snow day. soup. & salad.

 

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if (and i do say if) the weather reports are based on factual reporting (a rarity these days to be sure) we'll have snow falling for the next week at least. so far there's been large flakes slowly falling earthward .. then nothing. then a bit. then nothing. sigh. get on with it! to help it along i made soup today and while it rested on the 'warming' burner we took a brisk walk complete with huffing and puffing up the last hill toward our home. when we first moved here i'd have to stop .. fairly often .. due to the elevation and my leaning toward the asthmatic. now though i'm able to keep going. usually. and i'm oh so thankful for that increase in ability! today we took our walk while we could because once the snow starts - indeed if it does - then brisk walks will be met with slipping and sliding and i doubt any graceful outcome. wink. okay so, back to the soup. 

let's start with salad.

the market 30 minutes north now offers containers of baby kale and super greens! you can imagine my thrill over the prospect of good greens. where we used to live, i could bee-bop to trader joe's or nugget market and have my fill. here though? not so much. so you learn to appreciate what you can find. but now i've got good greens available. and life is good {in that way}.

after removing the stems (cuz it's just my thing) i tossed the greens with the last of a tomato and some purple cabbage shavings, pepper, then a drizzle of bacon vinaigrette produced by stonewall kitchen. and i just now remembered that i forgot to include roasted pistachios. next time. tomorrow. for sure.

my uncle AL hates kale. he reads my blog. wink.

my father was a great cook and consistently took pictures of his dishes. i do the same thing but not of the flops which most recently included a cake - worst cake i've ever made in my entire life. it was truly vile. the hubs is sweet though and ate his slice without complaint though i did notice his gills were a tad green. i married up. wink. i think he buried the rest in the back yard. or lit it in the burn pile. i wouldn't blame him one iota.

back to the soup. i have my father's potato soup recipe. years ago i made it - and changed the recipe - then made the horrific mistake of telling him i changed his recipe. you could have heard a pin drop. then his growly voice over the phone wire saying, "what'd you do?!" 'cept there was a naughty word in the question and he should have had his mouth washed out with soap. i had to do a bit of back peddling and never ever again told him i changed another recipe. i actually did change a few more - for the better in my humble opinion. ahem. regardless, i'm sharing my personal recipe for potato (& cheese) soup. it's rich. a little goes a long way, friends. it'll feed you for days if you pace yourself. and you'll need a few brisk walks to counter some of the ingredients. it'll be worth it. pinky promise. 

on to the recipe for sherry's potato cheese soup.

:word to the wise: 

measure out all your ingredients before cooking. 

it'll make the process much more streamlined 

and you won't freak out or forget 

something while following steps.

6 T unsalted butter

1/2 cup flour

2 cloves garlic - minced

~ 2 lbs potatoes in 1/2 inch cubes

3/4 cup carrots - diced

3/4 cup celery - diced

3/4 cup onion - diced

8 slices bacon : cooked crisp & divided

4 cups good quality veg stock or chicken stock (i used trader joe's veg stock)

1 cup 1/2&1/2

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup sour cream

4 cups cheese - grated

{i used half medium cheddar & half english cheddar w/parmesan crisps-a trader joe's specialty cheese}

seasoning: fresh cracked pepper (a few or more good turns to taste), dried parsley (1.5 T), smoked paprika (1 T), salt (1.5 tsp), red pepper flakes (one good pinch).

• melt butter in stock pot. add veggies (not potatoes) and cook over medium heat about 5 minutes or until onions are translucent. add garlic and cook 1 minute more. 

• whisk in flour and stir over low heat until a hint of golden. 

•  add seasonings (pepper, parsley, smoked paprika, salt) and all 4 cups of stock along with 2 cups of water. whisk and cook on medium heat until slightly thickened, ~ 2 minutes. 

•  add potato cubes, stir, cover. bring to low boil then simmer until the potatoes are soft - stirring often. this will take anywhere from 30-45 minutes. 

•  once the potatoes are soft you can use a masher in the stock pot to soften some of the potato chunks and make the mixture that much more creamy. or, you can do what i do and use an inversion blender in the stock pot: about 10-20 seconds on high. 

