This post is part of a series called Thankful Thursday, where I list some things to feel thankful for. To some extent, focusing on what is wrong appears to come naturally to most people, who often complain, complain, complain when they get together with family and friends. (I’m no exception, that’s for sure.) So focusing on things to feel thankful for seems like good spiritual practice, a way to counterbalance the tendency toward negative thinking.
Bouquet Garni
A few years ago, it occurred to me that when I used herbs in a soup or stew, I did not have to go through the bother of chopping them. (For some reason I hate chopping herbs.) Instead, in a nod to my French heritage, I could bundle them together with thread and make a bouquet garni. I have learned that the bouquet needs to be big for enough flavors to seep from the herbs into the stew. This year my herbs have grown incredibly well, which means a big bouquet is not a problem.
After tying the stems with thread, I put the herbs into a slow cooker filled with tomatoes, onions, garlic, salt, a bit of cayenne pepper, broth, white beans, and green beans. Later, mushrooms would be added. With a big slotted spoon, I pushed the herbs into the mix. As the slow cooker heats, the herbs sink and infuse their lovely essence into the soup. When we are ready to eat, the bouquet garni is removed with the slotted spoon.
Such a lovely warm dish for a fall night.
Meeting Friends at Absolem Cider Company
Long time readers have heard me enthuse about Absolem Cider Company, which is about five miles from where we live. Absolem comprises a beautifully restored barn converted to a tasting room, a large deck, a few acres of lawn where chickens roam, and beyond that, woods. Along with their homemade cider, they serve beer, cocktails, and soft drinks. Parked along the walkway, there is often a food truck. There are also snacks for sale in the tasting room, but customers are welcome to bring their own food.
This is exactly what we did when we met our friends Dawna and Jim last Sunday afternoon at Absolem. Although the afternoon was chilly, it was warm enough for us hardy Mainers to sit on the deck. Dawna and I are both Franco-Americans, and we were raised to believe that while it might not be a mortal sin to have a skimpy amount of food at a get-together, it is certainly a venial sin.
Behold our spread.
Was there dessert? Of course there was. Dawn brought pumpkin whoopie pies with a maple cream filling. As we Mainers would say, they were wicked good.
While we ate, we enjoyed the lovely view from the deck.
And a beautiful young rooster came to visit.
A finest kind of evening.
Music: Underdog by Alicia Keys
I am a huge fan of Alicia Keys and her music, which spans R & B, soul, pop, and hip-hop and gives rise to a unique sound that is both stirring and heartfelt.
As a Franco-American in Maine, I grew up as part of an underclass. Because of this, “Underdog” really speaks to me as it celebrates those who are either overlooked or scorned.
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Thankful Posts and Simple Pleasures from Other Blogging Friends
Xenia from Tranature writes about a walk to lovely seaside village. What makes this unusual is that the village is only accessible when the tide is out.
Dawn from Change Is Hard features a guided walk through a nearby park.
Another delightful week of small pleasures from Barbara of Thistles and Kiwis.
Rupali from Mazeepuran shares a picture of magnificent scenery. Really, being there in person would make you want to burst into song.
Maria of Green Dreams celebrates her allotment. Her kale(?) is nothing short of magnificent. And, oh, that bike! Makes me think there might be hope for the world.
Judy of NewEnglandGardenAndThread welcomes October, surely the most beautiful month in northern New England.
Notes From the Hinterland 
I can smell that delicious stew in your crockpot! Great idea to bundle the herbs from your garden.
Sure makes it easier to bundle the herbs.
Thank you for the pingback. Seeing your slow cocker made me miss mine. I had one during the almost nine years I lived in the US and I used it a lot. I absolutely loved my slow cocker, and now I don’t even own one. Perhaps I need to change that. Your Thankful Thursday was a great read.
My pleasure! I use my slow cooker ever week as soon as the weather cools down and then right through until spring. (Maine has a lot of cold weather.)
Yum! Winter soups and stews are the best! 🍲
They certainly are!
What a great idea for the herbs! And I can just imagine how delicious your soup was on a chilly day. Those pumpkin whoopie pies look yummy, too. Lots to be thankful for this week, Laurie.
Yes, lots to be thankful for! Love this time of year.
I’m reading along nodding my head in appreciation of a slow cooker which I love, then move on to your lovely lunch with friends and hard cider. Home made pumpkin whoopie pies with maple frosting took this post over the edge. I love whoopie pies of all flavors, and these look amazing or wicked good as you so well describe them. You’re living large, lady. 🙂 Thanks for the shout out, and I think our weather is definitely cooling down.
Wish I could send you one of those whoopie pies, but I am not sure how it would travel. Might be dry by the time you got it.
Yes, our weather is cooling down.
The spread looks good – but I did have to google ‘whoopie pie’ 🙂
Thanks for the mention!
The spread was good. Too funny about the whoopie pie as they are so common in Maine.
It was a brand new thing to me!
