Reunited, and it feels so good!

After a long week of separation, look who showed up to our dinner:

It’s Baxter…

and Ella!

One of the sucky things about living so far away from our families is that when we travel, we usually have to leave our dogs at home.  They stay at a great dog camp out in the woods with tons of room to run around and lots of other dogs (the owners of the camp have EIGHT golden retrievers!).  Still, we miss them TERRIBLY when we have to leave them behind

For dinner, I cooked up a soup with a lot of the produce that we picked up earlier today.  It ended up being pretty good!  Here’s the recipe:

Barley Vegetable Soup

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1 parsnip, chopped

3 cups swiss chard, chopped

4 cups vegetable broth

1 tbsp. herbes de provence

1 tsp. rosemary

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup barley, uncooked

grated parmesan cheese to garnish

Directions:

In tbsp. of olive oil, cook onion and garlic for about five minutes, until soft.  Add celery, carrots, and parsnip.  Cook for another 3-4 minutes, and add chard.  Cook until chard has wilted down, about 4 minutes.  Add herbes de provence, salt, and rosemary.  Add barley and stir until it is incorporated in the mixture.  Cook for a few more minutes, and add vegetable broth.  (You can add some water at this point if the soup looks like it needs more liquid)  Bring soup to a boil, and then reduce heat to a low simmer.  Simmer for 45 minutes to an hour, until barley is fully cooked.  Top with parmesan cheese. 

Here are some pics:

It might not look pretty, but it sure tasted good!

Even Baxter got in on the action:

Now we’re all curled up on the couch together, about to watch Away We Go.  I think the dogs missed us as much as we missed them

Hope you’re having a great Saturday night!  Good night!