veggie broth, potatoes, tomato paste.
*Add the rest of the veggie broth and the lentils along with the water from the can. Mix well, cook covered on medium for 20-25 min. until potatoes and celery are soft.
*Remove from heat. Take out half or more of the soup and puree it in the blender.
*Add it back to the pot and stir in cumin, coriander, red pepper, ginger, cardamom, and the juice of one lemon. Mix well and serve hot with snipped cilantro on top if desired. Makes 4 servings.
[I did a nutritional analysis of this recipe on NutritionData.com - Based on this recipe making 4 servings: each serving contains 279 calories, 37 calories from fat; 4g total fat, 1g saturated fat; 0mg cholesterol; 186mg sodium; 50g total carb, 13g fiber, 6g sugars; 13g protein. RDA: 49% Vitamin A, 126% Vitamin C, 6% calcium, 30% iron. "This food is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Iron, Phosphorus, Potassium and Manganese, and a very good source of Vitamin C and Folate."]
This soup is very forgiving and does great with substitutions (fresh tomato, ketchup instead of tomato paste, red or green pepper works well in it). I've made it with chickpeas instead of lentils, too (I think I added in spinach, and used orange instead of lemon, with the chickpeas).
posted by
on October 25, 2006 [
3 favorites
Maybe one more, as Asian soups don't seem to be getting much love.
Tom Kah Gai:
2 Stalks Lemongrass, Bruised
1/2 Head of Garlic, Crushed
~1/4 Cups Galangal, Sliced
Nam Pla (Fish Sauce)
2 Lime Leaves (if available)
Chillis, Seeded and Finely Sliced
Green Onions, Chopped
Fresh Basil
3 Cups Cooked [Chicken|Pork|Tofu], Sliced (or Cubed, for Tofu)
2 Cups Chicken or Pork Stock
2 Cans Coconut Milk
Simmer the lemongrass, garlic, galangal, and lime leaves in the stock and coconut milk for at least half an hour, preferably longer.
Heat up the meat or meat alternative with the chillis.
Strain everything out of the stock and coconut milk mixture and season it to taste with a mix of Nam Pla and salt, depending on your tolerance for stankin-ass fermented fish sauce. I like it, but it does put some people off.
Put a serving worth of the meat or meat alternative and chilli mixture in each bowl, ladle the broth over it to cover, and top it with whatever mix of cashews/green onions/basil that you like.
posted by
on October 25, 2006 [
3 favorites
Cheat for those who don't/can't/won't make homemade stock or broth: Better than Boullion. (Hereafter abbreviated as BTB.) The stuff is worlds better than any kind of boullion cubes and better than a lot of canned soups, too.
When I make chicken soup:
Night before, get a grocery rotisserie chicken and greedily eat the best parts for dinner.
Night of soup: Pick remaining best pieces of meat from carcass and set aside.
Make Chicken BTB.
Add whole carcass, including drippings and skin, and simmer.
Add reserved nicer meat back in, along with any bits of good meat that landed in the strainer and whatever veggies, herbs, whatever.
posted by
on October 25, 2006
Easy Chili
2 large cans tomato sauce
1 large can diced tomato
1 can dark kidney beans
1 lb hamburger or ground turkey. (or get frisky & subsitute Grape Nuts cereal)
1 pepper (green pepper or one of the spicy ones)
also need: chili powder, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper & onion flakes
Brown hamburger with diced pepper & onion flakes, drain (or let cool a little and use some paper towels to sop off the grease. Combine the cans in a medium pot, toss in hamburger mixture. Add spices. Let simmer on low for 2-3 hours. Serve over rice or spaghetti.
If cooking in a crock pot, toss in rice or pasta about 30 minutes before eating.
Using grape nuts really does work. Use a little olive oil & toast it instead of browning. Can't really tell the difference & no need to wait for meat to thaw.
Heathenish advice ahead . . . I love Onion soup but I'm not fond of the wet bread, stringy cheese combo nor do I usually want to bother with broiling. I buy some of that frozen Cheese toast (like the Pepperidge Farm brand), broil it in the oven & dip in in the soup. Same effect, less mess & fuss.
posted by
on October 25, 2006
Another easy chili:
1lb hamburger
a few cloves of garlic - pressed or chopped fine
1/2 onion - chopped
1/2 bell pepper - chopped
1 can chili beans in sauce (I like Bush's)
1 can black beans - rinse and drain
1 small can of tomato sauce
chili powder
red pepper to taste
Brown the meat. Add a few dashes of chili powder and cumin and toss in the garlic, onion, and bell pepper as soon as the meat is brown. Cook and stir until onion is clear. Add both cans of beans. Add tomato sauce. Add more chili powder and cumin (and red pepper, if desired). Let it simmer for a bit.
