SOPA!!!

it's cold outside.

no, for real, though- it's cold.

like, y'better wear sweatshirts and long pants and socks and sh!t.

uh-huh.

y'know: cold.

also, it's wet af, too.

and cold wetness is pretty effin' terrible.

also,

i've been trying to be slightly more responsible with my diet.

that's real.

me and my dudes are trying to exercise restraint, 

and create a more health-supportive routine for ourselves.

that means MORE good plant-based whole-foods and fewer cakes and stuff like that.

what?

oh, well, yeah, man- that's NOT my favorite part,

but, i'm feeling like maybe taking down half a cake every other day 

is getting less and less sustainable, and while in the moment it's soooooo good,

i'm imagining that in the hopefully-not-too-distant future 

i'll have the opportunity to get naked near another human being,

and if they're more likely to call the sea shepherd instead to roll me back into the sea....

well, neighbors, you get the idea.

so, the cake situation has been scaled back, but not eliminated.

after all, i'm a baker and a maker and a morning person (in the mornings),

and rules is rules, always, and all the time...

yeah. it IS weird not to have thirteen kinds of cakes and cookies around-

but what's not weird is looking is having MORE energy, and feeling better,

and hopefully, with enough work and effort, looking better before too much time has passed,

and it's time to bundle up for winter again...

that said-

i ate like 7 cups of soup last night.

uh-huh.

i know it's basically just really wet vegetables,

but that's still an awful lot of food to put in your body, bro.

me and my homie dylan got into some gluttonous soup-diving,

and didn't stop until it was all gone.

check the first-round-type teleport:

I DON'T KNOW WHAT ITALIAN WEDDING SOUP IS.

i could find out............but i'm not gonna.

instead i'll call this a shotgun-eloping soup, and tell you a little bit about it.

-

it all began when i had pizza for lunch.

i didn't need it, i was even feeling ok without it; but then it showed up, 

and i ate the heck out of it like a savage stormswept starving artist.

as such, i was apprehensive about overindulging at suppertime,

and dylan suggested soup. 

which makes sense. it's cold out, it's wet out, 

soup is light and warm and that's good news, right?

right.

except,

y'boi got into some things; 

and they were heavy-duty things; 

and when the soup was all boiled and simmered and served,

it was a F*ing beast of a bowl of burliness.

i mean. c'mon, man.

look at this:

HOMEMADE SOURDOUGH HERB CROUTONS!!!

expert.

*

guys,

i had a potato, and an onion, both chopped up, 

with a fat cup of chopped cabbage, 

all sauteeing in a blop of vegan butteriness-

i tossed in two stalks of sliced celery;

two smaller carrots, one yellow, one orange, chopped up;

a handful of baby tomatoes;

a 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes;

3 cloves sliced garlic;

half a sweet potato, cubed;

and let that stuff sizzle for a spell, stirring once in a while-

then i drizzled in:

3 T white wine vinegar;

2 T tamari...

those are the liquids that'll quickly deglaze the caramelized bits-

next, i added in a handful of nootch, and heavy shakes of GPOP, 

oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, and sage;

plus fresh parsley and basil, a few bay leaves, crushed red pepper flakes,

and a whole lotta craxxx of black pepper.

mmmhmmmm.

next up?

8 cups of better'nbouillon-based vegetable broth.

a few shakes of liquid smoke.

1 cup and a half of fancy pasta noods,

and a huge handful of baby kale,

and a lid on the pot.

it boiled, hard for a bit, and simmered soft for about as long, again.

i dunno how long-

it's soup, kid. when the potatoes are soft, it's ready, alright?

i like the pasta overdone, all extra soft and slippery, like in the olden days.

hmmm?

the olden days, bro.

like, when i was little and my nana would hook up some soup.

i didn't have a single al dente noodle in broth ever in my life.

real talk.

a few garden fresh herbs, parsley sprankles,

and those mutha-fuhhh'n croutons, b.

that's what's poppin'.

-

*

SOURDOUGH CROUTONS!!

-

two thick slices of my epic homemade sprouted whole wheat sourdough bread, cubed.

thrown in a gallon-sized plastic bag, 

with:

olive oil (enough to coat 'em);

GPOP; 

nootch;

dill;

ground mustard;

thyme;

sage;

and black pepper.

tossed, shaken, and arranged on parchment on a baking tray,

and oven roasted until toasty and crisp, at 350℉, until they're golden brown 

and sexxxy like you read about. (which you are doing right now)

*

so, soup is good food.

and it's easy and rewarding and filling, 

and there are nearly no requirements, other than to put all the stuff in a pot of liquid

i did that. we had that.

and then we had more, and then, we had MORE. and then we had MORE.

yup.

it was too good not to keep eating, so we kept eating.

too much is the right amount.

and without cakes for dessert, we had to have soup for all four courses.

.

that was some damn good soup.

***********

it's rainy and cold again, today.

i wonder what it's like out west?

why?

because my bestest friend, ever.

my spiritual other.

my main man. 

my ace numero uno duder,

the cucch,

is having a berfday today,

and it had better be a happy one, or there will be consequences.

man, oh man, do i ever miss his F*ing face.

he'd probably prefer to ignore his berfday.

yeah.

he's one of THOSE people.

and in that regard, we differ greatly.

otherwise,

he's a super-elite, molto expert, and very, very busy man-

running a business, 

and double-dadding to a pair of beautiful babies, 

hard-style husbanding to his lovely wife-

basically, he's a much more successful version of me, 

navigating an upward trajectory of awesomess.

i admire the guy.

i miss him, too.

we're apart, but we're a part of a team, too.

warrior poets and hamden warriors and Folk Life Libertarians, 

and all of the times and places and spaces and trials and triumphs we've shared.

i'm grateful for him above all others, and i make no apologies for it, either.

that's my mans, and that's the truth.

the happiest of happy berfdays is exxxactly what i want for him today;

never quiet, never soft.....