Month: August 2022

Summer Cabbage Salad

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Crisp cabbage or Napa Cabbage with a mint-lemon-garlic dressing—crunchy and bright.
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic (or more to taste)
  • 2 tablespoons minced mint
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 4 cups chopped cabbage
  • Pomegranate seeds for garnish

Mix all ingredients except the cabbage and pomegranate seeds. Toss in the cabbage and garnish with the pomegranate seeds. Serve immediately.

You are invited—Memoir & Music

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OHHHH this will be a fun First Friday!

September First Friday (Sept. 2, 2022 from 5 to 9 p.m.) — Please pop in my studio, Chambers Life!, in The Carter Building (The Red Door Entrance), 22 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, for Champagne, French hors d’oeuvres, and a complimentary FUN mini-guide to spark your memoir. PLUS Raleigh singer-songwriter Alice Osborn will be performing classic/pop hits and selections from her soon-to-be-released album, Skirts in the Snow: Beyond the Tragedy of the Donner Party. https://aliceosborn.com

https://downtownraleigh.org/first-friday-raleigh/events

Author & Creative Life Coach Belynda Chambers & Author, Editor, Poet, & Singer-Songwriter Alice Osborn host FIRST FRIDAY at The Carter Building Studio 3. Champagne (of course) included.

Thai Watermelon Soup

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Combine ICE COLD sweet watermelon with ginger, garlic, lemongrass, lime. Then spike it with a chili. We (artists and friends) recently painted and dined surrounded by beauty at The Meadows at Firefly Farm courtesy of Anna. Thank you, dear one.

Here’s the recipe:

  • 12 cups watermelon chunks
  • 2 cups water
  • 3 tablespoons sliced lemongrass
  • 2 tablespoons minced ginger
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 6 tablespoons minced shallot
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil (not toasted)
  • 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon sea salt (or your favorite mineral-dense natural salt)
  • A bit if Thai or Serrano pepper to taste WEAR GLOVES & GOGGLES when handling spicy chili capsicums! (On the Scoville scale Thai peppers rate three peppers while Serranos are two, but I think they both very pungent so I add tidbits at a time. The seeds and ribs are the spiciest parts. The heat will mellow a bit after a few hours of refrigeration.)
  • 4 to 6 tablespoons lime juice
  • Maple syrup (to adjust sweetness if necessary)
  • Mint leaves (for garnish)
  • Lime slice (for garnish)

In your favorite serious blender, (Mine’s a Blendtec.), puree the watermelon and water. You might need to do this in two batches. Heat the sesame oil in a 4-cup saucepan or skillet. Add the lemongrass, ginger, garlic, and shallot. Sauté for 2 minutes. Add 2 cups of the watermelon puree and simmer the mixture for 3 minutes. Cool the mixture to room temperature and then add it to the blender with 4 cups of the watermelon puree, salt, your chili(s) of choice, and 4 tablespoons of lime juice (the juice of 2 limes). Hyper-blend and taste for seasonings. Add maple syrup, 1 teaspoon at a time, if needed. And more lime juice and chili if needed. Hyper-blend again and mix all the ingredients in a large vessel (pitcher, jar, water jug). Refrigerate for 4 to 8 hours.

Garnish with a mint leave and a slice of lime. Are your diners serious hotheads who LOVE chilis? Serve some minced ones on the side.

ServSafe says this will last safely for 7 days, but I prefer consuming within 3 days to enjoy the brightness of this soup.

After 3 days, do you have a BUNCH left? Make ice cubes to add to lemonade, ginger beer, or tequila. Hey, make up your own summer slushee.

NOW Raleigh City Farm has FRESH lemongrass and mint from the herb plots. Come to Raleigh City Farm’s Pay-What-You-Can Farmstand—Wednesdays, 4 to 7 p.m.—for fresh, nutrition-packed produce. This recipe would be good with cantaloupe—available at the farmstand this week.