Seasonal Sundays (Week 1) Early January

It's a big moment, switching years, ditching 2020 for a fresh and soon-to-be vaccinated 2021. For January, for the year, can we live with simple, spare and spartan? Let's start with recipes, simple single-vegetable soups buttressed by hearty soups with slurpy noodles. And breakfasts, sumptuous in their very simplicity. C'mon in and look around. Ideas galore!

~ Skip Straight to the Good Stuff ~

Welcome to Seasonal Sundays ...

Who knew that even a simple Christmas and New Years is a relief to leave behind? that it's energizing to move back into an [early 2021-ish] normal[-ish] life in January?

I so loved our minimalist (for us) Christmas decorations that we put up this year but am also relieved that they're not only down but boxed up for next year. We pull many/most/all art off the walls during the holidays so once the Christmas stuff is gone, I leave the walls bare for a few days, maybe a week, just to create a visual respite ... simple, spartan, spare.

And in the kitchen? This week's grocery order will be heavy on vegetables and little else, because the pantry is full of grains and lean proteins to build upon. Meals this next week? Simple, spartan, spare.

"It feels like it's getting closer," said our friend Jan last week, as we recounted the stories of all the people we know. Be safe, people, be safe.

I fear we're so anxious for life to return to normal now that vaccines are reaching arms, that we're mentally unprepared for the months, even years, it might take. If the expectation is a pre-covid normal for 2021 ... broken hearts may prevail.

Who's started to visualize about what a late-covid "normal" might look like? So far, mine includes get-to-know-you-again dinners with grandkids, morning coffee in PJs with my sister, in-person visits with my dad, friends at the kitchen table for dinner.

Who needs Paris? fancy meals out? Not me.

What's on your list? What would make life "normal" again ... even if it's simple, spartan, spare.

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PICK ONE

Pick One is for those of us overwhelmed by life's unending choices. If that resonates, then check out this one recipe and then call it a day. It's one that I think could make the most difference, the one I hope will become a regular in your kitchen, as it is in mine.

• THE RECIPE Tuscan Vegetable Stew A melange of vegetables, detox with big bright flavor.

Happy Anniversary, A Veggie Venture!

Hard to believe, I know, but A Veggie Venture turned 15 last spring! There are thousands and thousands of food blogs now, but way back in 2005, there really were only a couple of hundred of us and we all knew one another ... the photos were universally AWFUL but twas a blissful time, all those tables from across the world, joined by a passion for food, family and friendship.

But like so many 2020 celebrations, A Veggie Venture's anniversary "party" was postponed.

The idea was to look back at A Veggie Venture's first year of cooking a vegetable in a new way every day to highlight recipes – just 15! from 365! – which remain ever so useful, all these years and recipes later.

Dedicated to A Veggie Venture's community of vegetable lovers, may I present ...

• THE COLLECTION 15 Favorite Vegetable Recipes, Still Useful After 15 Years From A Veggie Venture's first year.
• ALL THE FAVORITES Favorite Vegetable Recipes Each year's best recipes, starting Day One.

Best Recipes of the Year for 2020

• THE RECIPE Pinto Bean Salad

• THE RECIPE How to Cook White Rice Basics done well, for dinner, for the freezer.

Made Me Think ...

• FROM BILL GATES, so illuminating, both covid and climate These breakthroughs will make 2021 better than 2020
• QUOTE "When I think back on the pace of scientific advances in 2020, I am stunned. Humans have never made more progress on any disease in a year than the world did on COVID-19 this year."
• SMALL RANT Can someone in Bill Gates' circle please-please-please moderate the comments? Total spam.


• FROM VOX, again a look forward Seven Significant Silver Linings from 2020
• QUOTE "2020 had good news that would stand out as astonishing triumphs of human achievement in any other year. In areas ranging from public health to medicine, from poverty alleviation to food technology, there were some tremendous leaps."


• ON A LIGHTER NOTE Guide to Canadian Cookbooks
• QUOTE "We are more than a nation of butter tarts. We are more than poutine (which is Québécois and has been appropriated as Canadian, but that’s a whole other post). We are more than all dressed potato chips and bagged milk. Canadian food is not a monolith, nor are our recipes (or receipts, as some of us still call them)."

Digital Housekeeping #1 ... Automated Backups

January 2021 seems like the perfect time to clean out our digital closets. Anybody in? Over the years, I've found a few ways that fit into an otherwise busy life. Will something work for you, too? Look for more ideas throughout January, just one per week because who has time/energy/inclination to tackle every closet at the same time?

PLEASE NOTE: This is NOT sponsored, it just works for me.

I've used iDrive for automated backup for years and years. Every night (or as often as you choose), iDrive automatically backs up files that have changed. I have had occasion to go back in and recover files, it's a little clunky but works. I especially like how iDrive offers the option of mirroring your laptop or not.

I've had great experience with support. Once I remember calling because I knew I was close to 100% of my storage plan and then whoosh, I was under 50%. Why? Because iDrive was offering 2X the storage space to new customers and doubled the storage space for existing customers. Smart! Appreciated!

For more options, see Wire Cutter's cloud backup services, I see that iDrive is one!

Oh! And I see that iDrive will also back up your phone ...

What works for you? Are you backing up your devices? Good ideas welcome!

A Journal Journey

I call it December Hindsight, November Hindsight. And today I intend to attempt a 2020 Hindsight, hmmm, is that redundant?

Here's what I mean.

A journal, my journal anyway, is a closeup view, a day by day reckoning.

But these hindsight pages are different. They look back to the few things that colored the month. More impressions than incidents. More feelings than failures. More mood than memories.