We serve with grated cheese on top and fritos scoops.
Takes less than a half hour to make and my kids stuff themselves with it.
posted by
on October 25, 2006 [
1 favorite
I also make what I call Chicken Noodle Stew. The ingredients vary somewhat, but it generally consists of homemade chicken stock, chicken meat, garlic, carrots, potatoes, and peas. I toss in spiral shaped noodles (the multicolored ones, just for fun) about a half hour before serving. Very hearty, especially as leftovers when the noodles swell up.
making homemade chicken stock on a chilly winter weekend afternoon. I tend to make a huge stockpot full and simmer it down to where it's pretty concentrated. We keep meal-sized (enough to make a pot of soup) portions in the freezer.
Looking forward to trying a lot of these recipes!
posted by
on October 25, 2006
57 users marked this as a favorite
What a souper thread!
The great things about soup is that they are so easy; just throw things you like in a pot.
I want to try this;
Lasagne Soup
posted by
oxford blue
on October 25, 2006
I've been into (mostly) raw veggie foods lately. This is probably pretty off-the-wall, but I thought I'd throw it out there just in case you want to try something, you know, off the wall (& very healthy) . . .
6-8 roma tomatoes
4 sun-dried tomatoes (optional)
1 yellow, orange, or red bell pepper
1 avacado (optional, makes it creamier)
1 stick celery
1 bunch spinach (to taste, lots if you really like spinach, less if if you could take or leave it)
8 oz carrot juice
2 cloves garlic
1/2 to 1 inch ginger
1 small bunch of basil (to taste)
2 tbs flax seed oil (or extra virgin olive oil)
1 tbs miso (a soybean paste; use tamari or soy sauce to taste if unavailable)
2 tbs nutritional yeast flakes (not a showstopper if not available, but it does make it yummier)
1 dash of cumin (to taste)
1/2 dried red chile (remove seeds)
Chop up big stuff, puree everything in a blender until smooth. Heat very gently, not getting above 117 degrees (and definitely don't get near boiling -- defeats the purpose).
posted by
on October 25, 2006
I love this thread! I'm just going to add a note on easy stock-making....I keep a big ziplock in the freezer, and throw chicken bones, celery tops, leek tops, onion ends, all that sort of cooking detritus in there. After a while, when I'm ready to make some soup, I have a bag of potential stocky goodness that I can pull out of the freezer and simmer for a few hours. I don't know if it's culinarily "bad" somehow, but it's much less messy than making stock and then freezing it for future use. My favorite thrifty tip.
posted by
on October 25, 2006 [
1 favorite
Mexican Chicken Soup with Cilantro-Chile Cream
(Yeah, I know, it's from the Ortega web site, but it's really good and super easy to make. Trust me, the cilantro-chile cream makes it.)
posted by
on October 26, 2006
I've posted this before. Here it is again:
Creamy Carrot Ginger Soup with Lime (serves 2 to 4)
3 cups of carrot juice (buy pre-juiced carrots at the grocery store or health food store)
1 small, ripe avocado
1/2 cup coconut meat (buy it in a can for about $1.25)
1/4 lime juice (about one reamed lime)
2 tbs of agave nectar (about $2.50 a bottle at health food store)
1/4 tbs minced ginger
1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp sea salt
1. Put everything in a blender and puree until completely smooth. Taste for seasoning.
2. Garnish with a few cilantro leaves (optional).
This soup is terrific. The recipe actually asks for 1 tbs of ginger but the times I made it it was too gingery so I cut that by 3/4s--perhaps ginger it to taste by adding last.
To be served at room temperature.
posted by
on October 26, 2006 [
1 favorite
That should say 1/4 cup of lime juice.
posted by
on October 26, 2006
Cross-linking for completeness:
many stew recipes
and other cold-weather favorites.
posted by
on September 5, 2007
« Older
In search of a good mellow yog... | PsychExperimentFilter: Suggest...
Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
Related Questions
Vegetable soup hacks?
December 30, 2013
Sort of Short Soup Recipes
October 22, 2013
Soup for Dummies
October 14, 2013
Soup Me Up.
January 21, 2009
Bean me, Soup Nazis.
January 10, 2009
New User
MeFi Wiki
Buy a Shirt
© 1999-2014
MetaFilter Network Inc.
All posts are © their original authors.
| ☃


text:
|Part-Time/On Call Caseworker
|East Valley Area, AZ
|Job Information
Catholic Charities Community Services currently seeking a qualified, caring individuals to work in our Domestic Violence Shelter providing services to clients.
This position is Overnight Part-Time/On Call, (including weekends and holidays).
Salary starting at $13.37 an hour
Position Summary:
Responsible for covering of assigned shift in a domestic violence shelter (My Sister's Place) which is assigned on an on-call basis (not a regular schedule). Shelter is located in the East Valley area.
Position Duties:
1.Provides professional casework and crisis counseling to shelter residents
2. Develops and/or updating service plans with clients
3. Maintains accurate, professional documentation in client files for each shift covered
4. Answers telephone crisis lines and maintaining accurate documentation on phone log
5. Provides referrals for community resources
6. Perform any other job-related tasks deemed necessary and/or assigned by the supervisor. Additional tasks associated with specific shifts may include providing individual and/or group counseling; menu planning; acknowledging donations to the program; assigning household duties to residents; training volunteers or interns; processing, sorting and storage of donated items, etc.
Position Requirements:
Education: Bachelors degree in Social Work or a degree in a closely related field required. Applicants with five or more years internship or working experience with victims of domestic violence or similar work experience in family violence or residential programs may be qualified for position with experience considered as substituted for degree.
Job Knowledge: Requires ability to work well with women in crisis who may represent various socio-economic and/or cultural backgrounds' assist women in making informed choices and decisions; basic knowledge of resources in the community as well as awareness of dynamics related to family violence.
Physical Requirements: Moderately high noise level from telephones and client activity, Must be able to move about frequently, lift lightweight to moderately heavy items and be able to see, hear, speak, listen and ambulate to provide services for clients.
Other Requirements:
1. Must be able to work evenings, weekends, holidays.
2. Valid AZ driver's license and reliable transportation, insurance, registration.
3. Must have CPR, First Aide certification.
4. Due to oversight regulations incumbents are required to have an annual TB test.
5. Must possess or be eligible for fingerprint clearance.
EEO/M-F/H We Value Diversity!
To apply go to our website www.catholiccharitiesaz.org,click on "about us" then "employment" then do a job search for the position, or simply search all to see all of our opportunities.
Please contact:
Michelle Rodriguez
HR Manager
- What We Do
- Who We Are
- For Victims
- For Members
- Legal Advocacy
- Get Involved
- Resources


text:
The Basketball Hall of Famer had a heart attack last week, and doctors told him he's going to have to change his lifestyle. "'You can't smoke, you can't drink, you can't play basketball.' So of the things I like, only sex is left." [Blazers Edge, via TBJ]
Pending approval Dom Cosentino


text:
A couple more sketches I did for Dragon Con, Tyrion and Daenerys.
Tyrion Lannister drawing
Marker and pencil
A recent Arya Stark drawing sketchagraph style to be signed by Maisie Williams at an appearance.
Game of Thrones portrait series
Used for Shiro Cosmetics "Seven Kingdoms Collection" cosmetic line
Mother of Dragons, Daenerys Targaryen.
Pencil and marker
More Game of Thrones portraits in a previous post
Drawing a series of Game of Thrones characters for an upcoming project. The first of many!
Q:You have dealt with some pretty amazing commissions and jobs like the Star wars bit. But even with that under your belt, what would be a dream job for you? I mean what character, film, company would you like to take on illustrating for, with, etc.?
Currently, I'd love to get some work officially for Game of Thrones.
Game of Thrones
Jon Snow and Longclaw
Private commission for a client
Game of Thrones - Jon Snow work in progress vid
Vine - Robert Hendrickson
Happy New Year!
Thank you all for your likes, comments and new follows this past year! It was a pleasure inviting you all into my studio and giving you a behind the scenes look at how my work comes together. I look forward to sharing more with you in 2013. Be sure to follow me on instagram and twitter for more! Have a very Happy New Year!
