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soupapalooza!

the stories
the kitchen
the market
the proof (party pics!)
the food porn
the recipes
the about
the drop me a line part
the resources
the full list
jewelry alchemy
​chipotle deviled eggs

chipotle deviled eggs: the deviled really is in the details

It’s spring! And there’s Easter and Passover and Persian New Year and bunnies and eggs and it’s all a big fertility Pagan thing. But I don’t care what you do or don’t celebrate as long as there are eggs somewhere, because eggs are badass any way you serve it up. There’s no dogma in an egg except deliciousness. I mean that is unless you’re stealing eggs from the nest of an endangered bird or a penguin, and then you’re totally going to hell. Because penguins are ridiculously cute and the world clearly needs more American Bald Eagles.

Deviled eggs, in particular, seem to really be having a moment right now. In the last few months I’ve had them about a hundred different ways, and the one at Freddy Smalls was fantastic. It’s called “buffalo deviled eggs”, and is made with Point Reyes blue cheese, celery, CP’s hot sauce and a CRACKLIN on top. Yes, a motherloving cracklin. For those of you who aren’t from the rural south or from Texas, a cracklin is fried chicken skin (or sometimes pork skin) and it’s/ they’re divine. From what I understand, which let’s face it is not that much, cracklins are also a Kosher thing called Gribenes and are a byproduct of schmaltz preparation (and schmaltz is even tastier than it is fun to say). AND they’re also Kosher for Passover.

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PostedApril 6, 2012
Authormelissa mcclure
Categoriesvegetarian, appetizers and snacks
Tagstexmex, recipe, easter, soupapalooza!, redneck, eggcellent, appetizer
1 CommentPost a comment

aztec tortilla lime soup: a garnish is still a garnish

​Memorial Day is supposed to be a solemn holiday-- one to reflect on those Americans that have served and died in that service for our country. But the only evidence of reflection I saw this weekend was whether or not the BBQ was too rare to eat. Memorial Day seems to me, at least in this most ungodly and Babylonian of states, more about beer, cookouts and screenings of “Purple Rain” at the cemetery. Not that there’s anything wrong with that... I mean, after all, could a five foot nothing mixed race dude from Minnesota wearing violet lycra pantaloons and pointy boots really be a famous musician and arbiter of style anywhere else in the world besides America? Well, besides France, of course.

Really, what a gloriously mixed-up, mashed about mess of a place this is. We are a nation of ligers; an unnatural mix of a lion and a tiger that makes for one screwed up animal, since lions live in prides and hate the water while tigers are solitary and are great swimmers. Put them together and we are a totally confused animal that has no idea what it wants and needs but is pretty sure it’ll still be killing some giant land animal for dinner. There is such diversity and beauty in this society made up of glaring contradictions that it almost makes the ridiculous religious and political rants some of my facebook friends seem palatable... well, almost. 

So I’ve been thinking about what traits we, as a group of more than 310 million people living on one landmass, share as Americans and which of them makes me most proud. And I’ve come to the  conclusion that my hands-down favorite is dissatisfaction.

That’s right. I say screw people that are totally satisfied since satisfaction breeds laziness, smugness and the propensity to stick to the status quo. I say be pissed with whatever it is that isn’t working for you and acknowledge that you would like things to be different, and then go and make a change. Not to sound like a Michael Jackson song or anything.

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PostedJune 1, 2010
Authormelissa mcclure
Categoriessoup
Tagslime, tortilla, texmex, mexican, memorial day, dissatisfaction is very american, pasilla, there is no such thing as eco friendly jewelry, sometimes I'm a real asshole, sometimes I like to rant, we're all ligers, soup, thanks for souping, soupapalooza!, recipe
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frijoles a la charra: the one where you’re wearing a tutu in your stress dreams...

​This is totally off-topic. I mean totally and completely. I had an amazing bowl of bean soup at MomAlone in Clear Lake on Sunday, but that’s about the only thread that connects this post to the regularly scheduled ramblings of this blog. This last weekend I went home.

According to my very academic, very scientific research on the subject (asking a couple of people I know), many people have the classic stress dream on occasion. You know the one-- the one where you show up for your final exam and you realize that you haven’t attended a single class during the semester and panic ensues? Well, maybe because this was a pretty common occurrence for me during those four amazing booze-soaked years in college, I have a completely different stress dream altogether.

In my stress dream I am at the 1894 Opera House in Galveston, Texas and I step out onto a darkened stage only to be illuminated by a single spotlight right at the moment I remember that I’m supposed to be dancing my solo and I haven’t bothered to learn the dance. It’s seriously the most terrifying thing I can imagine apart from the side-eye my mom gave me as a kid when I did something truly offensive like say the word “bitchin’” or wear my hair slicked back like a Robert Palmer girl while wearing a gray flannel suit (the latter of which prompted her to ask me if I was feeling confused about my sexuality). My particular stress dream is probably scary and anxiety-provoking for me because it was my actuality as a kid; I took dance lessons for fourteen years, performed on that very stage time and again and I never did learn my solo until minutes before performing it to a house of almost a thousand people.

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PostedMay 25, 2010
Authormelissa mcclure
Categoriesgear and miscellany
Tagsstage fright, Tiny Dancer, texmex, Texas, teenaged nightmares, stress dreams, no recipe
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goldsmith, sometime costume designer and badass cat owner. 

goldsmith, sometime costume designer and badass cat owner. 

  • dessert (1)
  • party planning (1)
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  • stocks and broths (2)
  • vegan (5)
  • breakfast (6)
  • desserts & sweet treats (9)
  • quick pics! (9)
  • appetizers and snacks (10)
  • salad (10)
  • positively piggy (11)
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  • vegetarian (33)
  • soup (36)

Why? Because soup is cheap, delicious and easy. Kind of like me.

a weekly attempt to eat well and to savor life. or to see how much food I can get on my clothes.

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