Soup Making and Letter Writing

I was supposed to go to a parent's group this morning in Ottawa but I bailed.....again. This group was created for the parents who have children who are a part of Roger's House. Roger's House (not to be mistaken for Ronald MacDonald House) is the only pediatric palliative care home in Ontario. They also provide support and relief for families with children who have significant special needs. We are one of those families. The parent support group is offered monthly and I have had full intention of attending in the past but things always come up and I cancel. It is to the point where I think the facilitators are beginning to wonder if I dream up last minute excuses to avoid attending. This is not the case. The main issue is that we live an hour and a half from the centre and so driving all the way to Ottawa and back again for a support group leaves much to be desired. I am sorry but that is the honest to goodness truth. If I lived in the city, I would attend each month but that isn't the case.

The point of that long-winded introduction is that instead of going to Ottawa and attending the group, I decided at 6am that I was staying home. Not only did I stay home but I made a pot of Carrot Coconut Soup and I was also going to try my hand at mail art. And that's it. I needed this day "off" and at home. After I got the soup going, I was side-tracked and thought today, this perfect and glorious autumn day, would be a great day to thoroughly clean my office. This left little time for the mail art and I ended up sheepishly wandering over to the local pharmacy and choosing four standard postcards of a Canadian fall scene. Had I gone to the city, I would have dropped by Paper/Papier and bought some beautiful and unique stationery. The thing is, I was anxious to get my first five postcards mailed out through Postcrossing. Postcrossing is another website I unearthed that is very cool. Basically, you create a simple profile.......very easy even for those of you who panic at the word "profile." Next, you click on the button that says, "Send postcard." You are then given a random address of someone in the world and access to their limited profile. You then send them a postcard. It is important that you also write the Postcard ID # onto the card which is sent to you when you get the address. When they receive it, they register the ID # onto the website and then your address will be randomly given to someone who wants to send a postcard. Not sure if I have explained this very well. Some of the women I sent cards out to today have sent and received close to 1000 postcards! I am looking forward to receiving some postcards in the mail from all of the world. I sent postcards to the U.S.A, Italy, Germany, Finland and Spain. And all of this fun is free!

I suppose I can now share my Carrot Coconut Recipe for those who also enjoy cooking.

1. Saute a large chopped onion, 5 large cloves of garlic (or more) and about 3 Tbsp. of fresh, grated ginger in oil in a large pot. Saute until onions soften.

2. Add six cups of carrots, chopped roughly.

3. Add one chopped (small cubes) yam (sweet potato). Cover with vegetable broth until all veggies are just covered. Add a teaspoon or two of curry.

4. Bring to a boil and then let simmer on medium for two hours until vegetables are very soft.
5. Transfer to a large bowl and then use a scoop/measuring cup to transfer portions to a food processor for puree-ing. Wash out the pot so there are no bits left over when you add the pureed soup back into it.

6. Once the pureed soup is back in the pot, add one can of coconut milk (I use Thai Kitchen brand).

7. Now, serve yourself a bowl and write a letter or a postcard!