Here's a cross section of posts from my instagram this past year…
Q:Hello Robert. I admire your works and i specifically admire the way you painted the Lannister Twins. But i couldnt understand what you used painting this. Photoshop or real watercolours or acrylic etc?
Hello Anon! Thank you very much. The majority of my works are traditional medium (acrylic or watercolor) but in the case of the Lannister Twins art, I first created the art with greyscale markers and digitally colored it in Photoshop. You can compare the two with the image. Mostly as an experiment but I was happy with the results. Thank you for your question!
Game of Thrones / Daenerys rough. Revised from earlier sketch.
Final is on my to-do list.
Things to do on my table, Game of Thrones art, Mara Jade G7, Amamak framing, Bettie Page cards and 501st CVI project.
By the way, everyone should be following my new art blog The Art of Robert Hendrickson!


text:
Narrow your search
HTC's Flyer tablet may finally be getting its long-awaited update to Android 3.2 Honeycomb, after screenshots appear on an Android forum.
Android 3.2 is launching on the Motorola Xoom. A couple of marquee improvements include a new zoom mode and support for long-dormant hardware. The new version of Honeycomb will also come to other tablets in the near future.
Android 3.2 is official, which means that it will likely appear as an update on a number of tablets in the near future. Motorola is already rolling out the update for its Xoom.
The device, which will be called Media Pad, will come with a dual-core 1.2GHz processor and support full 1080p HD video playback.
The carrier will begin pushing Android 3.2 to the tablet in 2012 but anxious users can grab it now.
With its S1 Android tablet having been outed last week, Sony is seemingly working on two other tablets: an innovative dual-screen Android slate and a Vaio-branded Windows 7 sliding tablet.
The headline of this post initially gave an incorrect date for the Honeycomb event. Google will be hosting that event on Feb. 2.
Want to know everything there is to know about Android 3.0? So do we. CNET will be at an invitation-only event next week at Google to learn more.
The new Android Gmail update provides Honeycomb tablet users an ICS-like experience, including custom notifications for labels. We'll show you how to set it up.
Can't wait to see the SpringBoard in person? Our hands-on video is the next best thing.


text:
Student Experience and Engagement
- Our Office
- Accessiblity Services
- Student Activities
- Campus Advocate
- Career Services
- Child Care Center
- Community Engagement
- Counseling Center
- Dining Services
- Elliott Union
- Health Center
- Military and Veteran Services
- Student Affairs Assessment
- University Housing
Royal Blush Drag Show!
Posted: 9/16/2013 - A night of entertaining performances and history of the Drag culture! Hope to see you there! September 26th in Union 240 at 7:30pm Doors open at 7pm! #RoyalBlush
More information: https://www.facebook.com/events/309341219203788/


text:
Adele's mystery ex-boyfriend comes forward
Adele's mystery ex-boyfriend has come forward and opened up about their 'whirlwind romance' on a British radio show
A mystery man who claims to have inspired Adele's earliest hits has opened up about their romance.
Known only as Giles, the singer's alleged ex-boyfriend revealed they enjoyed a ''whirlwind romance'' before she was famous and wants her to know he still thinks about her.
After phoning British breakfast show host Neil Fox on Magic FM and requesting Elvis Presley's hit 'Always on My Mind' on Tuesday morning (19.02.13), Giles explained his choice: ''Why that one? Well it's for an old flame of mine, a very old flame called Michelle Adkins. I'd like to let her know that I'm thinking of her. She's done pretty well these days. She's actually changed her name to Adele Adkins in recent years.''
When pressed about their relationship, he described it as ''a whirlwind romance many years ago'', adding: ''It was fun and eventful. All I can stay is it's all in the lyrics if you know what I mean.
''I took her to the Albert Hall when it was empty and before she only had two songs to her name and I said 'one day my darling you'll be a star and you'll be playing the Albert Hall' and she then she did play albert hall and a lot else besides.
''She's done brilliantly so God bless her. God bless her little cotton socks.''
Adele has always refused to disclose the names of any of her ex-boyfriends that caused the heartbreak laid bare in her songs.
Another of the 24-year-old singer's ex-boyfriends was previously identified as photographer Alex Sturrock, 32, who allegedly inspired her album '21'.
