Signs of Spring

This afternoon, Ken had to sign his tax forms, so we decided we'd go out of town and do some shopping afterwards. I walked the dogs this morning and fussed around the house. It was cold this morning when I walked the dogs at about 9:00. But about two hours later it was quite nice out. The birds were chirping, and it didn't sting to take a deep breath. I even thought I would have enjoyed sitting outside for awhile...but I didn't really want to sit in a snowbank. It's funny how temperatures that were killing me in early November seem quite balmy in February.

I'm beginning to be a little more hopeful that this eternal winter might actually end someday. We're going to have a muddy mucky mess when it all melts, but who cares! I think I have the worst case of spring fever I have ever had.

On our shopping trip, we stopped at Wal-Mart. Generally, I hate Wal-Mart, but they usually have a broader produce selection than other grocery stores in the area. I even found Kale. Now I have to find a recipe for it.

I know I should only buy seasonal, local foods (snow?) for the environment, my health, the economy, etc., but darn it, I'm also striving for variety right now.

I needed freezer bags. I was nearly out of frozen soup. I take soup to work nearly every day. So, when I got home, I whipped up a batch of Butternut squash soup, and I set some beans to soak so that I can make minestrone tomorrow. In addition, I made some Light Vanilla-Bean Pudding.. This pudding gets its flavor from a vanilla bean and not from extract. This pudding is not only light because of its lower calorie count, but also because of its very light taste. The vanilla flavor is delicate. I was hoping that the pictures I took would show the very tiny, dark, vanilla seeds suspended in the creamy pudding. But unfortunately, they don't. Maybe I should switch to my digital camera and leave the cell phone for calls.

This pudding takes a lot more work than a box Jello pudding, but I think it's worth it. I found this recipe in the January/February 2008 Everyday Food on page 122.

Ingredients
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 large egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups low-fat (1%) milk
1 vanilla bean

Special Equipment
a fine sieve

Preparation
1. Place fine mesh sive over a medium bowl; set aside

2. In a medium saucepan (off heat) whisk together sugar, cornstarch, egg yolks, and salt. Gradually whisk in milk (1 tablespoon at a time to start) until smooth. Split vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out seeds with the tip of a paring knife; add seeds and pod to milk mixture.

3. Cook over medium-high, whisking occasionally , until the first bubbles appear on surface; continue to cook, whisking constantly, for 1 minute more. Pour pudding through prepared sieve into bowl; discard solids.

4. Place plastic wrap directly on entire surface of pudding to keep skin from forming. Refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours, and up to 3 days.

Makes 4 servings with 208 calories per serving.