Ten for 50 - Grandma's Not-so-secret Recipes

Me and my groovy granny, sometime in the '70s

My grandma passed away last fall.  I am very sad and miss her but also understand that she had a good long life and is no longer in pain.  Plus, I am very lucky to get to be my age and still have had a living grandparent.  I have been comforting myself with fun memories.  With this grandma, memories include cooking and baking.  There were always cookies in the house and we all knew where to find them (coffee can in the freezer).  She shared recipes, tips and advice with me over many years in the kitchen.  I'll share some with you in this post and in future posts as well.

Chicken soup with dumplings or home-made egg noodles

This is my version of a more recent meal I learned from Grandma, and she reminded me more than once as I made this at her house that the secret is NO PEEKING.  When I talked to her earlier in 2020, I reminded her of this and she was adamant once again that this is the secret to soft fluffy dumplings. It seems some people can never seem to resist a peek.  Tough dumplings for them!  I have pots with glass lids so I can see what is going on without peeking.  At Grandma's I was using chicken "boobs" and broth someone else had cooked up for her, no salt added for her dietary reasons, and I made the dumplings with (secret ingredient alert!) Bisquick.  Here, I have added some seasonings I think she would have enjoyed, still keeping low-salt but more flavorful, and mixed up the dumplings from scratch.  I have posted about chicken soup before but to keep the full recipe in one spot, will add it again in this post.

If you are in a pinch for time, you can use store-bought broth (I prefer the low-sodium so I can adjust the salt and seasonings to my taste) and pre-cooked (rotisserie) chicken.  Just jazz it up with kosher salt, pepper, and your preferred seasonings - I like Justice from Penzey's for all of my soups (adds a ton of flavor and it is salt free). Thyme, parsley, or rosemary are also good.

Chicken and Broth

Use the carcass of a rotisserie or roast chicken (best for flavor, and I will often put the carcass in a large plastic bag and keep in the freezer until I am ready to make stock) or whatever chicken I have on hand (usually boneless skinless breasts)  Simmer in a large pot of water with an onion, a couple carrots and some celery (all chopped up), a couple cloves of garlic (peeled but whole) and some herbs, fresh or dried (thyme, bay leaves, parsley, peppercorns).  Simmer until chicken is done (if raw) or until it falls off the bone (for leftover whole chicken).  Skim off any fat or that foamy stuff.  I remove all the veggies and the bay leaves (bay leaves don't get to stay in anything, and the veggies will have all the flavor cooked out anyway).  Chop the chicken into bite-size pieces and toss it back in the stock.  Taste the stock and add seasoning as needed.  I like Justice from Penzey's spices for no-salt option with a ton of flavor - use generously.  If you like, you can add some salt (coarse kosher works best). 

At this point, you have options - so many options!  Add veggies (fresh or frozen, almost any kind), add more chicken if you were using carcass with little meat left on it, add a starch - noodles thick or thin (Grandma's recipe for egg noodles below), home-made or store-bought; rice brown, white or wild; or dumplings.

Dumplings (Betty Crocker’s recipe – my notes in parentheses)

3 Tbsp. shortening

1 ½ C all-purpose flour - if using self-rising flour, omit baking powder and salt
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¾ C milk

Can add ½ tsp dried herbs such as thyme, sage or celery seed, or 3 Tbsp chopped fresh herbs such as parsley or chives, or for a cheesy dumpling add ¼ cup shredded sharp cheese with the flour.

Cut shortening into flour, baking powder and salt with pastry blender until mixture resembles fine crumbs.  Stir in milk.  Drop dough by spoonfuls (or use Pampered Chef or similar scoops – I have found the medium size PC one works perfectly) onto hot meat or vegetables in boiling stew/soup (do not drop directly into liquid, if you can help it – they fall apart). Cook uncovered 10 minutes.  Cover and cook 10 minutes longer (DO NOT PEEK!)
Makes 10 dumplings.

Egg Noodles (recipe from Grandma)

3 eggs + 1 tsp salt (beat)
1 Tbsp butter
2 C plus 2 Tbsp flour

Add flour and butter to eggs and salt.  Mix into stiff dough.  Divide dough in 2.  Round up into a ball, roll thin and let dry slightly.  Fold over into a roll and cut into ¼” slices (a pizza cutter works well).  Toss apart and dry thoroughly.  Cook in rapidly boiling broth or soup.
Serves 6-8

Feel the love in your tummy when you enjoy this soup with family or friends. Grandma would be happy to know you made it with love (and only a teensy bit of salt).

Fifty for 50 Tally

Books completed – 11 (5 more in progress)

Recipes tried – 10

Blog posts published– 10

Miles walked in March - 21.98

                Miles walked year-to-date –99.79

Scrap book pages completed –12

Hats donated – 16

Hours volunteered – 0

Until we eat again,

Hallie

Six for 50 - Decluttering is the Enemy (or is it?)

Zeke sometimes sits on my desk and judges me

I spent this past week training/on-boarding 2 new hires to my company.  Training is my main job and I do enjoy this part of it, but I have to say, being "on" all day is really a lot of work for me, and pretty tiring.  I was happy to have the weekend to relax.  I was "on" again for Zoom book club last night and by the end was tired.  I tried to bail saying I needed to get the garbage ready to go out, until they reminded me it was only Saturday.  Sorry, book club, I was getting tired!

Training was the usual array of system issues, coupled with trying to do everything virtually.  There was a fair amount of demands for sharing screen so I could see what was going on, and then requests for control so I could just do the 10 steps needed, vs. describing them.  ("Click the 3 little dots.  No, not the ones in the top bar, the ones in the blue bar.")  It is easier when I just push people out of their chairs and set it up myself.

We tried something new this week - Nordic Walking.  We had a one hour class to show us how to get poles that fit, and then how to use the things.  It is a way to get more of a whole-body workout from just walking.  It was fun and easy (even though I had trouble getting out of my own head and kept bringing up my right hand and right foot at the same time, vs. opposite hand and foot) and we got some poles to try out for a couple of weeks.  We used them during the class and then took our usual afternoon walk (1.2 mile loop) with the poles.  I guess it works because I had tired muscles in my arms and my core (though it didn't really feel like I was doing much while I was actually walking).  Then the outside temps sunk to the single digits or below zero.  Eric has been walking (I think it was -13 when he went out today) but I am a fairweather walker and even with all the layers won't walk when it is below about +15.  Due to some good walks early in the week (and Nordic walking class), I have 8.1 miles in this month.

2 new recipes this week!  And this is where "decluttering is the enemy" comes in.  In my quest to clean up my photos on my phone, I deleted the picture I took of the first recipe!  I was thinking I would have to describe it for you instead but then, when I went to upload the pic for the 2nd recipe, I discovered that I had already forwarded myself the other photo before I deleted from my phone!  Yay me!

Recipe Five

Another soup!  We had it for dinner 3 nights in a row, with breadsticks or crackers.  It is a recipe that tastes even better the 2nd time, so either let it simmer for 30 minutes as it suggests or cook and save for another day.  I love stuffed peppers - E not so much but he will eat finely chopped and well cooked peppers.  This soup is a winner because it has all those great stuffed pepper flavors, plus is easy and filling.

