Crab and Corn Chowder

The young adults in Real World today did such a good job

of making a revamped version of an old Lily's Cafe standby

that I thought I'd share the recipe.

It is amazing to me how Lily's lives on in

everyone's heart and I am so grateful

While I was doing up the last of the dishes today

Sandra shared with me that her Mom had been sick

for many weeks, unable to eat much

and the other night they were watching a cooking show on 

T.V. and her mom said, "Oh, that makes me think of Lily's veggie sandwich,

I could go for that right now."

The kids today were fighting over the chocolate chip cookies

and many of them didn't want to try to the chowder

and then ended up having two bowls full

It astounds me to be in the heart of many

and I am so, so grateful.

The original recipe for this crab and corn chowder in the Lily's Cafe Cookbook

 calls for canned creamed corn.

Since our goal is to show the students how to cook with

fresher ingredients I swapped this out with frozen corn

and had them make a quick version of creamed corn as the base

It really was delicious, and cooks up quick.

Let me know what you think

CRAB AND CORN CHOWDER

(2) 1 pound bags of frozen corn

3 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup cream

2 cups half and half

3 stalks celery, diced

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 stick of unsalted butter

1/4 cup flour

1/2 pound of crabmeat

Salt and pepper to taste

tabasco

Heat the stock until just boiling

Place one bag of frozen corn in the bowl of a food processor

or the jar of a blender

Add 1 cup of hot stock and the 1/2 cup cream with a pinch of salt

Puree

Place this puree in a small soup pot

along with the celery, remaining stock,

the other bag of corn and chopped onion

Add a bit of salt and pepper if your stock is not seasoned

Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes or until onion and celery are tender

Stir occasionally to make sure it isn't sticking

Meanwhile make your roux:

Melt the butter in a small saucepan, once melted

whisk in the flour until smooth and let it bubble for a few minutes

remove from heat

(The roux may be omitted for a lighter soup)

Once your celery and onion are tender

Add the half and half  and bring back to a boil

Stir in the roux 

Stir in crabmeat, season with tabasco and adjust the salt and pepper

Serve hot - a little chopped fresh parsley or chervil would be wonderful!

Enjoy.

Quality Time

The last 10 days have been wonderful

but a little crazy

Upon the return from the DC trip my feet

never really hit the ground running

Even though I was getting enough sleep each night

I couldn't shake this hyper overtired thing going on inside

So, knowing I had the house to myself until this morning

with Renee away for the weekend

I wrote at the top of my to-do list

"Take Sunday OFF"

I turned off my phone,

played with the cats

read some of my recent book

watched movies

Put fresh sheets and blankets on the bed

and when it got dark

I made a cocoon out of the bedroom and 

snuggled in, listening to the ferocious wind outside

I just laid there

feeling grateful for the safe space

staying present in the coziness

and let my body and mind unwind

It felt like I had given myself a giant hug

and I wanted to remind us all 

to eek out some quality time with yourself

You are worth it.

Kyra

"What's past is prologue"

I've just returned from my first trip ever as the tour guide of four teenagers

 and I have to tell you my time with them was a true gift.

I am so grateful for the personal commitment each one of them

seemed to have made to be the best "them" that they can be

 Which allowed me to offer them the best I can be

I was able to put my ego down, mentor them in how to maneuver an unfamiliar city 

and feel it all with no pre-conceived expectations

On Friday we passed Shakespeare's quote while attempting to find the entrance

to the National Building of Archives and I was silently moved by it.

"What's past is prologue,"

All day I had been feeling a little giddy by how much I was enjoying

 everyone's company while also quietly processing 

who I had become since my own past trip to DC

as a youth with my family

The quote said it all

What has already happened in our lives merely sets the scene for the great 

stuff to come and it doesn't matter if you are 17 or 65, you get to keep writing the script.

That is powerful stuff.

