Ok.  I'll be honest with you.  It doesn't happen very often to me but this is one of those dishes that we all found much less appealing as leftovers.  I won't say 'gross' or 'disgusting' or 'made me want to hurl'... but it's not 'good'.  That being said, if you can down most of it the day of and maybe finish it off the day after then you might be ok.  I'm not going to blame the recipe because I tweaked and changed it so much that it bears almost no resemblance to the recipe on the pages of the hallowed 'Supernatural Everyday'.
With that disclaimer out of the way I'm going to move on.


I came home and curled up in my bed for a few blessed minutes today.  That's another thing that doesn't happen very often.  Why.  Why.  Why did we ever grow out of naps?  I'll never understand that.  The world would be a different place.  In any case, the reason I was so tired today is that all week, part of last week and some of the week to come as well, I have been going to various schools throughout downtown Toronto.  My task?  To listen to and recruit as many Gr. 2 and 3 boys as possible for my school.  It's got it's ups and downs.  I get to meet great people but I also have to hear up to 50 boys depending on the size of the school.  I make a little music class out of it with games and all that but honestly it gets a little mind numbing after the third or fourth group of boys.  I get a lot of time outside walking from place to place.  I also get to some parts of town that I don't make it to any other time.  I also get to try some lunch spots that I don't normally get to either.  Like this one or this one or this one.  Those lunches are a real treat for me.  Of course, even with all the walking and trekking from place to place I'm still keeping up with my running and yoga... except for today when I just plain flaked out.  I could hardly keep my head up on the street car.  So I'm giving myself the rest of the day off.


Before I sign off from the world in general I just had to get this off.  It's been a bare week and I apologize both to you and to my family.  Like I said, this is great the first day and deteriorates significantly after that.  It wasn't my best this week that's for sure.  However, I made this kick-ass cabbage soup (I know one hardly ever sees 'kick-ass' and 'cabbage soup' in the same sentance) that is a riff on this one posted by Louisa (just because I use her first name doesn't mean I know her).  This cabbage soup was amazing and I'm totally going to make it again because it needs to be posted.  The week wasn't a total bust.

The pictures bite... it's winter, what more can I say.

Orzo and Cauliflower Casserole inspired by 'Supernatural Everyday' by Heidi Swanson
serves 6 - 8

1 1/2 cups orzo
1 bouillon cube
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 cups cremini or button mushrooms, quartered
4 cups of cauliflower broken into large florets
4 lg leaves of chard, kale or collards, coarsely chopped
1 cup sour cream
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup cream
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 tbsp dijon
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp soy sauce or tamari
2 tsp thyme
salt to taste
dash of pepper sauce (optional)
1/2 tsp nutmeg and paprika
parmesan for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Get a large baking dish ready (you could butter it if you liked)
In a large pot, bring 3 cups of water to a boil, add the bouillon cube and the orzo.  Simmer for 6 minutes and then add the cauliflower to the orzo pot.  Cover and simmer for another 6 minutes.  Stir and set aside.
Heat another large pot over med. heat.  Add some oil (about 3 - 4 tbsp. because the mushrooms absorb a lot) and then add in the onion.  Stir around briefly and then add the garlic and mushrooms.  Stir and heat for about 5 minutes.  Throw the greens after that - just long enough to wilt.
Meanwhile, combine the sour cream, lightly beaten eggs and cream.  Stir to combine.  Add in about 3/4's of the cheddar and stir.  Add the dijon, worcestershire, soy sauce, thyme, salt, pepper sauce, nutmeg and paprika.  Mix.
In the baking dish combine the orzo, cauliflower, veggies and the egg mixture.  Stir well to combine and smooth out the top in the baking dish.  Sprinkle the rest of the cheddar on the top and dust over with some parmesan.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until bubbly and golden on the top.
Cool for about 15 minutes before eating.