It was so good (if I don't mind saying myself) that Owen ate tons of it! What a miracle.
The recipe is super easy.
Take 1 or 2 oz. of dried shiitake mushrooms or any other flavorful ones... put them in a bowl and pour 1 cup of boiling water on them and let them soak for 20 min. Save the water and chop up the mushrooms into tiny bits for sauteing. In your soup pot heat up 1 T (tablespoon) of olive oil and 1 T of butter. Throw the mushrooms in on med/low heat and let brown for 5 (ish) minutes. Then dice up one small onion, one small leek (white part only), two cloves of garlic, and start sauteing all together. Add one celery stalk and one carrot diced. Once that is all nice and sauteed, (you may want to add a teensy bit more oil), turn up the heat a bit, push all the previous ingredients to the sides and add 1/3 or so Cups of Barley in the center. This toasts the barley just slightly. Don't let it burn, just do it for a second. Then you can add your mushroom broth and also 4 C of broth. I like to use chicken broth. Bring it to a boil and then let it simmer for 20-40 minutes depending on how soft you like your barley and if you want it more soupy or more stewy. Also... add salt and pepper of coarse and the last touch is a handful of finely chopped fresh dill. Phew!! Yumm!
And then at this time you can help Ken (brother in laws brother.. Family!) with his finger he nearly cut off trying to help you out in the kitchen. At least he didn't need stitches!!
I forgot to take a picture but we also had the Infamous Voodoo Doughnuts my sis asked for. Damn they're good.
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There were even purple tulips for the birthday girl! And what celebration would be complete without viewing "The Sound of Music" sing-along version - Owen especially enjoyed the marionette sequence, and singing along to the goodbye song - he can carry a tune already - watch out, world!
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