And we all have a chance to mentor each other in how to be the best we can be

so that we use our power to write deep meaningful stories -

whatever that entails -

and if we refrain from judging each other

truly listen

and offer ourselves open for discussion

this life is amazing and so full of laughter and unexpected joys

 and the strength to survive the dark stuff.

This trip was priceless

a different reason for each of us

but so valuable

 and I am so grateful to everyone that made it possible.

Thank you,

Kyra

Heart Wide Open

I don't think I can adequately describe the rush of life force

that has shot through me today as the earth relaxes its grip

the sun shines, the snow melts, the birds sing 

I drove to all my favorite farms picking up

chicken hearts, eggs, grass fed beef and luscious thick cream

As I drove on roads I've driven on hundreds of times

I felt that I was seeing everything for the first time

I thought of maple syrup and my garden

and came home to see my cold frames peeking out of the melting snow!

I leave tomorrow for Washington DC with four excited mentees from 

our Ready By 21 Mentoring program

and remembered what it was like when I was 16 and would

drive into Manhattan with my family

Seeing that sky line, feeling that electricity shoot through me

much like how I felt today

Isn't it wonderful how excited about life we can get?

Just by letting go of our minds and seeing

with our hearts wide open.

What a gift.

Something we can open over and over and over.

I came inside for a meeting with my graphic designer extraordinaire

Julie Morengello

We have just finished the wonderful project of designing a website

for Ready By 21 Mentoring

www.readyby21mentoring.com

Check it out!

It is amazing for me to see in print

the comprehensive program that has been created.
I am so grateful.

We also worked on some new looks for Lily's House

to go along with new handmade qualities I'll be selling

Stay tuned!

Turn that mind off a little

Allow your hearts desire

Kyra

Maple Sugar Shortbread

This has been a winter for rearranging furniture hasn't it?

  I am continually amazed how I can go from wanting a new house

 to loving the one I'm in just by turning a table.

That's exactly what happened last week after I had to mop up a bit of ceiling collapse

 from an ice dam on the roof.

I turned the keeping table in the kitchen and wondered out loud for an hour 

why I had it the other way in the first place

I'm still tickled with it!

With the wine bar on hiatus until late April 

I am hoping to catch up on some other projects

( I must admit, I miss the wonderful warmth and energy of those wine bars

and look forward to them resuming)

But, I finished the baby quilt I started for my bartender extraordinaire

and had the lovely pleasure of presenting it to her today

It is made of many special bits and pieces of my quilting journeys

and feels like it echoes love and growth from the center of a loving home,

much like the space I feel this baby will be born into. 

Exciting.

The recent Pop Up Fabric Shop with Alewives Fabric 

and Rhea's Lucy Boston workshop were a wonderful success and filled Lily's

with vibrant color and creativity

 Born from the this lovely weekend

 was my development of 

a maple sugar shortbread cookie

 that I served for dessert on that Saturday

It is so good I just have to share the recipe.

It's gluten free, no refined sugar and delicious with frozen strawberry yogurt, 

but I think I'll dip the next batch into melted chocolate

Yum!

Turn that oven on and warm that kitchen up

Spring is coming, I promise!

Enjoy,

Kyra

MAPLE SUGAR SHORTBREAD

3 ounces best quality unsalted butter

Seeds scraped from one vanilla bean

1/4 cup pure maple sugar

1 cup rice flour

(I use Anson Mills, its phenomenal)

3 ounces ground almonds

 (if you have time to roast them first, even better!)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

~

Place the flour, ground nuts, salt, maple sugar and vanilla bean

in the bowl of a food processor, process to combine

Cut butter into small chunks and add to processor

Process until butter is cut into the flour mixture

and a "short" dough appears.

This will be very crumbly, especially if your butter is cold.

That's fine.

Press the mixture into a parchment lined or buttered 

8x8 baking pan

Score lightly into 9 squares and poke each square with the tines of a fork

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes

or until golden brown.

~

Allow to cool, cut apart and enjoy!