The singer - who is now loved up with her boyfriend Simon Konecki and gave birth to their first child Angelo James in October - frankly admitted writing songs including 'Someone Like You' to get over their break-up and famously shed a tear over the lyrics during a landmark performance at the 2011 Brit Awards.
entertainment videos
Lena Dunham has finally decided to pay the opening acts on her book tour.
Date 52 mins ago, Duration 0:53, Views 0
- Entertainment
- Asia Celeb News
- Hollywood Buzz
- Korean Buzz
- Celeb Interviews
- Celeb Bios
- Celeb Blogs
- Photo Galleries
- Music Reviews
- Movies
- xinFirst Webisodes
- TV Channels
- Channel 5
- Channel 8
- Channel U
- okto
- Suria
- Vasantham
- Radio
- Class 95FM
- Gold 90.5FM
- Lush 99.5FM
- Symphony 92.4FM
- Capital 95.8FM
- Love 97.2FM
- Ria 89.7FM
- Warna 94.2FM
- Oli 96.8FM
- Lifestyle
- Beauty & Fashion
- Food
- Going Out
- Health
- Relationships
- Travel
- Work Life
- Style
- Style:Men
- Style:Weddings
- Style:Living
- i-Weekly i周刊
- Timepieces
- Mother & Baby
- Elle
- Postbox
- News
- Singapore
- World
- Regional
- Sci-Tech
- Weird
- Business
- News Videos
- Sports
- Local Sports
- World Football
- Formula One
- Video
- Catch-Up TV
- Entertainment
- xinmsn Celebs
- Korean Celebs
- Hollywood Celebs
- Weird & Wonderful
- News
- Lifestyle
- Sports
- xinFirst


text:
Yay! :) I decided to have a giveaway :D There will be 2 winners!
I will be giving away:
#1 prize
- Essence nail care bag
- Essence multi dimension 3 in 1 polish (42) Dress to party
- Vollare flash 13 (pink)
- Volare flash 326 (violet)
- Essence Party lipgloss set
- Hello Kitty small notebook mobile phone charm (in the plastic ball)
- Handmade starfish necklace
- Handmade (by me) yellow bunny
- Handmade (by me) piece of cake keychan
- Acessories cute necklace
- Essence blue eyeshadow
- Essence limited edition purple eyeliner
#2 Prize
- Accessories pink flowers earrings
- Vollare flash 59 (coral pink)
- Vollare flash 280 (vivid pink)
- Wooden turtle keylock
- Disney Winnie Pooh mobile phone charm (in the plastic ball) - he's dressed in a dog
- Handmade (by me) apple with a worm keychain
- Pull-off face mask
- Bath slats
Lately I'll add some more makeup, such as eyeshadows and eyeliners and maybe a lipstick and a lipgloss.
And now to the rules:
Open internationally!
1) Give away ends Avg 19th at 16:00 pm Slovenia time (GMT +2).
Date moved! Now September 11
2) There has to be at least 3 entries for me to do this give away.
3) Must be a follower to join. If your not a follower just "click" follow and your good to go.
4) Re-post this on your page with a link and 2 pictures of my giveaway
5) To enter in giveaway, just click on comment and comment me your answer.
6) For an extra entry tell me what do you like/don't like about my blog and what would you love to see more of (don't foget to vote on the current poll - on the right side).
That's all. ♥
XOXO Parisky


text:
Beall Mansion Blog & Area Events
September 2014
This new photography exhibit artfully highlights the St. Louis area's close connection to rivers and streams. The images of the Watershed Cairns exhibit document important places in our regional watershed through vivid, large-scale photos of sculptural cairns made of glass. By naming and mapping sites of the photos, the exhibit offers visitors the chance to learn of the interconnection of these waters and the areas through which they pass.
For more information, please visit mohistory.org.
A Mix of Media is a unique art exhibit showcasing the work of local artist Linda Miller, learned educator and artist.
A Mix of Media describes Linda's approach to making art. Photography provided the palette and inspiration for the works in this exhibit. Linda often works wet on wet, a technique that involves a combination of transparent and opaque watercolor paints, as well as watercolor pencils, water-soluble oil pastels, and watercolor crayons on wet paper. Painting with oil pastels and adding depth with graphite details has also become a common expression for Linda.
Learn about and see more of Linda's experimental process of making art by visiting A Mix of Media September 6 through September 28.
