@Taste Corner: February 2021: Book Review, Broccoli Cheddar Soup Recipe and Beginning of 2021 Garden Project

I made a resolution this year to make a blog post once every month. This is my second post for the month of February and I’ve kept pace so far! (though two months isn't much of an accomplishment). I'll be glad if I can keep the streak going until the end of the year. This month I have lined up a few things for the blog.

Book Review : The Einstein Prophecy

The book  'The Einstein Prophecy' is a supernatural thriller/mystery book, set in the year 1944. I picked this book from the many free titles offered by the Kindle Unlimited store, the title being catchy enough to grasp my attention. With vaguely predictable events, the story didn't keep me on edge. Despite that, the book kept me engaged and interested with its characters and the way the story was written. In the story, Europe and the United States are engulfed in World War II. Lucas Athan, an American army lieutenant, was assigned with another fellow soldier to recover a sarcophagus from an Egyptian tomb, located in an iron mine outside Strasbourg, Germany. The sarcophagus was shipped to Princeton University for further study, which unlocked various strange mysteries about the box. The presence of the ossuary would produce terrible occurrences from thin air, as the researchers would soon find out.

        The study was conducted by Lucas and his aide, Simone Rashid. Simone was an Egyptian professor turned brilliant archaeologist who originally discovered the ossuary, with the help of her father. During these events, Lucas gets acquainted with Professor Albert Einstein, his next door neighbor and a professor in the Princeton campus. Einstein is secretly helping the US military to develop the atom bomb before German scientists. Einstein knew of the chilling horrors that this super weapon  was capable of creating. Later, it is found that Einstein's work is not only of interest to the war powers, but also to the ancient power that is hidden in the sarcophagus. This power seemingly has a role in the development of the bomb, making Einstein its main target.

Overall this book is an impressive read. The first half was captivating, and the work of different scientists and mathematicians like Albert Einstein and Kurt Godel kept me very intrigued. I felt transported into a different world, the book being a good assembly of reality, fiction, and fantasy, all at the same time. Despite appreciating the blend of genres encapsulated into the novel, I tend to read books that are purely their genre.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup:

Ingredients:

Broccoli - 4 cups, chopped 

Carrots - 2, medium sized

Large onion - half

Garlic - 7 cloves

Heavy whipping cream - 2 cups (whole milk, heavy or light cream, or half and half can be used as well)

Mild cheddar - 2 cups finely grated (most recipes call for sharp cheddar)

Cayenne - 1 tsp

Salt - add to taste

All purpose flour - 2 tbsp

Mustard - 2 tsp

Water - 4 cups

Recipe:

1. Chop up the broccoli into small florets. Cut the carrots into paper thin slices.

2. Finely dice the onion and garlic.

3. In a heavy bottom pan, add 2 tbsp of butter. Once the butter melts, add chopped onion and carrots then saute for around 5 minutes. Once the onions and carrots are a slightly translucent, add the garlic and sauté till fragrant. Then add half a tsp of salt.

4. Add in the all purpose flour and saute for a couple of minutes.

5. Add in the water and heavy whipping cream. Once it starts simmering, add the broccoli. Cover the dutch oven or the heavy bottom pan with a lid and cook for 15 minutes. (The broccoli needs to be soft and not overcooked. Open the lid after ten minutes and check for softness. If the broccoli isn't soft enough, cook for another 5 minutes.)

6. Add the mustard and cayenne pepper.

7. Turn off the heat and add the cheddar. The cheddar will dissolve into the soup.

8. The soup can be served with croutons. Serve, and enjoy!

2021 Garden Project: The Beginnings

This year we jump-started our garden project early, with a batch of tomato seeds.

Step 1 - First we removed the tomato seeds from the packets, and lining them up in a napkin. We then sprinkled each napkin with water. (Jan. 18, 2021)

Step 2 - Once the seeds were sprayed with water, we slid them in Ziploc bags. (Jan. 18, 2021) We stowed them away in a dark place and kept them covered with a cloth so sunlight wouldn't pass through.

Step 3 - After a week in (About 01/24), our seeds had started to germinate, and we could see some growth in the seeds.

Step 4 - We then started removing seedlings from the Ziploc bags.

Step 5 - Next we transferred the seedlings to plastic pots with good soil.

Step 6 - Next we placed the seedlings under grow light. 

Step 7 - Here is what the seeds look like, 3 weeks after we placed them under grow lights. (Feb. 15, 2021)