Stuffed Pepper Soup

adapted from Cooking Classy website - I'll help you out and give you not only the ingredients list but also how much of it to use (plus none of those freaking annoying pop-ups or ads. While I don't make any money from this blog, I also do not have annoying ads all over the place.).  I also skipped the olive oil for browning the beef (it is not needed) and cooked peppers with the beef instead of separately (helps the flavors blend and saves time too).  

the photo that once was lost but now is found

1 lb lean ground beef

3/4 C chopped green bell pepper (about 1/2 large pepper)

3/4 C chopped red bell pepper (about 1/2 large pepper)

1 C chopped yellow onion (about 1 small onion - we did not add this because someone doesn't like onion here)

2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1/2 t dried basil

1/4 t dried oregano

2 1/2 T fresh parsley (I used about 1 T dried)

28 oz can petite diced tomatos with juice (I used my immersion blender for a quick puree, leaving a few small chunks)

15 oz can tomato sauce

14 oz beef broth (can use canned.  I used Penzey's beef base and hot water)

1 C cooked white or brown rice (I used Trader Joe's frozen organic brown rice, not the whole packet)

shredded cheddar or mozzarella to top soup

In a large pot (I used Dutch oven), brown ground beef with peppers and onions until beef is cooked through and veggies are soft. Add salt and pepper to beef while cooking.

Add in tomatoes, tomato sauce, broth, and herbs.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer 30 minutes (or 15 if you are like me and impatient/hungry).  Prepare rice while soup simmers.

Add rice into soup.  Sprinkle each bowl with cheese, if desired.

Makes 6 servings.

Recipe Six

This was a quick recipe from the Star Tribune.  After calculating the calories per serving, I eliminated part of the pasta and half of the ingredients for the sauce.  It was still very good and very filling at almost half the calories.  I did not need a dinner of over 800 calories.  I'll present it as I made it last night. The toasted sliced almonds really add a nice crunchiness and flavor - don't over cook them!

Pasta with Creamy Avocado Sauce

Serves 2.

6 oz pasta (we used farfalle/bow ties)

1 avocado

6 T chopped fresh parsley (I used about 1 T dried parsley - did not measure)

Grated zest of one lemon, plus 1 T juice (ended up with very little zest because I forgot and cut the lemon in half first, making it really hard to zest.  The full/as published in paper recipe called for 1 T and I decided I needed that full amount for flavor even though I only used 1 avocado vs. 2)

1 T olive oil

1 T grated Parmesan (recipe called for nutritional yeast which would allow this to recipe to be vegan but said could sub parm, so I did.  Because I don't have nutritional yeast and was not about to buy it just for this recipe.)

1 clove garlic, minced or pressed

1/2 chile or few pinches of chile flakes (I had some red pepper flakes so used that, but less than a pinch because I am a wuss)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 T sliced almonds

Boil pasta according to directions on package.  

Halve the avocado, remove stone (duh) and scoop flesh into a bowl.  Add parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, cheese, garlic and chili. Season with salt and pepper. Blend together (I used a potato masher), taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Toast the almonds in a dry skillet until golden brown.

Drain the pasta and stir together with the avocado sauce ("sauce" will be thick like guacamole).  Divide between 2 bowls, sprinkle with lemon zest (or if you are me, you don't because you didn't read the directions and had stirred zest into the sauce) and scatter sliced almonds atop the dish.  

You can also serve with fresh spinach or arugula.

Book 5

Becoming by Michele Obama - this book was shared with me by a coworker who I adore.  She mailed it to me a couple months ago and said when I am done, I can pass it on.  I enjoyed this book and though I already knew a lot about the presidency of Barack Obama, I didn't know much about the First Lady, other than that she is classy, smart and compassionate.  I was delighted to learn more about her childhood, college years and first job, and then behind the scenes at the Obama home while Barack was first in state politics (and away from home most of the week) and then on the path to the White House, plus what it was like to live in the spotlight and in the White House.  Good book - I would recommend to most anyone. 

Hindsight 2020

Speaking of books, and picking up where I left off last week, here are the rest of the books I read in 2020.  The * indicate a book club selection.

 *This Tender Land byt Wiliam Kent Krueger (MN author, this was the 2nd book we have read by him.  This one was part Huck Finn, part Homer's Odyssey, and all around a pretty good read.  It takes place in MN during the depression and the main characters are orphan brothers.  I really do need to read The Odyssey sometime because the story line keeps coming up in other books.)

Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah (Funny, 'cuz Trevor Noah, but also racially enlightening.  I laughed and cried, sometimes on the same page and love his mother. Very good book.)

White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism by Robin DiAngelo (I read this one for a book club we had at work, starting it after, but finishing before, How to Be an Antiracist (below).  I found it easy to understand and we had some good discussion about it at work.)

100 Cookies: The Baking Book for Every Kitchen by Sarah Kieffer (I like this cookie book a lot.  Directions are easy to follow and though I have only made 2 of the recipes so far, the results are delicious.  I love that she gies the basics and then also options to jazz up those basic recipes. I can't wait to try the pan-banging recipes which went viral after being written about in the New York Times, earning their own hashtag.  Look for cookie posts in the future.)

How To Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi (Another for the at work book club, I liked how he interwove his personal story with different aspects about racism and antiracism to illustrate his points.  This one is worth a re-read.)

Talk Before Sleep  by Elizabeth Berg (Berg is a solid writer and this book did not disappoint.  It was not my favorite of hers - Joy School probably is - but it was a good read about women friends.  One of the main characters, Ruth, is dying of cancer, we know that from the beginning.  Seeing the relationship between her and Ann made me appreciate my own friendships, and know that I have people in my life who are there to laugh and cry with.)

Charlotte's Web by E. B. White 

My review from Goodreads:

I’ve read this book a number of times: as a child, as a young adult aloud to children, and as an adult. I’ve seen the movie as well. And I always have loved the story and characters. I read it again this year though apprehensively, because I was afraid I would be too sad at the end and really who needs more sadness this year?? But as I read, I really was struck by the beautifully crafted story, the rich descriptions, and fully developed characters. Who knew there could be so much humanity in a pig, a spider or a rat? I felt like I was right there at the farm, and knew exactly how it smelled and what the air felt like. Amazing work, E.B. White. Adding more reads or rereads from this author to my lis

*The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson (This was an interesting book from a few different perspectives and I learned about the blue people of Kentucky as well as about the Pack Horse Library Project which brought books and other materials to the people in the hills of Kentucky during the Great Depression.  Good discussion for book club as well.)

The Natural by Bernard Malamud (This is one I read aloud in the car so it took a really long time for us to get through it because we weren't in the car very much last year!  I don't remember the movie very well but this was an interesting story about a baseball player in the early part of the last century.  I am not the hugest baseball fan and the writing is a little old-fashioned but it was a good story and made me want to keep reading to find out what would happen with Roy.)

*Last Orders by Graham Swift (another re-read of an early book club selection, and another story involving death and frienships, this time the friendships of men.  I would have enjoyed my re-read more if I hadn't stopped and started so much - I had trouble keeping the characters straight until I really focused on it and made a chart.)

Fifty for 50 Tally

Books completed – 5 (4 more in progress)

Recipes tried – 6

Blog posts published– 6

Miles walked in February – 8.1

                Miles walked year-to-date –51.87

Scrap book pages completed –6

Hats donated – 6

Hours volunteered – 0

Until we read and eat again,

Hallie

Two for 50 – And so the adventure begins

 

Despite the troubling chaos mid-week, or maybe because of it, I tried to focus back on what I can control.  I kept walking, started reading a childhood favorite to escape, tried a new recipe, and kept my fingers busy knitting a new baby hat.  It didn’t stop me from asking “what the holy hell is going on???!” repeatedly but it helped some. 

Fifty for 50 Tally

Books completed – 0 (3 started)

Recipes tried – 1

Blog posts published– 2

Miles walked in January –16.5

                Miles walked year-to-date –16.5

Scrap book pages completed –0

Hats donated – 0 (3 ready)

Hours volunteered – 0

 

Recipe One - Smoky Chicken, Tomato, Brown Rice, and Corn Soup

It is the soup time of the year and I LOVE soups.  This recipe came from a grocery store magazine called Real Food that I picked up, apparently, in Fall 2009.  I have been meaning to try it ever since. I’ll enter it here as published, my comments or changes in parentheses.  Capital T = tablespoon, small t = teaspoon.  We liked this soup and would make it again – it was easy, very flavorful, and a nice winter dinner served with breadsticks or biscuits.  All the main ingredients are usually stocked at my house.