For more information about the exhibit, please call (618) 576-9235.
The gallery is open Saturday and Sunday from 11 am to 6 pm and all other days by appointment.
Delight in a scrumptious 5-course meal paired with beer brewed at Grafton Brewhaus.
Advanced reservations are required. Payment is due at time of sign ups. No cancellations. For more information or to make a reservation, please call (618) 786-3001.
Enjoy a romantic evening under the stars with a "love boat" around the Post-Dispatch Lake in Forest Park.
Each paddleboat is furnished with a picnic basket filled with a tasty dinner and a bottle of wine or a bucket of beer.
Boats launch at 7 pm each Thursday through September 25 and must return by 10 pm. Reservations are required. Entries will be accepted on a first-come, first serve basis, and registration will be confirmed by email.
For more information or to make your reservation, pleas visit boathouseforestpark.com.
Looking to get the best possible view of the sunset? Twilight Thursdays at the Lewis & Clark Confluence Tower will offer you that chance!
150 feet in the air, the Confluence Tower will give you an unforgettable view!
Whether you bring family, friends, a special someone, or just yourself, you are sure to have a wonderful time taking in the stunning sunset over the Mighty Mississippi.
Don't forget to look at sunset times and plan your trip accordingly. For more information, please call (618) 251-9101.
Jack and Leo, two English Shakespearean actors, have had such a bad break that they are performing "Scenes from Shakespeare" in a lodge in the heart of Amish country of Pennsylvania. When they hear that a dying elderly woman in York will leave her fortune to her two English nephews, they plot to pass themselves off as her nephews to get the money. However, when they get to York, they discover that her English relatives aren't nephews but nieces! Leo falls for Meg, the lady's exuberant niece, who is engaged to the local minister. See what will happen when Meg meets "Maxine and Stephanie" and finally gets a taste of the outside world she's always heard about!
Showtimes are
Thursday, September 11 – Saturday, September 13 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, September 14 at 2 pm
Thursday, September 18 – Saturday, September 20 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, September 21 at 2 pm
Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for students. Group rates are available. For more information, please visit altonlittletheater.org or call (618) 462-3205.
Celebrate St. Louis's 250th anniversary with a lively St. Louis tradition!
Experience the sounds of live blues by Marsha Evans' Coalition and enjoy the beautiful scenery on an exciting cruise down the Mississippi River.
Boarding begins at 8 and the cruise departs at 8:30. Ages 21 and over only. For more information, please visit gatewayarch.com or call 1-877-982-1410.
German/Brazilian artist Janaina Tschäpe gives a new look into the ocean landscape with St. Louis Art Museum's new exhibit, The Ocean Within.
Tschäpe explores both observed and imagined views of the landscape across a wide range of media – painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, and video. Her 2013 video The Ocean Within, exemplifies her characteristic interpretation of the ocean as a mysterious and dreamlike place.
For more information, please visit slam.org.
In celebration of the city's 250th birthday, St. Louis Art Museum presents Louis IX: King, Saint, Namesake.
This free exhibit showcases extraordinary art from the reign of Louis IX, as well as later works inspired by the 13th-century monarch. The exhibit will feature 13th-century carved ivory and metalwork, decorated manuscripts, a 17th-century illustrated book about Louis's achievement of bringing the Crown of Thorns to Paris, an altarpiece painting by Louise-Marie Mauduit that Bishop Louis William Valentine DuBourg sent to the city of St. Louis in 1818, among many other artifacts.
The museum is open 10 am – 5 pm Tuesday through Sunday and 10 am – 9 pm Friday.
For more information, please visit slam.org or call (314) 721-0072.
This new photography exhibit artfully highlights the St. Louis area's close connection to rivers and streams. The images of the Watershed Cairns exhibit document important places in our regional watershed through vivid, large-scale photos of sculptural cairns made of glass. By naming and mapping sites of the photos, the exhibit offers visitors the chance to learn of the interconnection of these waters and the areas through which they pass.
For more information, please visit mohistory.org.


text:
Aereo Wins Court Battle, Continues Disrupting TV Industry
Reuben is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.
The Aereo video service, partially backed by IAC/Interactive (NASDAQ: IACI), is surrounded by lawsuits. So far, it's winning. That could materially alter the landscape of broadcast television. IAC is the best way to participate in this potentially disruptive technology.
