Cold Yogurt Soup

The movers come in an hour to pack up our house for the big move back to Door County.  We are down to pretty bare bones when it comes to the kitchen, so making this easy soup is a snap, especially on a hot summer day.  

Firstly, find everything and anything green in your fridge!  I had green onions, cucumbers and tons of fresh herbs.  And some radishes for color and bite. 

I used 500 grams of kefir, which I hear has found a market in the U.S. 

A handful of radishes.

And an equal handful each of the herbs.  I'm going to miss the cheap abundant herbs in this part of the world, I know that already.

And two cucumbers.

This is ridiculously easy.  Pour the kefir (or yogurt plus water) into a large bowl.

Finely chop several scallions, here I chopped a small bunch.

I chopped about 2 tablespoons of fresh mint.  Mint is my new favorite herb.  I've really only recently taken it from the obvious cocktail to anything with vegetables. 

Since this is an herb soup don't skimp on the herbs!  Add a ton of parsley.

Dill.

Cilantro.  Or is this the parsley?  Or chinese celery come to think of it?  I always need to scratch-n-sniff to tell the difference.

Radishes, finely diced.

Peeled, seeded and finely chopped cucumbers.

And for a little kick, very finely diced hot chili pepper.

Mix all the ingredients well and then taste.  Add salt and pepper as needed. If I had sumac on hand I would have added it, but I didn't so I didn't.  

Very refreshing.  Very healthy.  Very tasty.  Check, check, check.

From Dushanbe to Sturgeon Bay: The Big Move!

We're moving home!  We've lived abroad for the last 10 1/2 of 13 years and are going to give it another whirl.  We are excited and sad at the same time.  Excited to reconnect with family and old friends, but sad to leave our latest home and our Dushanbe family.

I knew this time would come, eventually, but I didn't think it would come this soon.  Two years is nothing, after all.  Or, better put, two years have passed too damn fast.  I feel like Dushanbe is still becoming my home, that there's a lot that I have yet to learn about it.

To say that it's been a whirlwind lately - of activity and emotions - is an understatement.  It's sort of akin to being on a 24/7 rollercoaster.  One minute my arms are high over my head and I'm screaming with delight and the next minute my arms are clutching my stomach and I'm ready to barf.

In a sweet gesture of support, my husband bought me this.  Anti-stress soap.

The joke wasn't lost on me and the brief chuckle I enjoyed managed to lighten the moment, for a little bit at least.  And then I continued my trajectory to the lipyoshka.  C'mon people, empty promises versus carbs.  Which would you turn to?

Bread makes everything better, doesn't it?