Smoky Chicken, Tomato, Brown Rice, and Corn Soup (gotta love a title that tells you almost every single ingredient)

Use cooked chicken leftover from a rotisserie chicken for this quick, easy and substantial soup.

2 T extra-virgin olive oil (I used garlic olive oil when I discovered I was out of garlic)

1 C chopped onion

1 garlic clove, finely chopped (see above)

2 t smoked paprika (Penzey’s for me, naturally)

1 t ground cumin

1 can – 28 oz – peeled plum tomatoes, with juices (used petite diced because that was what I had)

1 ½ C cubed leftover cooked chicken (used rotisserie chicken I had in the freezer)

3 to 4 C reduced sodium chicken broth (used 3 C water with Penzey’s soup base)

½ to 1 C leftover cooked brown rice, bulgur, quinoa, or other grain (used one bag of Trader Joe’s organic brown rice from frozen section – microwave 3 min and it is cooked, used all of it because I didn’t want a cup of cooked rice hanging around in the fridge)

1 C fresh, frozen or canned corn kernels (Trader Joe’s frozen corn because we always have it on hand)

½ C chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems, divided (I used Boathouse instant fresh herbs cilantro, about 2 T.  They are freeze dried and are as good as fresh once rehydrated, plus do not get slimy in the fridge when you forget about them)

¼ C pitted Kalamata olives, coarsely chopped (we did not add these)

1 T minced jalapeno, or to taste (did not have and I don’t love jalapeno.  I did add a couple shakes of red pepper flakes though, for a touch of heat)

2 T fresh lime juice (I used some from concentrate squeeze bottle stuff.  I almost skipped it entirely but after tasting it before and after addition of lime, would definitely recommend it.  It makes the soup less tomato-y one note.)

½ C plain low-fat yogurt (I added a dollop to my serving, but it really didn’t do much so would probably skip it in the future)

Heat the oil in a large, broad soup pot over medium heat. When hot, add the onion and cook, stirring, until golden, about 10 minutes (did NOT take 10 minutes - watch this so you don't burn it). Stir in the garlic and cook 1 minute (didn’t use garlic but suspect 1 min would be too long for this too). Turn off the heat and stir in the paprika and cumin.

Puree the tomatoes in a food processor (I added mine to the onion and pureed the lot with immersion blender so as to hide the onions).  Add the chicken and pulse once or twice or until chopped into small pieces (didn’t do this because I had cubed by hand). Add to the pot with the sautéed onion and spices. Add 3 cups of the broth and heat to simmering. Stir in the rice, corn, half of the cilantro leaves, olives and jalapeno. Heat, stirring, over low heat. Add remaining cup of broth to thin the soup if desired.

When the soup is hot remove from heat and add lime juice. Ladle the soup into bowls and place a spoonful of yogurt in the center of each bowl. Sprinkle the remaining cilantro over the top, dividing evenly (I didn’t do this).

I had 5 generous portions, especially with the additional rice in there. 

 

2020 Highlights and Reflections

Last week, before my blog post, I spent a good amount of time reflecting on 2020 (titled ‘Hindsight 2020’ in my journal – and yes, I felt clever).  I read 30 books, got stuff done at home and in the yard that had been fairly neglected, cooked hundreds of meals.  It was a crappy year in many ways but also had some shimmery parts to it.  I didn’t read as many books as I thought I would – I had trouble focusing for a good part of the year – but I did get 30 read.  I lost weight and ate better than I have in a long time.  I spent good quality (and quantity) time with my husband.  I learned about laundering money (binge-watched Ozark), forensic anthropology (all 12 seasons of Bones) and cattle ranching (Yellowstone), plus various other topics courtesy a variety of streaming services.  I scrap-booked once at a retreat, once at a virtual crop and then a few times on my own. Christmas cards and birthday cards were made AND mailed.  I walked over 800 miles, despite weather and a couple months of back pain that had me doing physical therapy.

Knitting has long been a source of solace for me.  As Elizabeth Zimmerman has said, “Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn’t hurt the untroubled spirit either.”  In April, I knit a cowl of gray soft baby alpaca yarn and called it my COVID cowl.  The pattern was easy to work, and the entire garment was sort of meditation. Then I started a sweater (corona crewneck?) with some yarn I have had for at least 10 years – soft blue wool – and began a top-down seamless crewneck knit in the round, without a pattern (just a general plan). Before summer and gardening season, I had the entire body of it, plus one whole sleeve, done.  And then it sat until about November.  I finished the last sleeve the beginning of December and it fits beautifully.  December found me working with angora rabbit wool to make some fuzzy warm mittens.  They are also are light gray color and the finished product is like plunging my fingers into the cat’s fur.  Warm and cozy – I better not lose them!  My next project will be to make a string to thread through my jacket like I had when I was 5.

Whew!  That was a long post.

Until we read or eat again,

Hallie

This One is for Slow Cooking Stephanie

I have been sad for the past couple weeks because my scrapbooking friend Mary passed away.  She had a very challenging last 11 months after discovering she had kidney cancer that had metastasized to her brain.  I can't write about Mary right now though.  I was just at her funeral yesterday and it is still too fresh.  Maybe some other time.

Eating: Today's post was inspired by my good friend Stephanie who has recently acquired a crock pot, aka slow cooker.  I volunteered to send her some recipes and then for the past few weeks have neglected to send them.  So, being lazy resourceful, I figured I would dedicate a blog post to my favorite crock pot recipes and send Steph a link.  I know there are lots of blogs entirely devoted to crock pot recipes.  You can read those if you like.  This is not one of them.

Chicken Stew
I blogged this one before, but it is so yummy, I will post it again. I received this recipe in a flyer for a grocery delivery service.

1 to 1.5# chicken breast, cut into 1-2" pieces
1 t olive oil
28 oz Pot Roast Mix (or 1 large onion, 5 medium potatoes, 2 carrots and 2 stalks celery, all chopped into large chunks)
1 t poultry seasoning
1/4 t salt
1 1/2 C chicken broth
1 1/2 C heavy whipping cream
2/3 C flour
1/2 C frozen peas
1/4 C parsley, chopped

Saute chicken pieces in olive oil for 3-4 minutes until chicken browns just on the outside. Place chicken in bottom of crockpot. Add vegetables (except peas), poultry seasoning, salt and chicken broth. Combine flour and whipping cream and whisk together. Add to crockpot. Stir all ingredients together to combine. Cover and cook on Low for 8-10 hours or on High for 5 hours. 5 minutes before serving, stir in peas and fresh parsley. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with bread or biscuits and a salad.

Hamburger Soup
This one was also posted in one of my soup posts awhile back.  Since it is so easy, though, I feel I need to post again.  I like recipes that use the "dump into the crock pot" method, without having to brown stuff.  Only a paragraph long, how can you not love this one?  This recipe came from Kate whose children I babysat back in about 1995.

Crumble 1 lb ground beef into slow-cooker. Add 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp oregano, 1/4 tsp basil, 1/4 tsp seasoned salt, and 1 envelope onion soup mix. Stir in 3 C boiling water, 8 oz can tomato sauce, 1 Tbls soy sauce. Add 1 C sliced celery and 1 C thinly sliced carrots. Cover an cook on low 6-8 hours. Turn on high - add 1 C macaroni (cooked) and 1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese. Cover and cook 10-15 minutes.

