One of the most amazing things to me about having kids is how much better, and how much worse, certain events are with them. I'm talking about things that otherwise barely registered with me in my pre-kid adult life. Two classic examples: Halloween (for better) and Fall Back (for worse).
As an adult, I never really cared one way or the other about Halloween. It was cute to see the kids around the neighborhood, and I sometimes remembered to buy a pumpkin for the front porch. Very occasionally we would go to a costume party and sort of half heartedly dress up in something at the last minute. But for the most part it just didn't really matter all that much. Now that we have kids, though, the whole month is a celebration. Picking out pumpkins, carving with friends, settling on a costume after much agonizing over it, getting boo'd and driving around like maniacs trying to find someone to boo, school parades, trick or treating - it's all so, so much better through the eyes of children, and I love it.
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Time changes, on the other hand - let me just say I am seriously contemplating a move to that little section of Indiana that doesn't mess with this stupidity. So much worse when you have kids. You have to adjust not just yourself, but your entire household, which is comprised mainly of people who cannot tell time and surely in their short little lives have never managed to just suck it up and push through. In fact, I actually think the fall back change is harder because it's not an extra hour of sleep, it's really just an extra hour of parenting schedule-screwed, cranky and sugar-crashing little children. Thank goodness for Mondays and the retreat of my much quieter office...
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This Saturday, in what may have been the first of a new annual tradition, we had a bunch of friends over so that we could protein load the kids before embarking on the trick or treating activities. We had macaroni and cheese, ham and cream cheese roll ups, and fruit for the kiddos. For the adults I made a huge batch of lentil and sausage soup and served it with homemade bread. My soup recipe is almost embarrassingly easy, and because it's one of those soups that tastes better the next day I made it Friday afternoon, and then just warmed it up on Saturday. This is adapted from Ina Garten's recipe in her Paris cookbook. Her original version with my notes is below.
Lentil and Sausage Soup
Ingredients
1 pound French green lentils (Note: My grocery store doesn't carry green lentils, so I just use regular brown ones. Still delicious. Also, because I like to make a huge batch of this soup in order to have enough leftover to freeze, I do 1.5 pounds of lentils.)
1/4 cup olive oil, plus extra for serving
4 cups diced yellow onions (3 large) (I don't do the leeks - below - because I just find leeks way too high maintenance since they can be so sandy. Instead I do 4 large onions. And I try to do the sweet onions (Vidalia if you can find them) rather than just the normal yellow onions)
4 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts only (2 leeks)
1 tablespoon minced garlic (2 large cloves)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves (I never have any fresh thyme left from the herb garden by the time it's cool enough to be thinking about making soup, so I just do 1/2 tablespoon dried thyme)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3 cups medium diced celery (8 stalks)
3 cups medium diced carrots (4 to 6 carrots) (I love carrots in soup, so I actually double this and use 8-10 carrots)
3 quarts Homemade Chicken Stock, recipe follows, or canned broth (I keep an extra quart of stock on hand, in case the soup gets too thick since I increase some of ingredients. For reasons I do not understand, I've never had to add more, but you don't want to risk it)
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 pound kielbasa, cut in 1/2 lengthwise and sliced 1/3-inch thick (Let's all be honest here - the sausage is the best part! I put in 2 pounds so that no one's bowl lacks for plenty of it.)
2 tablespoons dry red wine or red wine vinegar
Freshly grated Parmesan, for serving
Directions
In a large bowl, cover the lentils with boiling water and allow to sit for 15 minutes. (It just occurred to me - perhaps the reason that I never need the extra stock is because I always, always get distracted with another project and soak my lentils much longer than 15 minutes. I've probably gone and halfway cooked them so they don't use up as much of the stock.) Drain. In a large stockpot over medium heat, heat the olive oil and saute the onions, leeks, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, and cumin for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are translucent and tender. Add the celery and carrots and saute for another 10 minutes. Add the chicken stock, tomato paste, and drained lentils, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour, or until the lentils are cooked through and tender. Check the seasonings. Add the kielbasa and red wine and simmer until the kielbasa is hot. Serve drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with grated Parmesan.
I just put leave this simmering on the stove with bowls and spoons for people to help themselves. Entertaining this way truly could not be any easier.
Happy eating!
