Old man winter has decided to take up residence in my neck of the woods and boy is he hungry! To satisfy his craving and keep him warm I decided to treat him to a pot of Craftylittlmonkey’s Black Eyed Pea and Squash Soup. I can feel good making this dish when I use vegetables […]

I adore hearty soups for dinner, and this delicious crock pot vegetable lentil soup is my latest favorite! This slow-cooker lentil soup is a top pick from my readers! Crock Pot Vegetable Lentil Soup Recipe I originally found this recipe via an email sent by Forks Over Knives. I made just a couple small changes […]

The post Crock Pot Vegetable Lentil Soup appeared first on Dear Crissy.

Los Angeles magazine called it 'aggressively mediocre,' but its simple food and family-style seating reminded me of my Queens childhood.

This slow cooker taco soup with ground beef is so easy — and SO GOOD! It's perfect for busy weeks with flexible cooking times for any schedule. Serve with tortilla chips, cilantro-lime rice, or cornbread.

Continue reading "Slow Cooker Taco Soup" »

A stray cat from Las Vegas has lived to see another day thanks to kindhearted police officers who paused to remove a soup can wedged firmly onto the cat’s head. The lure of a salty, potent-smelling soup can was likely too tempting to resist for the cat who was hooked at the first taste. As…

The post Watch: Cops Save Helpless Stray Cat Found with Head Stuck in Soup Can appeared first on The Western Journal.

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 1 large brown onion, thinly sliced 2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger 1 small red chilli, finely chopped, optional 1 heaped teaspoons ground cumin 1 heaped teaspoon ground coriander teaspoon cinnamon 2 teaspoons #harissa 1 tablespoon sun-dried tomato pesto (or regular tomato paste) 1 kg carrots, peeled and fairly finely sliced 150g red lentils, thoroughly washed 1 x 400g can diced tomatoes 2 teaspoons raw sugar 2-3 teaspoons sea salt, to taste Freshly ground black pepper, to taste Approx.1 litres (6 cups) cool water (double-check next time I make it) Juice - 1 lemon (or lime), to taste 1 x 270ml can coconut cream # My favourite harissa is Chris Manfield's which is available in speciality food shops and on-line

Pumpkin soup on it's own can be rather plain but with interesting garnishes, the ordinary becomes delicious. This variation on a classic pesto, which uses pine nuts, incorporates roasted almonds instead, giving this ubiquitous winter soup a greater depth of flavour and crunch.

Fortunately Tuscan black kale (cavolo nero) with its sweet, earthy flavour is readily available now, however as it's gratifyingly hardy and easy to grow, if you have a small patch or pot to put some in I can't encourage you enough to do so; it will pay you back in spades. The crinkly blue/green leaves are quite tough, but with long, slow cooking they become tender and gently sweet, and that's the quality they give to this stick-to-your-ribs soup. I usually make it on the weekend when I have a bit more time to potter around in the kitchen, and love that it makes rather a lot (I've never been one to cook by halves! Although by all means make half the recipe if you'd rather not have leftovers) as having a tub tucked away in the fridge is like gold in the bank in a busy week. There's a fair bit of chopping required to start with, however once that's done the recipe is really straightforward.

This recipe features on Foodie Tuesday, a weekly segment on 774 Drive with Raf Epstein, 3.30PM, courtesy of Alice Zaslavsky,

A spicey version of a winter favourite

Cold damp weather prompts all manner of mushrooms and fungi to emerge from the forest floor. Having neighbours willing to share their regular harvest of field mushrooms is one of the many great privileges of living in the Southern Forests. However, this hearty winter soup can be equally delicious when made with cultivated mushrooms easily purchased from supermarkets and independent grocers.

1 large knob butter olive oil 500g chuck steak, diced 1 tablespoon Marmite 1 splash of Worcestershire sauce 1 red onion, peeled and chopped 2 carrots, peeled and chopped 3 sticks of celery, trimmed and chopped 1 bay leaf 1 sprig of fresh rosemary 1 tablespoon flour Good pinch of sea salt freshly ground black pepper 2 litres beef stock 150g pearl barley

This recipe features on Foodie Tuesday, a weekly segment on 774 Drive with Raf Epstein, 3.30PM, shared by Matt Purbrick author of Grown & Gathered.

This recipe features on Foodie Tuesday, a weekly segment on 774 Drive with Raf Epstein, 3.30PM

In the aftermath of this spring's teacher protests, more educators are running for state office—and the National Education Association is seizing on the political moment.