Crock Pot Chicken
As you may know, we have been getting a chicken share (like a share of a CSA but it is whole chickens) from a local chicken guy (we call him Dave the Chicken Man) the past couple of years.  Until that time, I had never cooked a whole chicken before.  We have tried a few roast chicken recipes.  This one is the easiest I have found.  The chicken comes out so tender it literally falls off the bone (please note, this is the correct sense of the term "literally" whereby I mean that if you pick the chicken up by, say, the end of the drumstick/leg bone, the meat will separate itself from the bone and you will be left holding a completely nude bone).  You could adjust the seasonings to your own preferences and tastes but we really liked the strong smoked paprika flavor of this.  We used Penzey's Smoked Spanish Paprika, of course.  The recipe came from a website called "100 days of real food".  I can't tell if the author of that website created the recipe or just posted it. 

2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne (red) pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 onion
1 chicken (3-4 pounds)

Roughly chop 1 onion and place in crockpot.  Mix together seasonings and rub over the chicken, including under the skin (it really helps get the flavor into the meat when it is rubbed under the skin). Cook on High for 4-5 hours.  We make gravy from the drippings in pan and serve with mashed potatoes and a veggie on the side.

BBQ Pulled Pork
This one is so easy, I hesitate to even add it.  But I love pulled pork and I know Steph is a fan also.  Making it in the slow cooker, you lose the nice bark that you would get cooking it the traditional way, but it is so much easier.  This recipe is based on one seen on "Closet Cooking".

Place a pork butt (about 3#) in the crockpot.  Add 1/2 C of your favorite BBQ sauce.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  Remove pork and let it cool slightly.  Skim fat off the juices.  Simmer juices to reduce and add as much of the juice as you like to another 1/2 C BBQ sauce.  Pull (aka shred) the pork using 2 forks.  Mix with the BBQ sauce/juice mixture.  Serve on buns with some creamy cole slaw.

I have read that you can use the dough hook attachment on your stand mixer to pull/shred pork and chicken but have not tried it.  E is really good at shredding, so he usually does it, using the 2-fork method.

And there you have 4 crock pot recipes to try.  Bon Apetit, Stephanie!

Until we eat again,
Hallie

When Life Gives You Kale, part 2;

Eating: You may recall a few weeks back, part one of this post, about what to do with abundances of certain types of produce.  Well, now I have a bunch of beets (actually, I still have roasted beets in the freezer from last year) and some large cabbage, as well as several pounds of apples we picked.  Here are some more recipes in the same spirit as When Life Gives You Kale, Make Kale Chips.  I am thinking of cross-stitching that saying and hanging on the wall.  By the way, I really really like that roasted tomato soup recipe I posted last time.

Beets.  Was there ever a  vegetable that divided groups of people more?  Well, maybe brussel sprouts but more on those later.  Beets seem to be something you like or something you definitely do not like.  I like beets.  I liked them canned when I was a kid, I like pickled beets, I like them in a salad.  But...there is a such thing as too many beets for me.  I think part of it is that I don't know a lot of ways to prepare them and so when I have a lot of them, I am overwhelmed and get tired of the roasted-beets-as-side-dish preparation.  So I found something new to do with them: Roasted Beet Borscht.  In the same vein as carrot soup and zucchini soup, this is a pureed soup.  I made one sample batch to see if I like it (made with a very large golden beet - it was a very beautifully colored soup), then made a triple batch and froze most of it for later (mix of red and gold beets, deep red color, also quite lovely).  Recipe is courtesy Tyler Florence of Food Network.  Have I mentioned that I love Tyler?
Roasted Beet Borscht (for when life gives you beets)

1 pound beets

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 sprigs fresh thyme

6 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

6 cups chicken stock (I cheated and used chicken base/bouillon and hot water)

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

 

To roast the beets (same as I do when I make them for a side dish), heat oven to 400.  Scrub beets and place them on a pan. Salt and pepper and drizzle with 3 T olive oil.  Add 3 sprigs of thyme. Bake until the beets are tender, about 1 hour (depends on the size of the beets).

When the beets are cool enough to handle, slip off their skins, and chop them into large chunks.

 

In a large heavy bottomed pot over medium heat, add the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil. Put in the onion, carrots, garlic, and remaining 3 thyme sprigs and cook until softened and just starting to color, about 10 minutes. Add the chicken stock and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Remove the thyme sprigs. Put the chopped beets into a blender and add the cooked vegetables and most of the stock (SMALL BATCHES!! to avoid soup scald shower). Blend until smooth, add more stock if the puree is too thick. Add the vinegar and honey; season with salt and pepper. Blend again to incorporate flavors. Can serve hot or cold. (The borscht is good without the vinegar and honey but definitely add those because it enhances the flavor A LOT.)

You can also make a garnish for this (I did not do this part, because it was just for me - I don't need to be so fancy eating my lunch). Grate a Granny Smith apple on the large holes of a grater and mix 2 T chopped fresh dill.  Add a big dollop of sour cream to each bowl of soup and top with the apple and dill mixture.

I was also going to blog cabbage recipes but realized I did that last year, so if life has given you cabbage, check out Cabbages Galore for recipes for a soup that uses carrots and for the very handy Freezer Cole Slaw recipe. 

I know everyone likes apples, so an abundance of apples is probably not a problem, but here are a few of my recipes and ideas for when you hit the orchard in the fall and pick way more than you really know what to do with.  Not that I would ever do that...

Apple Cake - two different recipes posted here.

Taffy Apple Pizza - an old Pampered Chef recipe that I have made many many times and previously blogged here

Grandma Nellie's Apple Crisp
(I received this recipe from my mother-in-law as part of a bridal shower gift and it is the only apple crisp E likes because it does not have oatmeal in it.  I lost the recipe and had to call my MIL to get it again.  Grandma Nellie's original lacked a few directions, so this is slightly modified.  I will give you cooking temp and time, for example.)
Fill bottom of a 8x8 or 9x9 pan with sliced, pared, cored apples.  Sprinkle with 1 C sugar (lately I have cut this back to 1/2 or 2/3 C) and sprinkle with cinnamon (lots of cinnamon if you are making this for E).
Combine: 1 C flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 C butter (I melt it in the microwave first)
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 t salt
Mix until forms crumbles.  Crumble over the apples.  Bake at 375 for 45 minutes until the top is golden.

Applesauce
I make mine in the crock pot because then I don't have to watch it so closely and it makes the whole house smell delicious!  This year I bought a food mill which is not necessary but does make the sauce smoother and (maybe more importantly) I don't have to peel the apples or worry about getting all of the seeds and core out.  I just use the apple wedger.  I also make mine without added sugar.  Then I can use it in recipes without altering the sugar content of the recipe.  And you can always stir in a little brown sugar to taste.
Wedge/core about 10 apples (peel if not using a food mill).  Place in crock pot along with about 1/2 C water.  Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.  If not using the food mill, you can mash with a potato masher or use an immersion blender.  Cool and store in refridgerator or freezer.  I freeze mine in 1 1/2 C portions in freezer bags.  That is what I use to make muffins.

Applesauce Streusel Muffins are yummy and the recipe is here.  I usually mix up the batter on a Saturday morning and bake half the muffins then and half again on Sunday morning. 

Now I am hungry. 