The things we learn from our blogging friends. 😉
What a delicious soup for Fall Laurie and I love the bouquet garni! Thank you so much for the mention and walking along with us to Crovie too 💖 xxx
Soup is always so good this time of year. I was fascinated by Crovie and loved your descriptions of it.
Aww thank you kindly dear Laurie, it was an amazing place to visit 💖 xxx
Gorgeous herbs!!!!!
It’s been quite the summer for herbs.
I have a big batch of sage I need to cut and dry. It’s so beautiful!
Love love love cooking with fresh herbs, especially in soup season! Aren’t crock pots just the best?? Quite the tasty looking spread you all had at the cider company. We just might get frost overnight tonight, so I harvested the last of the basil so as not to lose it. Pesto 🙂
Lots of good “thankful for” in this post, not the least of which is Alicia Keys’ lovely voice.
Crock pots are the best! I use mine all the time. It was a tasty spread. Enjoy your pesto. Alicia Keys does indeed have a lovely voice.
Your herbs look fantastic, I totally agree with your views re: food and get-togethers (at any time, to be true), that is one handsome rooster, and Alicia Keys knows how to get it right! I love that Absolem Cider Co let you bring your own food
Many thanks! Alicia Keys is a fabulous musician and singer. Yes, nice that we are allowed to bring our own food.
That is such a great way to use fresh herbe, Laurie!
Chopping herbs is not my favourite thing either! ❤
Saves a lot of time and still adds deliciousness.
I never used a bouquet garni, and somehow had in mind that it’s used in ‘high cuisine.’ But your use of it here’s quite appealing. Add a nice loaf of bread to the result, and it’s the perfect. meal.
Nope, not high cuisine at all. I bet some French housewife decided she was tired of chopping herbs and bundled the whole thing up.
I could go for one of those wraps. A big fan of Alicia Keys. Lots to be grateful for here.
Those wraps were very tasty. Nice to read you are a fan of Alicia Keys. Amazing musician and singer.
This is a delightful post!
Thanks, Anne!
Now I must thank you for introducing me to Alicia Keys through this wonderful video
My great pleasure! She is fabulous.
Like you I am incapable of being mean with food! Not for nothing is my nickname in certain circles ‘Sue Cake’ to distinguish me from the (numerous) other Sues of my vintage. I also use lots of herbs and can’t resist adding more varieties to my collection. I grow them in the conservatory and the lean to greenhouse so i don’t have to go outside to collect them.
The urge to feed people runs across all cultures. I think there is something elemental in that urge. Love the name “Sue cake.” Also, how wonderful that you are able to collect herbs without going outside.
Your kitchen must smell divine!
It does indeed when I am making soup.
I agree about the divine smell in your kitchen and those wraps look great. Thanks for the mention, Laurie.
My pleasure! Yes, the kitchen smelled so good and the wraps were delicious.
Thank you for walking us through how to use a bouquet garni in your (oh so yummy) bean soup. And the bouquet itself — !! I also enjoyed being a virtual part of your festive picnic. Everything looks delicious, and I marvel at the pumpkin & maple whoopie pies.
Finally, thank you for talking about your Franco-American heritage and the marginalized experience of your people. That is part of my history too. I think that’s one reason I deeply appreciated James McBride’s “Heaven and Earth Grocery Store” — it landed us in 1936 Pennsylvania with characters from the pre-1925 Southern & Eastern European immigration and the Great Migration (and all the “white people” who didn’t want them there). So much of it was very familiar from my mother’s stories.
Yes, the story is a familiar one. Alas. Love James McBride!
I much prefer spring and summer to autumn and winter, but one upside of the colder months is return of warming stews to the dinner menu. Thank goodness for fresh herbs which always make a difference!
They certainly do! Dried herbs are all right, but they can’t compare with fresh ones.
The meal looks amazing especially the crockpot soup with the bouqet garni. The pumpkin whoopie pies with a maple cream filling caught my stomach’s attention…
The soup turned out pretty well if I do say so myself. Healthy, too.
Dear Laurie
What a great bunch of herbs. And your meal at the Cider Company looks great. We can well imagine that you enjoyed it.
Wishing you a wonderful week
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Thanks so much!
That’s an easy way to add herbs, Laurie, provided one’s garden does well! I like making soup stocks and and strain out the “stuff” afterwards anyway. And you Mainers know how to eat! The spread looks great and how fun to meet up with some friends. 🙂
Our herbs thrived this summer. Just the right amount of heat and rain.
You make me want to expand my herb garden. 🙂
OMG, the pumpkin whoopie pies look absolutely wicked good!!!🙂
They were indeed wicked good!
That is one healthy bouquet garni! I love it! I can smell the savoury deliciousness of your stew all the way from here!
Sure makes the soup taste good!
That is a beautiful song by Alicia Keys, Laurie.
I like your Bouquet Garni approach to cooking with herbs, Laurie.
I love that big old red rooster!
I so love that song. Always on the side of underdogs.