Scott H. Holan, Robert Lund, Ginger Davis

Source: Statist. Surv., Volume 4, 232--274.

Abstract:
Autoregressive moving-average (ARMA) difference equations are ubiquitous models for short memory time series and have parsimoniously described many stationary series. Variants of ARMA models have been proposed to describe more exotic series features such as long memory autocovariances, periodic autocovariances, and count support set structures. This review paper enumerates, compares, and contrasts the common variants of ARMA models in today’s literature. After the basic properties of ARMA models are reviewed, we tour ARMA variants that describe seasonal features, long memory behavior, multivariate series, changing variances (stochastic volatility) and integer counts. A list of ARMA variant acronyms is provided.

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He was talented and prosperous, but the young visionary worried the art world had left him behind. Then he discovered soup

In the aftermath of this spring's teacher protests, more educators are running for state office—and the National Education Association is seizing on the political moment.

Here is the short answer to the question of how many Microsoft products you can request: You can get 50 of each kind of product in a two-year period — but there are some exceptions.

See Microsoft products

What do you mean by "each kind of product"?

The Microsoft Donation Program divides products into categories called title groups. See the current list of 37. A title group contains products that serve essentially the same purpose, like PowerPoint and PowerPoint for Mac.

You can get products from 10 title groups in your two-year cycle.

When does this two-year cycle start and end? Is it the calendar year?

No. Your nonprofit has its own two-year cycle. Your first cycle started the day you requested your first Microsoft product through TechSoup. You can see when your current cycle ends on your Microsoft Donation Center page.

Outlook and PowerPoint are both title groups. Does that mean we can get 50 of each product?

That's right. They can be all the Windows version, all the Mac version, or a mixture of the two. And you will be able to request products from eight more title groups.

What are the exceptions you mentioned?

They have to do with servers. Microsoft offers two licensing models for its server products.

• Core-based licensing. This licensing is based on the number of cores in the physical processors of your server machines. The product page on TechSoup will tell you whether the server uses this type of licensing. You can request up to 50 of these products from each title group, the same as desktop products. But you might have to request more than one product to fully license all the processors in your server.
• Non-core-based licensing. You can request a total of five server products that do not use core-based licensing. They can be from a single title group or from different title groups, but the total cannot be more than five.

A lot of the title groups are for CALs and MLs. What are the limits for these?

You can get 50 from each title group.

CALs, or client access licenses, give you access to a server from a device like your desktop computer.

MLs, or management licenses, let your device be managed by a management server.

Where can I find out more?

This article goes into a lot more detail and gives examples of how the various allotments work together.

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Older adults are at an increased risk of lacking company and being socially isolated. Recent studies prove that a lack of social relationships is as strong a risk factor for mortality as are smoking, obesity, or a lack of physical activity. Enter Little Brothers.

Little Brothers is an effort dedicated to spreading awareness and relieving isolation and loneliness in elders, a problem that often goes unseen. Little Brothers is in 7 U.S. cities and 10 countries worldwide. Its mission is carried out by more than one nonprofit organization.

Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly San Francisco facilitates more than 4,000 friendly visits a year. Volunteers are matched with elders in San Francisco, and they form and build a relationship through home visits, outings, or common interests.

We recently met with Andrew Butler, the program manager at Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly San Francisco. He explained that many volunteers form a relationship with an elder, and their stereotypes about older people are quickly broken down.

"A lot of what we do is creating awareness. I think a lot of the information that we share through training or events really inspires people," said Butler. He also suggested that we speak with a member of Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly San Francisco, Andy Morgan, to get a proper feel for the organization.

Andy Morgan is a highly spiritual 86-year-old who loves to read. Originally from Transylvania, Andy came to San Francisco in 1962 and has worked a variety of jobs throughout his life.

However, he stresses that he has never defined himself by what he did for a living. Aside from books and his spirituality, Andy values personal relationships and enjoys company.

Our conversation with Andy revealed why Little Brothers' impact matters so much.

I wanted to ask if you have any main visitors.

Andy Morgan: Yeah! I have one main visitor come every week. Rain or shine, he comes and sees me. He brings me food from Trader Joe's, and he does my laundry.

Wow, that's a sweet deal. Would you share a particular visit that has stuck with you over the years?

There's nothing that stands out; every visit is enjoyable. What we usually do is grab a spiritual book, you know, all those books over there are on spirituality, and we read from it and then we discuss it. I've been on the spiritual path since the 1960s, so if he has any questions, I can try and clarify.

I was wondering what makes you happy.