Until we eat again,
Hallie

When Life Gives You Kale, Make Kale Chips

Eating: This blog post (it may be a series of posts, depending on what else I think of) was inspired by the bounty of kale from the CSA earlier this summer.  I had never received kale before and didn't know what to do with it.  As with everything I get in the CSA, I first try it, just a nibble to see what it tastes like - bitter, in this case.  So then I consult Big Red (aka Betty Crocker cookbook) to see what Betty has to say about it.  Her preparation suggestion is to steam it with only the water left on it after washing.  So I do this.  Then, my house smells like gym socks.  Yuck.  I try another bite and still find it bitter and not to my taste at all (and I will eat most anything).  So I stick it in the fridge, awaiting some inspiration.  Or until it gets moldy and I throw it out.  There has to be a better way, right?  Then my friend Beth told me about kale chips.  By this time, it was too late for my kale, but when I get it next year, I will be prepared.  Beth eats them like she would potato chips.

Kale Chips (recipe from FoodNetwork.com)
1 head kale, washed and thoroughly dried
2 T. olive oil
Sea salt, for sprinkling
Preheat oven to 275.  Remove the ribs from the kale and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Lay on a baking sheet and toss with the olive oil and salt. Bake until crisp, turning the leaves halfway through, about 20 minutes. Serve as finger food.

This got me thinking about the other things I get loads of all at once and never seem to know what to do with.  Thus the post, which could also have been titled "When life gives you radishes, grill them" or "When life gives you tomatoes, make soup." Here are some tried and true ideas for excesses of many summer veggies.

Refrigerator Pickles (for when life gives you cucumbers) Recipe from Cooks.com
6 C. thinly sliced unpared cucumbers
3 small onions, chopped
2 T. salt
1 C. vinegar (I used cider vinegar)
Combine cucumber slices and onion in ice cream pail or large (non-metal) bowl.  Mix sugar, salt and vinegar.  Pour over cucumbers.  Stir well.  Cover and refrigerate - they will be ready in 3 hours but taste even better if left overnight.  Will keep in fridge 2-3 months. (After we ate the first batch, I reused the juice and just added more cuke slices and onion to it.)

Grilled Radishes (for early summer when life gives you radishes) Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com
20 oz radishes, sliced (I always just slice enough until it looks right - you know me and measuring)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. butter, cut into small pieces
Place all ingredients in foil folded to make an envelope.  Seal around the edges.  Place on heated grill and cook until radishes are tender. 

I can only eat so many raw radishes and I add them to salads when I can, but again, can only eat so many.  The grilled radishes are really good.  Even if you think you do not like radishes, you should try them grilled or sauteed.  The flavor is much more mellow.  The other way I started eating them (after realizing I could cook them - duh!) is sliced up and sauteed with a bunch of other veggies.  For lunch on work days, I would just go to the fridge and start chopping and slicing whatever veggies I found, sometimes mixing a scrambled egg in with it for a little protein.  Good combinations with the radishes (mostly because they are ripe at the same time) included carrots, broccoli, onions, green or wax beans, summer squash or zucchini.

Speaking of zucchini, who hasn't had an abundance of zucchini at some point?!  Yikes, this stuff can sure take over your life.  Here are some of my favorite recipes using zucchini, and often also tomatoes or cherry tomatoes which are in season often at the same time.

The first one I am just going to link to here.  Gnocchi with Zucchini Ribbons and Parsley Brown Butter is easy and so good!  Follow the recipe exactly and you will have super tasty results. As I read some of the comments on the website, I thought, well, duh!  If you take out or substitute a bunch of stuff, of course it is not the same recipe anymore and you can't really complain that it had no flavor or wasn't very good.  That is your own fault.  Brown butter, when cooked as per instructions, has  A LOT of flavor on its own.  As I said in my review of the recipe, "I made this for dinner for a friend and myself. Super easy and very tasty, made following the recipe exactly. Use real butter (a substitute is a poor substitute in my mind, since so much flavor is from the browned butter) and use real fresh grated Parmesan (the stuff in the green can tends to be dry and sucks the flavor out of most dishes). The recipe is a terrific use of zucchini and cherry tomatoes, both of which I tend to have in over-abundance at the same time in the summer. Love it and will make it again and again."

A new zucchini recipe received from Ann at book club is also a soup.  And y'all know how I love soup!  I believe Ann got this recipe from her CSA.  It is prepared similarly to how I make my carrot soup.

Zucchini Basil Soup
2 pounds zucchini/summer squash (reminder to myself to buy a kitchen scale)
3/4 C chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 C olive oil
4 C water, divided (I don't think you need God's intervention to divide or part this amount of water)
1/3 C packed basil leaves
Julienne skin (only) from half of zucchini with slicer; toss with 1/2 tsp. salt and drain in a sieve until wilted, at least 20 minutes (note: I did not do the julienning part of this recipe at all).  Coarsely chop remaining zukes. 
Cook onion and garlic in oil in a 3-4 quart heavy saucepan over med-low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add chopped zucchini and 1 tsp salt and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes.  Add 3 C. water and simmer, partially covered, until tender, about 15 minutes.  Puree soup with basil in small batches in a blender. (Caution: only do small batches and hold onto the lid when you do this - it may explode in a hot shower of soup.  Not fun.)
Bring remaining cup water to a boil in a small saucepan and blanch julienned zucchini 1 minute.  Drain in a sieve set over a bowl (use liquid to thin soup if necessary).  Season soup with salt and pepper.  Serve in shallow bowls with julienned zucchini mounded on top (I did not do the julienned part of this.)

And of course, when life gives you tomatoes, make Chicken Pasta Fresca (or whatever this one is called) which is so tasty you will want to lick the bowl clean, or try salsa or soup.  I will post E's Blender Salsa at a later time.  I seem to have misplaced it (just had it this morning...)

Roasted Tomato Soup (This is so good I plan to make several batches and freeze them for use with grilled cheese sandwiches this winter.) - Recipe from Tyler Florence, foodnetwork.com.
2 1/2 pounds fresh tomatoes (mix of any kind)
6 cloves garlic, peeled
2 small yellow onions, sliced
1/2 C olive oil (I found this to be way more than I needed - drizzle to cover tomatoes, maybe about 1/4 C)
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper
1 quart chicken stock
2 bay leaves
4 T. butter
1/2 C chopped fresh basil leaves (optional - I used as much basil as I could harvest off my little plant, about 1/4 C)
3/4 C heavy cream, optional (I will not add this before freezing but will stir in some cream when reheating)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Wash, core and cut the tomatoes into halves. Spread the tomatoes, garlic cloves and onions onto a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 to 30 minutes, or until caramelized.

Remove roasted tomatoes, garlic and onion from the oven and transfer to a large stock pot (I used a slotted spoon so I didn't scoop all the excess oil in as well). Add 3/4 of the chicken stock (in other words, 3 cups), bay leaves, and butter. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until liquid has reduced by a third.
Wash and dry basil leaves, if using, and add to the pot. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup until smooth (if you don't have an immersion blender, puree in small batches in a regular blender.  Remember SMALL batches, and hold on to the cover to avoid a scalding soup shower). Return soup to low heat, add cream and adjust consistency with remaining chicken stock, if necessary. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Just last night at book club, someone asked what to do with eggplant.  Ann suggested roasting it.  I suggested ratatouille.  I love it because it uses a bunch of veggies which are all ready and abundant at the same time.  Here is the easiest recipe I have for it.

Ratatouille - Recipe from Betty Crocker cookbook
1 medium eggplant, about 1 1/2 pounds, washed, pared if desired, and cut into 1/2" cubes
2 small zucchini, about 1/2 pound, washed, cut off stem and blossom end, cube or slice
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped (about 1 C)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes, each cut into eighths
1/4 C olive oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 clove garlic, crushed
Cook all ingredients in large skillet (I use my wok) over medium heat 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until zucchini is tender.  Serve warm or cold.  (I freeze portions of this for eating all winter long.  Also would be good over pasta.)

That is all for now.  Enjoy the bounties of the season and may we never have moldy kale again!

