Graffiti on my coat: the solution!

A number of weeks ago I tossed up a short post telling you all the sad story of how, the previous morning, I had unwittingly leaned up against some wet graffiti on my train ride into work. I have one warm winter coat that fulfills all my needs, and since I was determined that some punk graffiti artist was not going to coerce me into buying new winterwear by means of his moist silver tag, I could either figure out how to clean it or live with the streaks and splotches forevah-evah. Here is the coat in question:

And here is the damage on the sleeve . . .

. . . and on the side, towards the bottom.

Not huge marks–but definitely noticeable. And annoying.

Two days after getting the graffiti on my coat, I was at a women’s breakfast/brunch that Traci (our pastor’s wife) was hosting. During the course of conversation, she and another mom were talking about occasions their kids had drawn all over stuff–walls, upholstery, etc. And then Traci mentioned how she had removed ink stains from their beige couch with her Tide magic marker. I perked up. A magic stain-removing marker? I rushed out of the room, grabbed my coat and shoved it towards Traci. “What about this?? Will the magic marker get this graffiti out??”

Traci genially applied her magic Tide marker. And it started working.

Needless to say, I bought my own at the grocery store that same afternoon and went to work on the coat.

I worked on the stain on and off for a couple weeks, carrying the marker around in the pocket of my coat so that I could pull it out whenever I had time to sit and rub at the paint with vigor. And after some time and diligence, it is mostly gone, with only a shadow left where the original stains were. Want to see the maker in action?

Here’s a small part of the stain up close . . .

Now let’s apply the magic.

Scrubbity dubbity dub . . .

. . . three men in a tub . . . the butcher, the baker . . . Huh? Three men in a tub? What’s this nursery rhyme about, anyway?

Moving on.

See how quickly it faded the silver? I’ll show you the ‘erased’ spot in contrast with the larger stain.

It’s still a little wet from the Tide liquid, but you get the idea.

And I have to say for any Doubting Daisies–this is no paid product endorsement or any such thing. This is simply a product I pounced on when Traci mentioned it because I was desperate to reclaim my winter coat from whatever gang tried to destroy it.

I also heard from Shalice (at the same women’s gathering) that a little Hydrogen Peroxide takes care of most blood stains. Well, I happen to have this nagging little blood stain on a perfectly great dress that I haven’t been able to remove even after repeated applications of Lestoil.

So I grabbed the peroxide . . .

. . . and thus endeth the story.

Because unfortunately, the peroxide was old and had lost all its bubbles, impeding me from carrying forth with the experiment. But I will resume this topic once I get a new bottle at the grocery store!

Creamy Cauliflower Cheddar Soup

I’ve been delaying my post on this fabulous soup because my pictures are butt ugly and I was ashamed to share them with you. Butt. Ugly. Something about the pasty color, the lack of light in my kitchen, the glare of the flash–it was a depressing food shoot. But I’m swallowing my feelings about the pictures because this soup is worth it. With potatoes and cheese and cauliflower and a dash of mustard, it’s comforting and wonderful, and it would be a crime if a little picture trouble prevented me from putting it out there.

I didn’t realize how wonderful this soup was at first because I consumed most of my bowl while the soup was still hot as blazes. As the taste buds were nearly burned out of my mouth, I pondered “this soup is okay–yeah, I guess it’s pretty good.” But once the soup had cooled down, my taste buds had recovered from the shock and I actually started tasting the thing, my enthusiasm grew. It was really good, and I regretted not waiting for it to cool down to a tasteable temperature from the get-go.

So after that heart-warming story, let’s make it! From this recipe on Amy’s amazing blog (Very Culinary), let’s welcome our guest of honor, Creamy Cauliflower Cheddar Soupdiddly-oup-diddly-oup.

Ingredients

(Serves 5)

2 TBS butter
2 shallots
1 yellow onion
Kosher salt, to taste
1 medium potato
2 cloves garlic
3 ½ cups vegetable broth
½ head of cauliflower
2/3 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 tsp Dijon mustard

There are the ingredients . . . but have I forgotten something?

Yes! The potato.

Okay, we are now complete.

Sorry, I can’t say the word “complete” without thinking of the Emperor. “Your journey towards the dark side will be complete.” Seriously, say “complete” like the Emperor does. It’s addicting.

Chop the potato into smallish cubes (peel only if desired–I didn’t desire).

Chop up the shallots and onion.

Mince the garlic too! But you’ve seen enough pictures of me mincing garlic. Right? No? Okay, fine.

But just because you asked.

The mincing of the garlic will be complete.

Chop the cauliflower into small florets–but no need to be pretty here. A rough chop will do, because it will all be pureed anyway.

Shred the cheese–and shred extra so that there’s plenty for garnish.

And by “garnish” I mean that gooey, wonderful mess on top of the soup that will make your mouth water and your eyes leak tears of gratitude for the human being who first created this thing called “cheese.”

Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the shallots and onion and cook for 3 minutes, until softened.

And one more time . . . the softening of the onions will be complete.

Okay, okay. I won’t do it again . . . in writing.

But I’ll be doing it in my mind.

Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add a sprinkling of salt, the cubed potato, and the vegetable broth.

 Bring to a boil, then cover the pot . . .

. . . lower the heat, and simmer for 8 minutes (until the potatoes are tender).

Add the cauliflower . . .

. . . cover the pot again, and cook for another 10 minutes.

Puree the soup to your desired consistency with an immersion blender:

I like mine with a little chunk still left in it.

Now, stir in the cheese and mustard. I had it prepped in a pile–doesn’t it look attractive? Altogether yummy?

Or not.

Thankfully it will all disappear into the creamy bowels of the soup. One might even say that the disappearing of the cheese and mustard into the soup will be . . .

*resisting* *resisting*

Taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt and black pepper if needed.

Serve with extra cheese sprinkled on top!

Not the most photogenic of soups–but delicious! The subtle tang of mustard is just perfect.

Thank you Amy for another great recipe!

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