White Bean And "Lotsa" Garlic Sage Soup with Swiss Chard (From My November Garden. . . Now Reading "Rin Tin Tin" by Susan Orlean And Realizing Again Why I Love Dogs So Dang Much)

This soup originally began as a simple white bean and garlic/sage soup. It evolved as I cooked. I added carrots, fresh and canned tomatoes, then some garden finds. It was delicious. It was just what I needed to finish my day. I was recovering from a morning of stress. I wanted something simple. Our boy's eating had stalled again. Nothing since Friday night. Oh, a kibble here and there--and maybe a few treats. Here we go again, I thought. I called the vet yesterday and asked for insight into the "what now" question. Does he need antibiotics again, or another round of steroids. They said steroids--at least this would stimulate his appetite. So off I went for yet another visit to the vet. My fourth in a month. Sigh. 

We not only have one "senior" dog--there are two others. One of which is being treated for bladder issues. Took her to the vet last weekend. Some day I might share the story of how we came to have two separate groups of kiddos in our lives. But for now let's just say, it's been a life long lesson--nearly thirteen years in this living arrangement--long enough that when we were house hunting, our new/old home had to pass the "separate but equal" test in terms of living space requirements for our dogs: Group A and Group B. Seriously. Oh the stories I could tell. Fast forward to today, here we are a home with several senior dogs and several "senior" dog medical issues. It's life lesson time for us for sure. We celebrate every day like a birthday around here. Hey! You woke up AND you're breathing: Hooray!. . . it's sort of like that.

Last week I stopped in the library for a cookbook and saw the new book by Susan Orlean, Rin Tin Tin. (She wrote The Orchid Thief--a book I did not read, but did see the movie. Loved the movie.) Anyhow, when I learned she was writing a book about Rin Tin Tin, I told myself I had to read this. Had. To. This dog is an historical icon. I had not a clue as to what or how this dog came to be an American hero. Just always thought he'd been made into a TV dog. And honestly, the only canine TV icon I had much exposure to was Lassie. Until I could no longer bear to watch.

 I am a huge baby when it comes to reading about dogs, lives of dogs or anything having to do with dogs in general. You'd think the opposite might be true. I can't watch any movies with dogs either. Not Benji. Not Beethoven. Not even Lady And The Tramp. None of them. Just unable to keep it together. . . no matter how "uplifting" the ending may be. I think my emotional weakness in this area could be linked to the movie Sounder or the book, Where the Red Fern Grows. Or from the time I came home from school and my mother met me at the door to tell me our two dogs--my very FIRST dogs, the dogs I loved with ALL my heart had been "taken to a farm". I never, EVER, ever forgave her for this. Whether it was her doing or my step father's--I NEVER got over that. Needless to say, I can barely keep it together during dog food commercials either. It's all really too much. 

Susan Orlean's telling of this story is incredible. It's the whole man/dog thing told over the backdrop of one of the most gruesome times in all of history. I find it a miracle anyone ever came home from that war, let alone a dog. Did you know that during WWI, the Airedale was the British Army's official dog and that there was a call to the public to donate their Airedales to the cause. Can you imagine? Or that the Red Cross had mercy dogs wandering the battlefields carrying medical supplies so wounded soldiers could administer treatment on sight? I love this book. 

After a full day of rain, I ventured out to the veggie patch and found the largest, most beautiful clump of swiss chard I'd seen all year. Most of the summer, the chard I'd planted was growing under the shadow of my tomato plants. (Which might explain why I didn't really pay much attention to it--the tomato plants are forever stealing the show in my veggie patch.) 

Cooking in the fall becomes a less intense ritual. I could eat mashed potatoes and soup and pizza all fall and winter. And bread. Lots of bread. I have a drawer full of dried beans--I can easily whip up a soup in minutes. (Why yes! With my pressure cooker, of course! Go get yourself a pressure cooker already!) Anyhow. So last night as I pressure cooked my cannellini beans with about a dozen whole sage leaves and seven or eight whole cloves of garlic--the aroma was incredible, I headed out to my chard, scissors in hand. I just took a handful back into the house with me. This was the base for my soup: beans, garlic, chard, sage. The rest sort of comes together as I feel. Added onions, celery, tomatoes. Lots of olive oil, fresh lemon juice. The soup's basically a good old minestrone, if you will. But with a ton of fall veggies.

I heart my sage plants. Givers of many, many years of bountiful sage harvest. Fresh sage finds its way into nearly everything I cook this time of year. I just love it.

See how lovely. These plants did not even remotely look this lovely during those 120 degree days. They are perfect now. They'll keep producing long after the first frost, too.

Then, a surprise. What I thought was a collard plant turned out to be cauliflower! Look at that lovely specimen. I was thrilled to bring this inside and store it. I thought I'd wait and make a soup out of it later.

When I was putting my head of cauliflower in the fridge, I noticed I had another store bought one in the way back. I pulled it out to compare. It's obvious which one looks better, isn't it?