Until we eat again,
Hallie

Ideas to warm you on a cold winter day

Reading: Since the last reading update, I have finished 2 books and started a third.  Should be reading another one but since I haven't picked it up from the library yet, that has been difficult!

The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan - I didn't get a chance to discuss it with book club because E was quite ill so I stayed home to tend to him and make sure he didn't keel over.  He's fully recovered now, thanks for asking.  Anyway, I liked the first part of the book pretty well, thought the second part wasn't very good at all, and then enjoyed the third and fourth parts.  Overall I liked it, but if I had stopped reading after the second part, I would not have said that.  As you may remember from my previous post, the author's intention was to tell the history of 4 plants (the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato) that satisfy four fundamental human desires (sweetness, beauty, intoxication and control), and to discuss how the plants have evolved to satisfy us and how the plants have benefited from us.  In the apple section, he got to the point of this discussion on the evolution but spent a whole lot of time on the personal life of Johnny Appleseed.  It seemed like he was more interested in telling that story than in presenting his stated objective.  The tulip (second) section could have been written much better (keeping the focus, sticking to the stated intentions) - I felt like I missed a big part of the story there and that he never really got to the point.  The author's passion for marijuana was fairly evident in the third section - this is a story that he really was interested in.  He did a great job of telling the evolutionary and historical parts of the story as well as sticking to the intentions of the book.  I also enjoyed learning about the science behind intoxication.  The last section, potato, was also very good, and got into the genetically modified plants.  It made me never want to eat another store-bought potato again as long as I live.  I would recommend this book, but caution you not to give up after the first or second sections.

Lake of Sorrows by Erin Hart - I liked it better than I remembered liking it when I read it before.  That being said, I still am not a mystery fan.  As I told E about 3/4 of the way through the book, the thing I don't like about murder mysteries is that there is always so much murder.  I mean, really, how many people have to die in one book?  Stay away from people who know people who have been murdered - you are likely to end up dead yourself, apparently.  I liked the Ireland landscape and culture parts of the book, and I kept reading because I couldn't remember how it all tied up in the end.  One further complaint about this book - there were waaaayyy too many characters and I had to constantly try to remember how they were all related to each other and to the story.  We are reading the 3rd book by Erin Hart for Friday night book club - False Mermaid.  Stay tuned to see what I think of that.

The other book I am reading this month is Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne.  What better way to spend a cold (and I mean COLD) week, than snuggling up with a childhood classic?  This is the volume of the Pooh collection where we are introduced to the silly old bear himself, as well as Piglet, Rabbit (Pooh gets stuck in Rabbit's door after a honey eating binge in the second story in the book), Owl, Eeyore (who has a birthday and gets 2 presents), Kanga and Roo.  I will probably need to read House at Pooh Corners next.

Eating: I received a new recipe in my e-mail at work (from the Delicious Recipes of Hartford list that I am on) on Wednesday and tried it that same day.  A tasty, hearty new soup recipe (only needed one bowl of this to fill me up), it was also pretty easy.  I microwaved the potatoes to save time and had some cooked, crumbled bacon in the freezer from the last time I had a pound and only used part of it.  I am presenting it not as it was written but as it "should" be made, per my Mother Sauces cooking class, seasoning last.  Note that in my abbreviations, T means "Tablespoon" and t means "teaspoon".

Baked Potato Soup
4 large baking potatoes
3 T butter
2 T olive oil
1/2 C chopped onion (I did not add)
1/2 C chopped celery
1/2 C flour
6 C milk
1 C Velveeta, cubed
1/2 C sour cream
1/4 C cooked bacon crumbles
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper

Bake the potatoes (I "baked" mine in the microwave.  You can also bake them in the oven at 350 for about an hour or until softened.). Let cool slightly.
In a large sauce pan, melt butter and add olive oil.  Saute onion and celery until onion is transparent.  Add flour - stir over medium heat until lightly browned.  Add milk and stir constantly until just boiling (may need to reduce heat to prevent scorching). Remove from heat.  Peel potatoes and mash slightly; add to milk mixture.  Add Velveeta, sour cream and bacon.  Stir until cheese is melted.  Season with garlic powder, salt and pepper, to taste.

Creating: I am picking up speed on the bass.  I started learning a blues progression - that is going to take some serious practice.  I play a little each day after work, and have been watching my "How to play electric bass" DVD.  I am thinking I will be playing in a band sometime really soon. Ha-ha!

I have been knitting a bit on my socks, some while on vacation.  And thinking about starting those Christmas presents...

Not much creating happening lately, I guess.

In other news, I am now on Pintrest and have been pinning away.  I started a board called "Things I don't like but other people seem to love" which kind of makes me laugh.  This board could get really full.  Right now there are a couple books and music, as well as yoga, but could expand greatly if I start adding things like TV shows.  My other boards are more productive and represent things I enjoy, similar to this blog.  There are books I have read (starting with this year, may expand back in time eventually), books I have really enjoyed (may or may not be some crossover between the lists), books I think I would like to read, places to travel to someday, recipes and some home decor and creative project ideas.  It is kind of fun to add things and see what is out there.  The web is wide!

Eat soup, stay warm and enjoy a good book.
Until we eat again,
Hallie

What's on the shelf today?

Reading: You may have been wondering what I am reading right now.  Maybe not, but I have noticed there are quite a few people who regularly ask me what I am reading.  And I kind of like talking about what I have on the shelf currently.  ("on the shelf" is not meant literally.  My current books are usually in a pile by my bed or in various rooms in which I have dropped them off after reading a few pages.)

Sunday night bookclub is reading The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan.  This non-fiction book tells the history of 4 plants (the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato) that satisfy four fundamental human desires (sweetness, beauty, intoxication and control).  I have finished the section on the apple.  The author shows how plants have evolved to satisfy human needs, and also how the plants have benefited from us as well, asking the question of who is really domesticating whom?  So far, so good. 

The former "breakfast club" that now meets for dinner has been assigned to read Lake of Sorrows by Erin Hart.  This is the author's second book, a follow up to Haunted Ground (aka "the head in a bog" book), and this time involves bodies in a bog.  These books take place in Ireland and are part murder mystery, part romance, part history/archeology lesson.  They are pretty good.  We read the first one for Sunday bookclub a few years back (may have also read the second one - I can't remember off the top of my head) and people seem to like them.  I am kinda of "meh." about them, myself.

Creating:  I made a kind of cool hat for my brother-in-law for Christmas but now realize I didn't take any pictures.  Will have to beg my sister to send some for me...  I tried a new-to-me technique on this hat, which, in retrospect, may not have been the best idea when making a gift for someone.  It turned out pretty well but I was learning as I went.  It was made like a traditional hat in shape but was double knit, which makes it double thickness and also reversible.  I would do my decreases differently next time (the second row of decreases went better than the first) and would finish it off differently, but overall it looks okay, I think. 

A new kind of "creating" has entered my life - creating music on the electric bass guitar E gave me for Christmas.  It is beautiful, shiny and red.  The amp came with headphones so only I have to hear myself practice until I know what I am doing.  I went out tonight to buy a battery for the tuner because I could tell it was not tuned but couldn't hear where it needed to be.  Now the tips of my fingers are sore and I know a little how to play it, at least how to hold it and play some basic notes.  Look for me on tour soon - haha!

