Things they didn't tell you 00039

On the 7the of 2007: The Great Delusion

Brought you by Richard Dawkins

Hey...What's that sound?! 00025

Listen to the web and catch them if you can.

Gregory and the Hawk

While browsing YouTube I was under the charm of this Ergo Proxy AMV. It took a while to find the artist 'Gregory and the Hawk' and real song name 'Boats and Birds', but so nice for the old eardrums.

Enjoy Gregory and the Hawk.

Things they didn't tell you 00038

Killer wave @ home

For a sience fair project, Arielle Reynolds was thinking that the structure or energy of the water may be compromised by microwave. It turned out even worse as the cellphone project...

Brought you by Arielle

Deli Blitz 00013


Sammy's Nettle Soup


As it's a nettle soup, they ought to measure up too at least half the volume of the ingredients. Many recipes make use of a pre-made stock, mostly chicken stock. But then, what use to make a vegetable soup when our vegetarian friends can't enjoy it? Thus the remaining ingredients will make up the base of the soup.

A bucket or grocery bag of freshly picked young nettle tops is more or less half a kilo. It is important to only pick young nettles whom grow away from traffic and on a patch that isn't threaten with herbi-or pesticides the last years. The top 4 to 6 leaves are the best to cook with and please do not forget your gloves.

For the base you can use any soup vegetables you like, celery, leaks, onions, carrots, beans, broccoli, whatever really. The ones you find in the recipe below just happen to be in my fridge last Saturday.


What you need

• Olive oil


• 500gr Soup vegetables (i.e.+/- 100gr onion, celery, parslay, brocoli and carrots)


• 4 cloves of garlic


• 4 bayleaves


• thym


• A thumbsize fresh ginger


• Salt & Pepper


• 2 too 3 liters of hot water


• 500gr young nettles


• 200ml cream


• A cauldron, a very large cooking pot

• For the base, cover the bottom of a fairly big cauldron with olive oil and add all the chopped vegetables, crushed garlic, bay leaves, thyme, choped ginger and season with salt and pepper.


• Turn up the heat until they start to fry, lower it then to a gentle fire to let them simmer slowly. Once the onions get translucent, cover the cauldron and let them sweat with the lid on for about 5 minutes.


• Add the hot water, turn up the fire and bring it to a boil. 2 litres will make a thick creamy texture and 3 litres will give you a more liquid soup. I used about 2.25liters.


• Once it is boiling, add the chopped nettles. Like spinach they'll loose quickly their volume, but you'll appreciate to be cooking with a big kettle at this point. Stir the mixture, put the lid back on and let it gently boil for 10 minutes.


• After those 10 minutes you turn off the heat and blend the mixture well. To finish you can add some cream to make it richer.


• Serve warm, preferably in good company.

Quote of the week 00037

Nomen et omen

His name is a forbode.

Brought you by Godelieve.