buckets of random stuff

We have lots of buckets at the intern house, lots of buckets with multiple purposes, and the smallest one (a bathroom size trash can) is for actual trash for the dumpster. Besides that they are mostly 5 gallon buckets. One is for chickens -- anything old and green or looks to be good chicken food goes to that one (no citrus or hot peppers). Then we have general compost which is literally almost everything else.

Now I say almost because I had a bolt from the blue making veggie soup today: it's always always always great to have leek and onion tops, wilty celery and other still viable broth ingredients around, so I've designated a smaller 3 gallon for just that purpose. I'll post a short recap of what went down in the soup tonight, since it was delicious.

Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

• water
• whole kitchen scraps -- tops of onions and leeks, wilted celery, etc.
• salt
• ground pepper
• 1-2 dried cayenne or serrano peppers
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• red potatoes
• leeks
• fresh oregano
• fresh rosemary
• mushrooms, onions, and/or brussels sprouts

1. big stockpot half or two thirds full of water on high heat til it is nearly boiling
2. throw all the odds and ends in (cheesecloth is good for keeping everything together if you want)
3. healthy pinch of salt, some ground pepper, 1 or 2 hot peppers and a tablespoon of olive oil as well
4. give that a couple hours on low with the lid on
5. get a colander and place the veggie pieces you don't want in the final soup in the colander
6. chop up some red waxy potatoes and leeks into bite sized pieces and chuck em in
7. add liberal doses of fresh oregano and rosemary
8. find delicious things in or outside the kitchen to put in (mushrooms, onions, brussels sprouts)
9. probably another healthy pinch of salt would be good
10. give that another two hours or so on low without the lid
11. season it up a few minutes before serving
12. don't puree it
13. bathe in acclaim

sincerely.
-chris