Eating:  This was mostly a weekend of other people cooking for me.  I don't mind, really!  E made dinner on Friday (Christmas Eve Eve) - steaks with bourbon thyme sauce and mashed potatoes.  So yummy!  Recipe is from Food Network - recipe says 8 steaks, but after you cook them to medium, you save 4 of them for another meal.  We make 2 steaks (because there are two of us, duh!) but all the sauce because it is super tasty and makes good gravy.
Seared Steaks with Bourbon-Thyme Pan Sauce
Heat 1 Tbls olive oil in a large skillet.  Season 8 boneless steaks (ribeye, sirloin, etc.) with salt, freshly ground pepper, and 1 Tbls dried thyme.  Sear 2 minutes per side until golden brown.  Add 1/2 C bourbon and cook 1 minute.  Add 1/2 C beef broth and bring to a simmer.  Cook 2 minutes, until cooked to medium.  Remove steaks from pan and transfer 4 of them to a serving platter.  Reserve 4 steaks for another meal. 
Dissolve 1 Tbls cornstarch in another 1/2 C beef broth and add to pan.  Simmer 1 minute, until sauce thickens.  Spoon sauce over steaks before serving.

Saturday night (Christmas Eve) we had meatballs with E's family.  His mother seasons her meatballs with ginger and nutmeg (I asked - I thought I had detected nutmeg but would not have guessed the ginger).  They are really tasty meatballs.

Sunday (Christmas Day) we had soups with my mom and step-dad.  How I love soup (you may have already guessed that from my previous 2 or more soup posts...)!  We had corn chowder, and a new one - Italian chicken noodle.  As Mom said, it's chicken noodle with Parmesan cheese and basil.  So yummy.  Quite the tasty holiday overall.

Hope your Christmas was tasty as well! 
Until we eat again,
Hallie

More Soups for You!

Eating: As promised, some more soup recipes. 

Carrot Soup - The first time I had this soup was while I was working as a fill-in nanny for a crazy mean lady, taking care of her 3 adorable children while she went for coffee and to "workout".  She was an "artiste" so I think she also did some painting.  Oh, and she was a gourmet cook (according to her).  Anyway, this is a very tasty and easy soup.  This recipe has some curry in it but if you don't like curry, you can leave it out and still have a very yummy soup.
Heat 4 C. chicken broth.  Add 4 carrots (peeled and sliced), 1 small Granny Smith (or other tart apple, peeled, cored and chopped), 1/2 medium onion (chopped), 1-2 tsp curry powder to taste, and 1/2 tsp turmeric (as I type that, I don't think I have ever added the turmeric because I don't think I have ever had turmeric - feel free to leave it out).  Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and simmer 30 minutes.  Puree in small batches (no more than 1/2 blender full or you will have boiling carrot soup in your hair and on your hands and on your white t-shirt and... you get the picture).  Thin, if necessary, with additional broth.  Serve warm or cold.  Also freezes well.  Makes 4 generous servings.

Potage de Mme. Miclot - Along similar lines as the carrot soup, as far as texture and technique, is a French vegetable soup called potage (poe-tahge').  I had this soup at the beginning of nearly every meal the first 3 months or so that I lived chez Miclot in Angers, France, I think until the weather warmed up (having trouble remembering - that was nearly 20 years ago.  Good god, I am getting old.)  The recipe is written in French so I am translating as I type. 
Chop into pieces: 1/2 kg potatoes, 1/2 kg carrots, 1 onion and 1 or 2 leeks.  In a large pot, cover the veggies well with water, add a little salt and 2 bouillon cubes (or equivalent).  Cook a good half-hour until vegetables are very soft.  "Mixer et voila".  I think that means puree it and you are done.  If I remember correctly Huguette (aka Mme. Miclot) used a hand mixer.  One of those wand mixers would work well.  I would use my blender, because that is how I work.  Remember: in small batches unless you want to be scalded with soup on your face and hands.  Oh, and in case you have forgotten your conversions, 1 kg=2.2lbs.  So 1/2 kg is about a pound.

Lentil Soup - As long as I am on a roll here with soups E doesn't like, here is another.  This is a hearty vegetarian soup, which seems to me like a contradiction in terms.  Not a vegetarian (I like steak waaaay too much to eat a vegetarian diet), but I do like this soup. 
In a large pot, cook 1 large onion and 1 green pepper (both chopped), in 4 Tbls olive oil until soft.  Stir in 2 Tbls flour. Add: 1 16 oz can diced tomatoes (with the juice), 3 carrots (chopped), 2 C lentils (do not presoak), 1 Tbls salt (I prefer kosher salt unless I am baking), and 8 C water.  Cover and simmer on low for 2 hours. 

African Chicken Soup - Another soup E is not a fan of (I don't know why).  This recipe is from my mom.  She did not go to Africa to get the recipe - I think she got it at a coffee shop.  Loads of flavor,  very hearty and filling.  The secret ingredient is...peanut butter.
Heat 2 Tbls oil.  Cook 1 C cubed chicken breast in the oil 5 minutes.  Season with 1/8 tsp red pepper and 1/8 tsp black pepper and add 1 1/3 C chopped onions, until browned.  Add 1/3 C. diced green peppers, 1/3 C. diced red peppers, 1 Tbls minced garlic, 5 1/4 C chicken stock, 2 1/4 C canned diced tomatoes (28 oz can, drained), 1/3 C rice.  Simmer until the rice is done.  Stir in 1/2 C peanut butter.  Add peanuts for extra crunch and flavor.  Yum.  Soooo good.

Hamburger Soup - a slow-cooker/crock pot recipe, and one that E likes.  I got this one from Kate who I used to baby-sit for back in the mid '90s (before I gave up babysitting).  3 of her 4 little girls really liked it (ages 8, 6, and 4).  The other little one was just a baby and didn't yet eat soup.  I bet she grew up to love this one, though.  I would recommend using really good quality ground beef, very low in fat, because it cooks in the soup and you won't be draining the fat.  A trick on the onion soup mix if you have someone who doesn't like onions because of the texture - grind the contents up in a food processor so it is like dust - all the flavor but no discernible onion bits.
Crumble 1 lb ground beef into slow-cooker.  Add 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp oregano, 1/4 tsp basil, 1/4 tsp seasoned salt, and 1 envelope onion soup mix.  Stir in 3 C boiling water, 8 oz can tomato sauce, 1 Tbls soy sauce.  Add 1 C sliced celery and 1 C thinly sliced carrots.  Cover an cook on low 6-8 hours.  Turn on high - add 1 C macaroni (cooked) and 1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese.  Cover and cook 10-15 minutes.

Oven Stew - Speaking of slow cooking, here is one of my all-time favorite recipes (I may have said this about other recipes but I really mean it about this one).  E likes this one a whole lot.  I love it for many reasons - it makes the whole house smell really good and happy, it warms us from the inside, it tastes really yummy, and (maybe most of all) it is a lazy person's dream recipe.  So many beef stew recipes I have seen start with "brown the stew meat" and involve making a gravy or sauce.  Not this one!  Dump it all in the pot, and then leave it bake for 4 hours.  A bit of chopping and that is it!  The original recipe does not call for potatoes but I say, "what is a stew without potatoes?!"  Another of my mom's recipes, I have been making this one for years.
2 lbs beef chuck cut into 2" cubes (you can buy "stew meat" which is already cut up - this is my lazy option); 1 onion, quartered; 4 carrots, pared and quartered; 4 celery stalks, quartered; 4 medium large potatoes, chopped in bite size pieces; 1/4 C quick-cooking tapioca (this is NOT pudding - it is the little tapioca pearls.  The same people who make Minute Rice have a quick cooking tapioca.  The box even looks like a mini-Minute Rice box.  This is the key to this recipe - do not skip it!); 1/4 C. dry bread crumbs; 1 tsp salt; 1/4 tsp pepper; 1 28 oz can whole tomatoes, undrained (you can break them up a bit if you like).  Note: I have been adding about a half a can (rinsing out the tomato can in the process) to this so it makes a less thick sauce.  Combine all ingredients in a large Dutch oven.  Cook at 300 degrees COVERED (do not uncover while cooking) for 4 hours.  That's it.  I told you it was easy - even the veggies are minimally prepared.