What is this Aereo of which You Speak?
Aereo is an online video service. It allows customers to receive and record broadcast stations in their home market over the Internet. It is different from Hulu in that it literally streams live television over the Internet, not a delayed or curated version of what appeared yesterday.
That's a big leg up on Hulu and Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), which don't provide access to live television, particularly sports and news shows. In fact, this failing is one of the main reasons why customers keep paying for cable. However, with a cost of only around $12 a month, Aereo could cause content distributors real problems.
Aereo rents a little antenna to each customer, which only sends information to one customer at a time. The company argues that this is no different than a person sitting in front of a television set with its own antenna. Thus, Aereo doesn't pay for any of the content its customers are watching, believing this set-up complies with all applicable laws.
Not surprisingly, content owners and distributors are taking the issue to court. IAC, seeing an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a disruptive technology, made an investment in Aereo. Barry Diller, the company's Chairman, openly backed the company, too. Investors can tag along with an investment in IAC.
IAC is an Internet holding company that owns dating sites, search engines, comedy sites, and video sharing sites, among others. Well-known brands include Match.com, About.com, Ask.com, College Humor, and Vimeo. It earns money through advertising and subscriptions.
After spinning off its travel sites and Ticketmaster, IAC has grown its top-line in each of the last three years. And it started to pay a dividend in 2011. The dividend has already been increased. IAC is well off its all time highs, but with a price to earnings ratio of about 23 is hardly a cheap investment. That said, for growth and income investors, it's a nice way to get Internet exposure and access to Aereo. It yields around 1.8%.
Who Gets Hurt
The list of companies that could get hurt by Aereo is long. Some, however, have more skin in the game than others. For example, Disney (NYSE: DIS), which owns ABC and cable channels, is backing the lawsuits. Disney clearly wants to protect its ABC content from being redistributed without payment, but sports giant ESPN could see demand fall, too, if customers can get local sports and news.
Disney earns nearly 14% of its top-line from ABC, so Aereo isn't an immaterial threat to its business. And, Disney owns a portion of Hulu, which becomes a less interesting service if Aereo takes off. That said, Disney is one of the giants in the content space. As the industry comes to terms with Aereo, so, too, will Disney. Only that won't happen until after the lawsuits are done.
Disney's top-line has grown in nine out of the past ten years, with earnings advancing from about a $1.10 in 2004 to over $3.10 last year. The dividend has also been increased on a regular basis. A price to earnings ratio around 20 is high but reasonable.
Growth focused investors should take a look, but the yield of around 1.2% isn't enough to attract income seekers. That said, if the Aereo lawsuits start to attract more public notice, a share price drop could present a buying opportunity.
Comcast, which owns NBC and cable systems, could also feel the pinch if Aereo successfully defeats the suits brought against it.
Big Aspirations
Netflix, however, has a bigger issue. It wants to be an Internet television station. Aereo is one step better, offering all of the stations in a customer's local viewing area. It's possible that customers could pair Netflix with Aereo to get something of a cable-like service with television, but that could be a mixed blessing—Aereo could severely limit Netflix's ability to push through price hikes.
Customer growth is the driving force for Netflix, but that can only last so long in a quickly saturating market before the company needs to earn more from the customers it has. In fact, it just missed Wall Street expectations on customer acquisitions in the June quarter. Growth prospects have driven the shares from around $50 to around $250 in less than a year. The shares have a trailing PE of over 300. The stock is overpriced now, if Aereo gains traction, concerns about top-line growth at Netflix could eventually take the shares lower.
IAC is publicly and financially backing Aereo and is a good way to buy into the upstart. Hulu, Netflix, Disney, CBS, and Comcast, among others, are closely watching the company's progress. As an investor in any of these companies, you should be watching, too. With regard to Netflix, Aereo's success could be an immediate benefit, but a longer-term negative.
The future of television begins now… with an all-out $2.2 trillion media war that pits cable companies like Cox, Comcast, and Time Warner against technology giants like Apple, Google, and Netflix. The Motley Fool's shocking video presentation reveals the secret Steve Jobs took to his grave, and explains why the only real winners are these three lesser-known power players that film your favorite shows. Click here to watch today!
Reuben Brewer has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Netflix and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool owns shares of Netflix and Walt Disney. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Is this post wrong? Click here. Think you can do better? Join us and write your own!