Examples.

The first week in November, of course, was the election. But November's hindsight was the angst of the election, all the build-up, all the antagonism afterward.

December was all about the holidays. But December's hindsight was the ritual of turning on the lights at dusk, falling asleep and waking up to fairy lights on the giant evergreen in front, singing carols on the phone with my dad.

See the difference?

Anway ... I'm finding it quite lovely, maybe you will too?

PS My sister gifted herself, a daughter-in-love and me guided journals from Vertellis. Start when you start, move at your own pace. A very thoughtful, mindful approach, especially if your own journal efforts aren't quite working for you ...

Healthy Breakfasts: Start the Day Strong

• THE RECIPE Spinach Brownies
• ANOTHER TAKE On-the-Run Breakfast Bars

• THE RECIPE How to Make a Spinach Omelet Quick, healthy breakfast with fresh or frozen spinach.
• Simple French Eggs Simpler than omelettes, light, airy, delicious.
  

• THE RECIPE Creamy Oatmeal Three tricks for the very best oatmeal, all easy!
• ANOTHER TAKE Microwave Creamy Oatmeal with Peanut Butter Try it with half a little cinnamon & sugar, morning heaven!

Seasonal Showcase: Simple, Spartan Soups

• THE RECIPE Quick Broccoli Soup or Quick Cauliflower Soup Healthful veggie soups on the table in minutes.
• ANOTHER TAKE Spinach Soup with Perfect Hard-Cooked Eggs A soup flushed with spring.

• THE RECIPE Laura's Healthy Carrot Soup Creamy without a drop of cream.
• ANOTHER TAKE Paleo Carrot Soup Quiet-inducing, spoon-clinking good.

• THE RECIPE Weight Watchers Zero Points Garden Vegetable Soup
• BUT WAIT, THERE's MORE All the WW Zero-Point Soups

Seasonal Showcase: Hearty Soups ... With Slurpy Noodles!

• THE RECIPE My Chicken Noodle Soup The way I make it, meaty and noodle-y with just a few noodles.
  
• ANOTHER TAKE Hamburger Soup A hearty soup with chunks of meat and a cornucopia of bright-colored vegetables.

• THE RECIPE Lasagna Soup with Fresh Spinach
• ANOTHER TAKE Homemade Minestrone Soup

• THE RECIPE Weight Watchers Spinach & Tortellini Soup
• ANOTHER TAKE Weight Watchers Zero Points Garden Vegetable Soup Famous for taste, famous for results.

Soups & Salads Especially for January

• THE COLLECTION Seasonal Soup & Salad Recipes for January, tons of ideas!
• LOOKING AHEAD Seasonal Soup & Salad Recipes for February

Timehop

Who else loves seeing old photos pop up, quick memories from years past? Welcome to a recipe timehop ... from the first week in January, still relevant, years later.

• THE RECIPE Cabbage & Pepper Chakchoukah aka OogaChaka Eggs
• ANOTHER TAKE Shakshuka (Eggs Nested in Summer Vegetables) A traditional North African and Israeli dish.

• THE RECIPE Braised Collard Greens Slow-cooked on the stove until almost buttery.
• ANOTHER TAKE Simple Swiss Chard How to sauté chard in a skillet, just three ingredients.

• THE RECIPE Steamed Vegetable Medley Fresh vegetables with a rich and flavorful sauce for drizzling or dipping.
• ANOTHER TAKE How To Steam Broccoli (Step-by-Step Photos)

Trending

My Top 10 Recipes are predictable, hello Weight Watchers Zero Point Food Lists and Weight Watchers Zero Points Garden Vegetable Soup. But every week, seasonal recipes catch the internet's attention and start to trend.

• THE RECIPE Ham & Beans How to make Ham & Beans with a leftover ham bone.
• ANOTHER TAKE Scandinavian Split-Pea Soup Traditional on Tuesdays, without fail.

• THE RECIPE Four Ways to Cut Brussels Sprouts Depending on how they'll be cooked + recipe suggestions.
• ANOTHER TAKE How to Cut, Peel & Cube a Butternut Squash and Keep All Ten Fingers Never bother with pre-cut butternut squash again.

What's New?!

• THE RECIPE Winter Tomato Soup Roasting, slow-cooking draw out summer flavor.
• ANOTHER TAKE Summer's Tomato Soup Ripe summer tomatoes only, please.

Just Updated!

• THE COLLECTION Best-Ever “Most Useful” Recipes 2002 – Present Just one recipe per year.
• AND ANOTHER All Recipes, Sorted by Year

• THE RECIPE Perfectly Cooked Roast Beef An easy-to-remember formula.
• ANOTHER TAKE Frozen Steaks Perfectly cooked steaks, starting with frozen meat!

• THE RECIPE Horseradish Whipped Cream for Beef Just like the best steak restaurants make.
• ANOTHER TAKE Spicy Raisin Sauce for Ham My grandmother's recipe, always-always served with the Easter ham, the Christmas ham, the Sunday ham.

• THE RECIPE Quick Tomato Sauce for Pasta & Pizza Just canned tomatoes, a few pantry ingredients and 20 minutes.
• ANOTHER TAKE Fresh Tomato Sauce When summer tomatoes are most perfect.

Text Me Back!

I'd love to hear from you. Comment, send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com, dot-dash in Morse code, build a fire for smoke signals, launch a message in a bottle, send a Christmas letter, get the dog to yip, toss me a note wrapped in a rubberband, write a message in the sky, scratch a note in the sand, listen to a seashell, whatever.

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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