There's a monster in my soup!

I know. I know. I'm on a soup kick. But it's getting colder and as I've said before, to me Cold weather begs soups. The Munchkins love soup. They love the dipping, the spoons, and  the fact that they can drink right from the bowl (which we reserve for soup nights and cereal milk).

What I love? Hearing KK say "soup". I know full and well that to others it will just be a little kid saying a word but to me it is a treasured auditory experience. I really wish you could hear her say it. Her little voice wraps around the word, but blends the sounds together in a way that I will never be able to replicate and my mommy heart will never forget. In fact, I may be on a soup kick just so I can hear her say "soup" over and over while we eat. Maybe...

Anyway...back to food. We have a soup that I found years ago through Better Homes and Gardens' 100 Days of Holidays e-newsletter series. If you haven't subscribed to this series, you should. It sends you an e-mail every day for 100 days starting from before Halloween to about New Years and gives you suggestions on food, decor, costumes, crafts, and much more. Parents magazine does one as well, so I actually get 2 emails every day. And while I HATE spam, I LOVE those emails. Wait wasn't I supposed to be talking about food???

Oh right! The soup. We call it Monster Soup because it is green and when my nephews were younger we told them we caught wild monster in Arizona and made them into soup just for them. I love how something that is totally gross to adults makes kids want to gobble it up.

Here's the original recipe

And here's what I do:

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced, pressed or grated
• 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning, crushed
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons dry white wine
• 32 ounces veggie broth
• 1 large potato, peeled and chopped
• 1 pound fresh spinach, washed and trimmed (The big box from Costco is the perfect amount)
• Salt
• 2 cups arugula
• 2 ounces Parmesan cheese, sliced with a veggie peeler
• 2 small tomatoes, quartered, seeded, and thinly sliced 

 In a deep soup pot over medium heat, saute onion, garlic, and Italian seasoning in hot butter for 5 minutes or until onion is tender, stirring occasionally.

•   Slowly add white wine and cook while stirring until reduced by half about 1 minute. Add broth and potato. Bring to boiling. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes or until potato is tender. Remove from heat.
  3. Stir spinach, half at a time, into soup just until wilted. Cook about 5 minutes.
  4. Transfer soup, half at a time, to a blender; cover and blend until smooth. Return to pot and heat through. Season with salt to taste.
  5. To serve, top with arugula, Parmesan, and tomatoes.
   

We Have House Guests

We have new house guests. Fairy house guests to be clear. At least we think we have fairy house guests, We aren't sure they have moved in just yet. But we did find a fairy door and both girls are convinced that a fairy has moved in. Which, of course, was the whole idea.

Here's the scoop. We bought a door from our local hobby store (the lobby kind) and painted it white. We then glued door trimming around it and glued door furnishings on (also bought at the hobby store). We then used double side tape (of the 20 lb variety) to hold it in place. This is what it looked like in the end:

We then waited until the girls saw it and asked us about it. It took all of 24 hours for them to see it. And let me tell you, they LOVE the idea of a fairy living in our house. We told them that they couldn't pull on the door because fairies sleep during the day and don't like to be disturbed. If we bug them, they might get angry and move out.

Here is D waiting for the fairy.

 And waiting...

 And waiting.

I finally convinced her that it was time for bed, but she is determined to see the fairy. =D


The plan now is to begin decorating the fairy door for holidays and provide convincing evidence that fairies have moved in.

I can't wait!!! Don't worry I'll keep posting with updates.

When Mother Nature Gives You Fall... Make soup

Ah soup. It is the purpose of fall. OK. Maybe not THE purpose. But it certainly is one of the better parts of Fall and Winter to me. And after 7 years in Phoenix where "Winter" is a relative term, I am thrilled to be able  to make soup and not have Sweet and Charming complain that the house is too hot.

During one of my many stints in food service I learned about soups. Glorious soups that intrigued the palate and satisfied the soul. One of my favorites is a Green Chilli Cheese Soup. It has potatoes at its heart and begs to be dipped with crusty breads. For those of you that are in a soup mood, here you go:

Green Chili Cheese Soup

2 Tbs olive oil
2 stalks celery
1 medium onion chopped
2 cloves garlic
2 medium potatoes peeled and chopped
1 cup of montery jack cheese, shredded
3 oz cream cheese
4 cups of chicken stock, or veggie stock
4 ounces fire roasted green chilies (mild)

In a large soup pot, saute the onion and celery over medium heat util the onions are soft, about 5 mins. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant about 45 seconds. Add stock and potatoes and boil until potatoes are tender (15- 20 mins depending on how small they are).   Ad cheese and stir until it's melted. ad chilies and blend until smooth. Serve garnished with cilantro. Or if you are like my husband and the Munchkins, with bacon. :)

Cookies!!!