•  now turn the stove burner to simmer and add half the bacon, all the 1/2&1/2 and all the heavy whipping cream. stir to combine well.  

•  add the sour cream and all the cheese, stirring to combine and allow the cheese to melt into a glorious goodness. 

•  serve with a little pile of bacon pieces and chives or scallion greens on top.

option #1: for good ole potato soup omit the cheese & bacon.  

option #2: leftover steamed or roasted broccoli? include it! yUm.

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savory & sweet.

 

: starting off with the savory :

we don't often have steak for dinner but when we do

it's truthfully a treat for the taste buds & the pocketbook.

so one evening we enjoyed rib eyes from the grill

along with splitting a baked potato aside a leafy

green salad. well. there were salad makings

remaining, along with a bit of steak,

so the next night it was steak

again! this time on a salad.

leftover steak lends

itself to use in

a few

ways:

* salad *

* fajitas *

* soup *

* stroganoff *

this night the choice was salad.

in a bowl of crisp greens, carrot,

tomato, pickled veg, feta,

& steak tucked in nicely.

.simple simon.

.delish.

this morning was chilly willy, 29 degrees at 10am.

we keep the house cool-ish, typically between

56-60. all you cold blooded folks wouldn't find

it pleasing. wink. but this morning it even felt

too cool for us so we pumped the heater up to 62!

and i clicked the oven to 300 to make granola.

an hour at 300 then i left the door open a bit

to cool down quicker. that warmth was heavenly.

i'll share the recipe below.

in a big bowl i mixed the ingredients,

making a double portion down the ingredient line.

then i divided the mix between two lipped sheet pans

with parchment paper on the bottom. no sticking this way.

after 30 minutes the mix was stirred then back

in the oven for another 30 minutes.

taking the pans out and letting them cool a bit,

i broke up the granola and put most of it in a gallon

bag which is now in the deep freeze, 

and enough for this quart ball jar

which i put in the fridge.

we squirreled some into bowls and added

almond milk for a yUmmy treat - late breakfast.

.. cOddiwOmple grAnOla ..

6 cups rolled oats

2 cups shredded coconut

2 cups chopped nuts {i used pecans}

1 cup dried cranberries {or raisins}

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1-1/3 cups honey

mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

combine the oil and honey in a saucepan

on low heat .. warming it through enough

to smooth out the honey texture. good

honey can be rather thick. 

stir in the wet to the dry, combining well

then divide and spread on the two cookie sheets

lined with parchment. bake at 300 for 30 minutes.

stir the mixture then back in the oven

for another 30 minutes. once out of the oven

let cool a bit on the counter top. it'll harden

a tich then simply break it up with your hands

and store in an airtight container. or a gallon

freezer bag then into the deep freeze.

with just two humans living in this home

it'll take us a while to finish off

this batch. when needed we'll simply

refill the quart jar, leaving the rest in

the freezer. yUm.

and now we're heading out the door for a brisk

mountain walk. i'm back to not taxing my lungs

as much - considering elevation, exertion & asthma. 

it's a good thing. seeing other folks outside

is a thrill in this c*vid existence even if we do

tend to keep our distance overall.

one day we'll share meals again at

the same table. it *will* happen.

looking forward.

purpose to bring peace to your life.

be kind to yourself.

be kind to others.

spend more time in the word.

pray more. deeper. praise!

play music on your stereo or computer

or phone or whatever device you use.

listen to a message designed to uplift

and give you hope, setting you on 

a firm foundation.

sometimes decisions must be made

in social media including being active

at all - or with certain folks.

i struggled with that one for quite

a long time before making a few decisions.

.. again ..

purpose to bring peace to your life.

blessings,

sherry

peace.

 

in more ways than we can count .....

"the days are getting colder, have a warm heart"

my dear friend, jAn.R., sent me a link to this video..

it would be worth your time to view .. to take in .. to be calmed.

do something today to bring help peace to your life.

pray big. allow Him to gift you with *his* peace

that passes all understanding. allow His presence

to saturate your very being. seek Him .. deeply.

make an apple pie with pretty lattice.

visiting her blog-site is easy: click hErE

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