Hellcat and Casanova both made Io9’s Best of 2008 list! Yay!

re: This recipe –

Tomato Soup
Makes 2 servings

If you like tomato soup, try this take on the old classic. The ham and fiber-rich chickpeas provide lean protein that truly satisfies your appetite — and your taste buds!

Ingredients
1 small onion, chopped
1?4 cup sliced mushrooms
3 ounces diced ham
1?4 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1?8 teaspoon sweet paprika
Dash allspice
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) fat-free chicken broth
1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas
3 whole tomatoes, peeled**

Instructions
Add the onion, mushrooms, ham, oil, garlic, paprika, and allspice to a large pot. Cook for 1 minute.

Add the chicken broth, chickpeas, and tomatoes. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Puree the soup in a blender and serve.

Nutritional information
404 calories
7 g total fat (2 g sat)
25 mg cholesterol
58 g carbohydrate
29 g protein
12 g fiber
1,341 mg sodium

**Would you use canned tomatoes or blanch and peel? Safe to assume they mean Roma tomatoes?

Heather Poirier and I both decided to have a go at a Bûche de Noël this year. We tossed ideas and recipe links back and forth before I chickened out and went pretty faithfully with Johnny Iuzinni’s recipe on Martha Stewart’s site. (I think I only made three changes: 1) I swapped Frangelico for rum; 2) used “chestnut spread” instead of unsweetened chestnut paste because I couldn’t find the latter anywhere in town; and 3) I made the ganache in a double boiler instead of bringing the cream to a boil because… well, because that’s the way I’m used to doing it. I wonder if bringing the cream to a boil alters the flavor or makes it set up better…? Other than those three things, I followed the directions to the letter.)

Heather’s cake is super cute and she posts many details about its construction in the link above.

Mine is as pictured. I am INORDINATELY pleased with it. It was also crazy delicious. I see this becoming a DeFraction family tradition.

(Fraction added the godzilla figure, which was brilliant. Duh.)

Thanks, Heather! That was fun.

Timpano victory!

Originally uploaded by fraction

Pop has been moved to the stroke rehabilitation unit and Henry and I have returned home. We can’t thank you enough for your thoughts and prayers. Pop’s got a lot of hard work ahead of him and the family has been through quite an ordeal, but that man is tough and if anyone can fight his way back from this, he can. Especially with Vivian, mom and Aunt Polly there to help him.

I am hopelessly behind on… well… everything and am trying to keep my spirits up.

First priority has to be finishing up Volume 7 of SLAM DUNK, which, thank god, is a joy. (If I had to work on a book I didn’t love right now, I think I’d be hating life.)

After that… holiday cards, finishing the shopping, errands, household stuff and getting back to a project that Sam Humphries and I are collaborating on. I am so excited about it, I can’t adequately express my enthusiasm. It feels good. So… more on that when I can.

In the meantime, I’m fantasizing about making a Buche de Noel for Christmas this year. Heather Poirier and I have been tossing some ideas back and forth. Right now I think she’s leaning toward the Southern Living recipe as a starting place while I fancy the Johnny Iuzzini version at Martha Stewart.

Oh, and Fraction and I are going to make a timpano for date night this week. Too bad we don’t drink. It seems like the kind of thing that ought to be put together while sharing a bottle of chianti. Oh, well. Maybe we’ll get some pomegranate juice and pretend.

A fortuitously stumbled upon Louis CK clip helps me maintain a little perspective on last night’s plane delay and aching feet.

(Thanks, Heather.)

Nana & Pop

Originally uploaded by Kelly Sue

And the hits just keep coming.

Pop had a stroke yesterday. He’s in ICU, thoughts and prayers appreciated.

Henry continues to do well, so it’s looking like we avoided aspiration of the fragrance oi. That’s good news at least.

I’m going to have to speed up work to try and wrap Slam Dunk 7 ASAP so that I can go to Florida unfettered if I need to/want to/am needed.

Henry got hold of my reed diffuser this morning and got home fragrance oil all over his hands and mouth. I freaked out, ran upstairs and woke Fraction with the phrase everyone wants to hear as they greet the day: “We have to call poison control.” Before I scare any of you, let me be clear: HENRY IS FINE. We have to take his temperature for the next few hours; the concern is that if he aspirated the oil he could develop pneumonia so we’re watching for those signs, but the nurse who’s calling to check on us every few hours assures me that in 27 years, she’s never seen it happen in a home fragrance oil incident. Henry’s not coughing and his breathing isn’t weird and these are all good signs. We gave him milk, wiped out his mouth and washed his hands and face as instructed. They said he should go about his regular routine so he’s down for a nap now.

I’m just now coming down off the adrenaline rush of terror and I’m feeling a bit wonky — sore shoulders, a little nauseous, little bit of a lump in my throat and I’m kind of hyper. Fraction gets husband and dad of the year for calming me down, assuring me that these things happen that it doesn’t make me a bad mother and that Henry is going to be fine. While I cleaned the kitchen like a woman possessed, he gave HL pony rides on his back all around the livingroom. He’s down for a nap now, too.

Speaking of chilling out, the price is utterly outrageous, but look what Danielle found: a KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON rug. I really ought to frame my poster.

New Haircut

Originally uploaded by Kelly Sue

Birthday Presents!

Originally uploaded by Kelly Sue

Here is your booty.