Black Bean Soup

I'm about to use the word "we," but I feel the need to publicly declare that there is no "me" in "we." To be slightly more blunt, IT'S NOT MY FAULT. Ahem.

I don't know how it happens, but "we" have a habit of ending up with eight open jars of salsa in our fridge. I wish I were exaggerating, but I'm not. Seriously. Open our fridge. I bet you find multiple open jars of salsa. I'll bet you $1000, in fact, because I KNOW I WILL WIN. Apparently it's really fun to open new jars of salsa? I don't know.

Regardless, because we always have open jars of salsa in the fridge, I'm always looking for ways to make them go away before they turn into some sort of science experiment. One of my favorite tricks for making small amounts of salsa vanish is Black Bean Soup.

This is a super easy and basic Black Bean Soup recipe. There's plenty of room for improvisation if you'd like, but it's pretty fantastic in all of its simple glory.

Simple Black Bean Soup

2 cans black beans (don't drain them)
1 can broth (Chicken or vegetable. Your choice.)
1/2 cup salsa
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
Shredded cheese for garnish, if desired
Sour cream for garnish, if desired

This is going to be super complicated, so try your best to stick with me. Start by throwing the black beans, broth, salsa, chili powder, and paprika into a large pot. Stick it on top of your stove and turn the heat on to medium. Stir. Stir a little more. Stir a little more. Once the soup begins to boil, you're done.

Really.

I'm sorry that was so hard.

You can make it a tiny bit more complicated, if you would like. If you like your black bean soup to be a bit "creamy," smoosh some of the beans with a fork or potato masher. Or, you can get SUPER fancy and use an immersion blender. Whatever makes you happy is fine by me.

Garnish the soup with shredded cheese and sour cream, if that's your sort of thing. It's definitely *MY* sort of thing. This kid, though? She likes her Black Bean Soup straight up.

(Oh, and the sandwich in the second photograph is a Chik'n Parmesan sandwich. Morningstar Chik'n patty + 1 slice of parmesan cheese + a few tablespoons of marinara + some sort of hoagie roll = YUM.)

I Kind of Love the Zoo. A Lot.

There is a growing list of people who would never believe me if I told them Alexis started life as an extremely shy kid. That whole part of her personality has seemingly vanished into thin air, which is great news 99% of the time. And then there is that 1% of the time when I'm running an Getting Started with Your DSLR Course and am having a bunch of people over at our house. That 1% of the time absolutely positively requires an evacuation plan for the short person. Otherwise she will talk and talk and talk and talk and generally make sure the entire day turns into a The Universe Rotates Around Alexis celebration.

Which is EXACTLY why the husband was tasked with taking Alexis somewhere, anywhere all day this Saturday so I could do a little teachering and stuff.

I don't know what they did all day. I just know that the kid returned home with a lot of new stuff. Her superpower is making people want to buy her things.

My superpower, on the other hand, is pushing a bunch of buttons on my camera and completely forgetting that I did it.

I shoot in manual mode 99% of the time. I normally have no problem remembering to adjust the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO as needed. But during those classes, I keep finding myself pushing every freakin' button on my camera. I change every option in the menu, leaving myself with a camera that only has back button focus, shoots in continuous mode, has some weird metering setting, and blah, blah, blah. Generally, the camera works better as a paper weight than a camera by the time I'm done screwing it up.

All of that would be fine and dandy if I would remember that I had done it before I go to use the camera again.

Of course I don't remember.

This morning Alexis and I drug a friend to the zoo so that we could see the Penguin Parade. We happen to have an annual pass (the best $80 we spend every year), so I have no issue with running in to see just one exhibit. Or, in this case, one very short "parade" that is simply a few minutes when some of the penguins walk outside. It only happens on weekends for a limited time, but who cares? That's nothing short of spectacular that you can sit on a curb and watch a penguin walk RIGHT past you.

Obviously, my camera needed to attend this fun. Obviously, I completely forgot that I had jacked it up during the photography class the day before.

The good news: I realized my error in time to still get some decent shots.

The bad news: I could have gotten a lot of much better shots if I wasn't such a goober.

I guess that means I have to go back again next weekend. And the weekend after. Just in case.

(The next Getting Started with Your DSLR workshops will be February 29th and March 17th. More details will be on the Photography Blog soon, but feel free to email to register now, if you want.)

Shake Your Tailfeathers, Girl

I was not pleased with some of the shenanigans involved with dance class photos this year, so I took them myself AND ALEXIS COOPERATED OMGWTFBBQ WHAT PLANET AM I ON? IS THIS A TRICK? YAY!