And my last soup recipe, Lazy Lasagna Chili.  I don't know why they call this one a chili but they do.  It is a Pampered Chef recipe and is pretty darn easy.  Other than browning and some chopping, hands-on work is minimal and it cooks up pretty quickly with things you might usually have on hand.
Remove the casings from1 lb sweet Italian turkey sausages (4 links).  Brown sausage with 1/2 C coarsely chopped onion, 2 cloves garlic (pressed).  Add 1 jar (26oz) of spaghetti sauce, 28 oz beef broth (2 - 14oz cans or water with beef bouillon or soup base), and 1 C. water.  Bring to a boil.  Stir in 1 1/2 C uncooked pasta nuggets (radiatore - rotelle also works).  Reduce heat, simmer uncovered for 7 minutes.  Stir in 1 C coarsely chopped zucchini.  Cook 2-4 minutes, or until zucchini is tender.  Remove from heat and stir in 2 Tbls snipped fresh basil.

I think that is all my usual soup recipes.  Seems I have some others but these are the main recipes I make.  Here's to a winter of warm tummies.

Soup's on!
Hallie

Soup's on!

Eating: My favorite cold weather food is soup.  It warms us from the inside and warms the house while it simmers.  I like most soups and usually serve with a crusty French bread or biscuits.  These are some of my favorite soup recipes.

Chicken Noodle - who doesn't like good old chicken noodle?  I use either the carcass of a rotisserie or roast chicken (best for flavor) or whatever chicken I have on hand (usually boneless skinless breasts).  Simmer them in a pot of water with an onion, a couple carrots and some celery, all chopped up, a bit of chicken base or bouillion, and some herbs, fresh or dried - parsley, thyme, oregano, rosemary.  And of course salt and pepper.  Simmer until chicken is done (if raw) or until it falls off the bone (for leftover whole chicken).  Then skim off any fat or that foamy stuff.  I also usually take out the onion, etc. since the flavor is all cooked out of it by then anyway.  Chop the chicken into bite-size pieces and toss it bac.k in the stock.  Taste the stock and add seasoning as needed.  Add veggies of your choice (fresh or frozen - I like carrots, green beans, corn, lima beans and peas) and some noodles (we really like the "homestyle" frozen egg noodles - big fat noodles like grandma makes, but you could also use dry egg noodles, spaghetti or whatever).  Cook until noodles are done and veggies warmed.  You can also, of course, add rice instead (white, brown, wild or some other).    

Corn Chowder - my family has been making this soup for a really long time (since I was a kid).  Recipe is adapted from Betty Crocker cookbook ("Big Red") - This is howI make it.  Chop 1/2 pound of bacon into 1/2" pieces (bacon is nearly always frozen at my house so I just chop it from frozen and let it cook/thaw at the same time) and fry in a soup pot until crispy.  At the same time, boil some potatoes (cut into bite-size chunks).  Once bacon is done, remove it from the pan and drain on a paper towel-lined plate.  Discard all but 2 Tbls of the bacon drippings.  Saute 1/2 large onion and 2 stalks of celery (finely chopped) in the bacon drippings until crisp-tender.  Stir in 2 Tbls flour and mix until bubbly.  Remove from heat and whisk in 4 C milk.  Return to heat (and here comes the boring tedious part that I dislike) and heat over medium until boiling (stirring constantly - the super boring part).  Boil 1 minute.  Add about a cup of frozen corn (Betty calls for cream-style but someone at our house doesn't like cream-style so I just started using regular corn.  Betty also uses canned potatoes - no comment), and the potatoes (don't forget to drain them first!).  Heat over med low until warmed through.  Add bacon  and fresh-cracked pepper and serve. 

Zamboni Stew - This is a recipe that I made up.  E  called it chili but I said it was NOT chili and said it was nothing like chili and dubbed it (completely randomly) "Zamboni Stew".  I have no idea how my brain works - it has nothing to do with Zambonis and is not a thick stew (at least not until you have the leftovers the next day).  Brown 1 pound ground beef, with 1/2 green pepper, chopped (onion too, if you like).  At the same time, cook about 2 C macaroni according to usual macaroni-cooking directions.  To the ground beef, add one large can of tomato juice and a generous bunch of chili powder (I shake it in until the entire surface is covered with chili powder, then stir and taste and add some more).  Add about 1 C. frozen corn (or other veggie if you like) and heat until warmed through.  Stir in the cooked, drained macaroni.  I also add kidney beans to my portion.  I like to serve this one with corn muffins.

Cheese Soup - this is my mom's recipe.  Actually, I think she got it when she worked at a little place called Toby's way back when I was in 6th grade.  Mmmmm... Toby burgers...  Sorry - I am back now.  Cook 3 C bite-sized chunks of potatoes, 1/2 C chopped carrots, 1/2 C chopped celery (and 1/4 C. chopped onion if your family doesn't mind) in 1 C chicken stock/broth with salt, pepper and parsley flakes until veggies are tender.  Do not drain.  Whisk 2 Tbls flour into 1 1/2 C milk and add to the potato/carrot/stock mixture.  Cook until thickened.  Stir in 1/2 pound chopped Velveeta (don't say "ew" - it melts better than anything else and makes a smooth creamy soup, unlike cheddar or one of those other cheeses) until melted.  Add fresh cracked pepper and serve.

Other soups to look forward to in future posts: Carrot Soup, African Chicken Soup, Lentil Soup, Hamburger Soup, Lazy Lasagne Chili, Oven Stew, and Potage de Mme. Miclot (recipe from the woman I lived with in France).

Reading: I really really liked Treasure Island.  It was a fun adventure story, kept me guessing up until the end (was anyone going to get the treasure?  Was Long John Silver a bad guy or a good guy?  Would they get off the island?).  I would recommend this to most people.  And one of the women at book club had a really cool edition of the book that had multicolored wood block (wood cut?  not sure of the term for this type of art) pictures.  I could get that version, if I read it again.

I didn't re-read the "head in a bog" book, Haunted Ground for the Friday night book/dinner club.  I ran out of time and have been too sleepy.  It didn't matter because no one else had read it recently either.  And it turns out, we may have already read this book for this bookclub a few years ago.  We don't have a very good record keeper or, apparently, good memory, either.

Next up for Sunday night bookclub: I don't know.  It hasn't been picked yet, which is okay because we take December off.  Next up for Friday night club: I don't know.  Maybe the next head in a bog book?  Or maybe a biography of some sort?

What am I reading currently?  A knitting book I got from my mom: Knitting without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmermann.  It is a 'how-to' book but very chattily written (kind of in the style of this blog) and I am enjoying it.

Creating: Speaking of knitting, what am I knitting, you ask?  I still need to add the ear flaps and braids to E's Vikings hat.  I have the yarn for a pink fluffy scarf for a 5 year old.  That should knit up quickly (thick yarn).  I am percolating some ideas for Christmas presents and baby gifts, too.  I wish work wasn't so busy this time of the year - I need more knitting time!

Other creative projects: none in the works but ideas in my head all the time.  I like to make calendars and E has requested one for Christmas.  A couple years ago after getting a "scenic America" calendar from a realtor or insurance agent, I thought, "E takes really beautiful scenic pictures.  It would be cool to have a calendar with some of those, instead of these places we have never been."  Thus was born the idea for a personalized scenic calendar.  He loved seeing a new one of his photos each month.  The pictures are attached so he can remove and frame them after the year is over.  And it is useful as a calendar, too!  We'll see if I get one done for him this year.  Also working on other ideas for people who may read this blog so I will not mention those at this time...

Go eat some soup!
Hallie