My family loves cookies. But cookies from a bag or a box are not desirable to any of the other people that share my house (except Oreos. Oreos are always welcome... but not the birthday cake ones. Those are gross). What that means for me is that I have to make cookies. A lot. Now I do not have the time nor the energy to make a batch of cookies when the cookie fancy strikes Sweet and Charming or the Munchkins. So I make a bunch and freeze the unbaked dough in gallon bags. This way if someone wants a cookie or two all that has to be done is grab a few frozen cookie balls and throw them in the oven! I can be free of the kitchen in no time.

Not every cookie takes well to this approach. But here are a few of my favorites that I keep "in stock"-

Chewy Crinkle Molasses - makes about 18 cookies using my #30 disher
This is my #2 most requested cookie. (#1 is snicker-doodles,  but those are a family recipe that I am not ready to give to the internet)


1/2 cup butter softened
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp powdered ginger
2 cups white flour
1/4-1/2 cup of raw demerara sugar (or large baker's sugar)


Cream the butter, sugar, and molasses on high. Add egg and mix well. Mix the spices, salt, baking soda, and flour in a separate bowl. Add the butter mixture and beat until incorporated.

Put remaining sugar on a plate and keep close at hand. Scoop dough and roll into balls with your hands. Then roll the ball in the sugar.

To bake: 350 degrees for 13-15 mins. Rotate them 3/4 of the way through for even baking. These cookies should be firm on the edges but soft in the middle. They firm up when they cool, so if they are firm when you get them out, they will be HARD when they cool.

To freeze: Put balls in a mini muffin tin (this makes sure they retain their shape and don't smoosh each other  It also keeps them from rolling about while in your freezer. I can't tell you how many times I've had a cookie dough rainfall when I put cookie sheets in there.... Place tin in the freezer until the dough is hard (about 10 mins). Then transfer to a bag and freeze. They will last a few months in the freezer. The longest we've done is about 3 months and they were still great! Follow baking instructions above adding a minute of baking time due to the freezing.


Heavenly Chocolate Chip- makes about 2 dozen with a #30 disher

1 cup butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

1 Tbs instant coffee granules
2 cups chocolate chips (dark chocolate is the best for this recipe, but semi sweet is fine)

Cream the butter and sugars on high. Add egg one at a time and mix well. Add vanilla. Mix salt, baking soda, coffee, and flour in a separate bowl. Add the butter mixture and beat until incorporated. Fold in the chips.


To bake: Put dough balls in the fridge for 10-15 mins. This will help them stay gooey and soft after baking. Then put them in a 350 degree oven for 13-15 mins. Rotate them 3/4 of the way through for even baking.

To freeze: Put balls in a mini muffin tin. Place tin in the freezer until the dough is hard (about 10 mins). Then transfer to a bag and freeze. Follow baking instructions above adding a minute of baking time due to the freezing.



Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cookies-  makes about 2 dozen with a #30 disher


1 cup butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
3 tsp peppermint extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cups cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups dark chocolate chocolate chips

Cream the butter and sugars on high. Add egg one at a time and mix well. Add peppermint. Mix salt, baking soda, cocoa, and flour in a separate bowl. Add the butter mixture and beat until incorporated. Fold in the chips.


To bake: Put dough balls in the fridge for 10-15 mins. This will help them stay gooey and soft after baking. Then put them in a 350 degree oven for 13-15 mins. Rotate them 3/4 of the way through for even baking.

To freeze: Put balls in a mini muffin tin. Place tin in the freezer until the dough is hard (about 10 mins). Then transfer to a bag and freeze. Follow baking instructions above adding a minute of baking time due to the freezing.



Hope you enjoy them!

How You Know It's Loved

Many years ago I bought a cookbook. At the time I bought it because it was cheap (on discount at Borders) and it had pretty pictures. Little did I know that this random purchase would become one of my all time favorite cookbooks. It's Good Housekeeping Baking- More than 600 recipes for homemade treats (1999).

