Happy 2013 Everyone!
Have you all made your New Year’s resolutions?
I have to say, I have not. I find that the label, “New Year’s Resolution”, carries too much weight, fraught with emotional baggage–my own craziness. So my work around is to make goals at other times of the year. 
One art related goal I made back in November is to draw from life every day. I bought a beautiful Moleskin sketchbook which I LOVE because it’s small and easy to carry everywhere. It’s really hard to draw in public without anyone noticing. Hopefully I’m getting better at it. Here are some samples:
Tim Horton’s
Starbucks. It’s easier to draw strangers when they aren’t facing at me!
Jamie on Denis’ phone
In flight
A lot of people make health oriented goals at New Year’s. I guess the combination of holiday indulgences and pants getting more snug (I’m guilty of this as well!) and the promise of a new year — a clean slate– is part of the appeal. With the frigid winter temperatures outside, a hot bowl of soup is a great remedy for the winter chill as well as the tighter waistbands!
We’ve been enjoying this nutrient dense, filling, and comforting Broccoli Sweet Potato Soup recently. I’m happy to say that even my 8-year old loves this one so much, I don’t have to “hide” what’s in it! It’s so easy to make too if you have a good blender. See recipe at end of post. Served with cheese toast or a salad, it makes a delicious, comforting, healthy, guilt-free, New Year’s Resolutions compliant lunch!
Thanks to you all for making 2012 such a great year for this blog! Followers and views doubled from 2011! The most popular post of 2012 was Monthly Lego Build and Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread with Secret Ingredient, one of my favorites. Check it out!
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
19,000 people fit into the new Barclays Center to see Jay-Z perform. This blog was viewed about 78,000 times in 2012. If it were a concert at the Barclays Center, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Click here to see the complete report.
Broccoli Sweet Potato Soup
Two small heads of broccoli florets chopped, or about 4 cups chopped broccoli
One small sweet potato
1 3/4 cups to 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Steam broccoli in steamer on stove for about 8 -10 minutes. Alternatively, steam broccoli in a bowl covered with saran in microwave until cooked, about 4-5 minutes, depending on microwave
2. Prick holes in sweet potato and cook in microwave for 4 minutes. When cool enough to handle, peel and remove flesh.
3. Place broccoli, sweet potato, and broth in blender and puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add more broth and reheat if you want a thinner consistency.