What makes me happy? Knowing that my within-ness, that which makes me breathe and which makes me exist, is pure joy and pure love. When you do a lot of meditation, something opens up within you, and I just feel, practically all the time, this feeling of love and joy and peace.

Of course no one can maintain that 24/7, but I can always come back. If something goes wrong, I can just remind myself of my true nature.

That's beautiful. Thank you so much for opening your home to us.

My pleasure; it's been a joy having you guys. Could I just read you one very short poem? It says …

Be as a Flower

Truth is very simple
A flower does not try to be beautiful.
Its True Nature is Beauty.
Just by its Very Being.

In the same way, when you Awaken
To your true nature,
You will naturally exude Love,
Compassion, Beauty.
It is all you.
For it is your True Self.

(poem by Robert Adams)

TechSoup is proud to support our member, Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly San Francisco, in its mission to spread awareness about and help elders at risk of loneliness and isolation. There are incredible people like Andy all over the world who are at risk of being forgotten. But they should never be. TechSoup provides technology and services to Little Brothers staff members to help run their nonprofit so that they can focus on fighting the effects of elder isolation.

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If you're a frequent visitor to our site, you might notice a few changes in the coming weeks. That's because we're making some big improvements and are proud to announce the upcoming launch of the newly redesigned TechSoup.org.

As a social enterprise, we never stop working to better serve nonprofits that share in our commitment to building a more equitable planet. In fact, TechSoup currently works with more than 965,000 NGOs in 236 countries and territories and has facilitated over $9 billion in U.S. market value of in-kind technology and funding.

To that end, we've created a refreshed, modern web presence to streamline access to all our traditional and beloved products and services. It will also serve as the place where TechSoup technologies and services are first announced.

The new TechSoup.org has been optimized for mobile devices, so you'll be able to experience all the new functionality wherever you go. We've also built the site with accessibility in mind on several fronts. And we're launching a new blog.

Our new website will officially go live in early November.

A Streamlined User Experience

Nonprofits who are regular visitors to TechSoup will find a streamlined catalog that makes finding product offers and solutions easier and more efficient. Additionally, the home page has been reconfigured, sending a clearer message of who we are and what we offer as an organization.

"We reduced clutter and developed a cleaner, simpler user experience with more breathing room in the interface to encourage users to do what they are intended to do on the site," says TechSoup head of user experience Tyler Benari. "It will now be easier to benefit from offerings available in and out of our catalog, interact with others in the nonprofit community, and gain access to other TechSoup services."

Maximized for Mobile

TechSoup's updated website will be maximized for mobile devices, allowing nonprofit staffers to take advantage of the many offers on TechSoup.org right from their phone or tablet.

"It's an exciting time," Benari says. "We will now be able to literally get TechSoup into more people's hands. Redesigning the site to be more mobile-friendly will allow us to grow our community much faster and better serve the existing nonprofits we love so much."

Improved Accessibility

The newly redesigned TechSoup.org also features greater accessibility and is informed by Web Content Accessibility 2.0 Guidelines (WCAG).

"TechSoup cares very much about accessibility and enabling access for all people," Benari says, describing two key factors that have been improved upon: contrast and code. "Our new color scheme makes it easier for people with impaired vision to access content on the site, and our code was updated to better communicate with screen readers."

A New Blog Platform

Finally, we're excited to introduce our new blog, more suited to integrate existing TechSoup.org content in a single, easy-to-access location. We've given the platform an upgrade, complete with a fresh look and improved functionality aimed to make blog posts more easily shareable and to promote a more robust multimedia experience.

You'll continue to see improvements in the coming months as we receive feedback from the communities we serve. Also, be on the lookout for more information surrounding the new site, including a webinar and short video.

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Today's lesson in Cooking as a Grown-Ass adult: Blenders are used for more than frozen margs in summer and collecting dust in winter.

Hot soup without a stove, coffee without a coffee maker, and whipped cream without a hand mixer are just a few of the tasks these multitasking appliances can tackle. Similar to the way the mystical Instant Pot replaces a sauté pan or slow cooker, blenders can expand your meal possibilities tenfold without the clutter of multiple machines. Read more...

Turkish cuisine is one of the richest in the world when it comes to soups. Most Turks prefer to begin their lunches and dinners with soup, which is why you can find an incredible variety and depth in this culinary area. Click through for the top 10 soup restaurants across Turkey, selected by the Hürriyet jury of gourmets and food researchers...

Souplantation's owner says there was no way the restaurants' longtime self-serve model could survive in the era of COVID-19

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