Well today, my cookbook died. It has been long in the tooth for sometime. The pages are worn and some stuck together from spilled extracts or remnants of frosting that jumps from the bowl as it gets mixed. But today it fell from its home on top of the fridge and shattered. I know. I know. It's a book. How can it
shatter? But it did. It hit the ground and nearly every page went splashing out all over the kitchen. So sad. See?

Luckily all the pages are still there and readable. But still, I am sad. My very sweet husband looked up the book to see if he could get me another copy (What a sweet guy! I am so lucky.). I told him no. There is something about this one, this copy. This book that I bought over a decade ago when my cooking skills were in their infancy. Something about my 19 year old self thumbing through this book and thinking of all the dinner parties I would have someday and treats I would make for my future husband and children.

I do not remember the exact day I bought this book, but I do remember wanting to fill my house with the kind of yummy food that invites sense memories and begs to become tradition. Somehow I thought that filling my kitchen with cookbooks could do that for me. What can I say? I was young.

Funny enough, I rarely use cookbooks now. Recipes at all for that matter. When I do they are more like guidelines or suggestions. I have gotten rid of most of my cookbooks as a result. But not this one. Many of the recipes in this cookbook (and a few rare other recipes) have been so good that there is no need to change them. In fact changing them at all would be a terrible injustice.

Maybe one day I'll want to get another copy. But not today. Today I will go through this old book page by page and tape it back together. Remember the times I've made the treats contained in its pages and look forward to the next time I bring it out with my Kitchen-aid.

For those of you that are curious enough to find this book here's a link to Amazon's page for the book.


For those of you that just want a really good recipe, here's the Fresh Berry Tart  from page 248 (Yes this post was originally about brownies, but apparently I posted about that recipe already. You can find it HERE.) But don't worry, this Cream Tart is faint-in-your-chair good. I have never had anyone eat just one piece. Ever. Try it and you will know what Heaven in a pastry crust is like.

Please note: This is not a make in advance dessert. After more than 3 hours the cream seeps and the sugar absorbs into the berries. It still tastes AMAZING, but leaves something to be desired for looks.



For the crust:

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 TBS COLD butter cut up (no margarine! Only real. life. butter.)
1 large egg yolk
1/4 cup cold water

Mix together the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl or a food processor. Add butter and pulse until the butter is cut in and resembles coarse crumbs (you can also do this with knives or a pastry blender, but using a food processor is so much easier. Don;t use a blender though. It doesn't work. Trust me. I know.) Beat yolk and water together and add to butter/flour mixture. Pulse again until the dough just forms a ball. Shape into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least an hour or overnight. (Now you can cheat a little here and put it in the freezer for 15-20 mins if you are in a rush. But if you do so, make sure your dish is pretty thin. This is not ideal, but life happens! The idea is that the dough needs to get cold so it doesn't get greasy.)

Once out of the fridge, let it sit on the counter for about 5 mins and then roll into a 14" circle on a floured surface turning often to prevent sticking. If the dough becomes too soft, put it back in the fridge to firm up. Place in a tart pan with a removable bottom and form to edges. A really easy way o do this is to run the rolling pin over the top of the tart pan. It will cut the dough right along the scalloped edges! So easy. Ifyour dough cracks, press it back together gently. Refrigerate or freeze for 15 mins. Then prick all over the bottom. Line the tart shell with foil, fill with dry beans or pie weights and bake for 20 mins at 375. Then remove weights and foil and bake additional 7-10 mins or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool.

For the creme filling:

3 large egg yolks
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 TBS cornstarch
1 cup milk
2 TBS butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cups each of blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries. ( I have also used: peaches, nectarines, and blackberries.
powdered sugar for dusting

Make sure tart crust is baked and cooled. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks and granulated sugar with a wire whisk until blended. Stir in cornstarch and mix until smooth. in a 2 qt saucepan heat milk over medium heat until simmering. While constantly beating with a wire whisk pour about 1/2 the milk into the egg yolk mixture. Then pour the egg-yolk mixture back into the pan and whisk constantly until it has thickened and boiled. Reduce heat and cook while stirring for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Transfer to a bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap directly in the surface of the pastry cream. This will prevent a nasty skin from forming. Refrigerate until cold about 2 hours, at least.

Up to 2 hours before serving, beat heavy cream until stiff. Whisk pastry cream until smooth and fold in whipped cream. Spoon pastry cream mixture into tart shell and top with berries. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.


:)

For the record, you may want to make 2. One for your guests and one for you to eat while hiding in a closet away from everyone else.