Creamy Tomato Soup

I really am starting to enjoy making a variety of soups. Mom sent this one yesterday and I got the email on my blackberry, while Brett and I were running errands. Perfect timing, since I had no idea what to make for dinner. She even started the email with, "...the best tomato soup I've ever had" so it certainly had expectations to live up to....

...and I'll tell you what, I have to agree with her!

Be forewarned, it's a tad bit messy - don't wear your favorite shirt. I used a soup ladle to slowly put the soup into the blender (to puree) and then slowly take it back out - if you try pouring, be prepared for some nice splatters all over your kitchen.

What better thing could I serve with this soup than a piping hot, buttery crust grilled cheese??? I've been thinking about leftovers all day!

Mom's Creamy Tomato Soup

1TBS. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 T italian seasoning
2 (28 oz) cans crushed tomatoes
1 tsp. baking soda
1 (14 oz.) can chicken broth
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg (or a bit more, to taste)

1. Drizzle olive oil in bottom of dutch oven or large saucepan. Add onion and cook until tender and translucent. Add tomatoes, baking soda, and italian seasoning. Stir for several minutes, then add chicken broth. Turn heat to low and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
2. Working in batches, puree soup in blender. (I worked in three batches - transferred soup to blender, pureed, then moved to large container. When all soup was pureed, I put back into saucepan.) When pureeing, pop out center of blender's lid so the soup can breath - be careful, it may splatter a bit. Return soup to pot, and stir in evaporated milk. Add pepper and nutmeg. Simmer several minutes before serving; stir occasionally if sitting in pot.

My Christmas Treat Saga

Christmas 2008 was a great time...plenty of family and friends, giving and receiving gifts, and way too many yummy calories! To kick it all off, I spent three nights in the kitchen (the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd) plus Christmas Eve morning. I was baking a variety of candies and cookies to give 9-10 people for Christmas. I didn't spend much time selecting the 5 recipes...and looking back, I wish I had more thought into it because I certainly encountered one too many problems!

Let's see...

....I never did get "stiff peaks" when making meringue for Peppermint Meringues (yes, I tried it twice.) After using my electric mixer for nearly half-hour each time, I gave up.

...I didn't have a candy thermometer and thus had to race over to my cookbooks to find out what in the world "soft ball" and "hard ball" mean in candy-making lingo - while my peanut brittle happily burned on the stove.

....(Into the trash went my first round of peanut brittle.)

.... and, even the walnuts burned while roasting in the oven, so I had to pick about 20 of 'em out. (Below, I reduced the oven temp for this reason - the orignial recipe says 350 degrees. If nothing else, just watch them closely.)

OKay, all of that said, it's not like I destroyed my five treats. The Chocolate-Cherry cookies and Peppermint Meringues definitely turned out delicious and got lots of good comments. (Yes, even though my meringue never made par!) The Peanut Brittle was most challenging - I'd say, use a candy thermometer on these and you'll have an easier time. And finally, the biscotti and walnuts fall somewhere in the middle.

Candied Walnuts
1 lb. whole, shelled walnuts
1 C white sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
6 TSB milk
1 tsp. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 325. Spread nuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet and roast in the oven for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned.

2. Stir together sugar, cinnamon, milk and salt in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high for 8 minutes or until mixture reaches the soft-ball stage of 236 degrees F. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla immediately.

3. Add walnuts to the sugar syrup and stir to coat well. Spoon nuts onto waxed paper and immediately separate with a fork. Cool and store in an airtight container.



Anti-Microwave Peanut Brittle

Hints: my original recipe was Microwave peanut brittle. I failed miserably for two reasons. First, you must make it in a glass bowl in the microwave. Well, after 10 minutes, that bowl is freaking hot. How am I supposed to "quickly add butter and baking soda, stir vigorously, and pour onto cooking sheet" if I can't even pick up the bowl? "Oven pads," you might say. Well, I need two oven pads to hold the bowl, but then I don't have a hand to quickly spread the mixture out and around. One needs three hands. Ugh, I am frustrated just thinking about it! Second, cooking anything in the microwave eliminates one of my most important senses - SMELL! Such as the smell of my BURNING peanut brittle! Recipe #2, however, turned out better. It's done on the stove, so you have a lovely handle to grab with one hand, and a free hand to scoop out the mixture. AND you can stand over the pan and smell for burning! Brilliant!

1 C. white sugar
1/2 C. light corn syrup
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 C. water
1 C. peanuts
2 Tbs. butter, softened
1 tsp. baking soda

1. Grease a large cookie sheet and set aside. In large saucepan with handle, over medium heat, boil sugar, corn syrup, salt and water. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Mix in peanuts. Stir frequently until temperature reaches 300 F or until a small amount of the mixture, dropped in cold water, breaks into brittle threads.
2. Remove from heat. Immediately stir in butter and baking soda. Pour at once onto a cookie sheet. With 2 forks, lift and pull into a large rectangle. Cool, and snap into pieces.



Peppermint Meringues

2 egg whites
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 C. white sugar
2 peppermint candies, crushed

1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with foil.
2. In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites, salt and cream of tartar to soft peaks. Gradually add sugar until the meringue turns into hard, stiff peaks. Place mixture into bag and "pipe" small drops onto the cookie sheet. Sprinkle crushed peppermint candies over the meringues.
3. Bake for one and a half hours in the preheated oven. Meringues should be completely dry on the inside; do not let meringues brown. Turn off oven, and open oven door until cool. Remove from foil and set in air-tight container. They will stay fresh up to 3 months.



Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
1/4 C. light olive oil
3/4 C. white sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 eggs
1 3/4 C. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 C. dried cranberries
3/4 C. pistachios (shelled) - if salted, omit 1/4 tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 300. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In large bowl, mix together oil and sugar. Mix in almond and vanilla extracts, the beat in eggs. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder. Gradually beat dry mixture into sugar mixture. Mix in cranberries and nuts by hand.
3. Divide dough in half. Working with wet hands (since dough will be sticky,) form 2 logs (12 inches long by 2 inches high) and set on parchment paper.
4. Bake in oven for 35 minutes or until logs are brown. Remove from oven, diagonally-cut into 3/4 inch slices, and reduce oven heat to 275. Put slices back into oven for 8-10 minutes, or until dry. Cool before eating.

Chocolate Cherry Cookies

5/8 C. butter, softened (1 stick + 2 TBS)
1 C. white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 C. all-purpose flour
6 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 C maraschino cherries, drained and chopped
1/2 C. chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease two cookie sheets.
2. In large bowl, cream butter and sugar until blended well. Mix in vanilla and egg. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Stir flour mixture into sugar mixture, gradually. Mix in chopped cherries and walnuts by hand. Drop by round spoonfuls onto cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8-10 minutes in oven. Cool.

The final product...

Another Classic

Earlier this week, I threw together another old favorite, Cajun Chicken Pasta. The reason I love this recipe is because it's so simple, so flexible, and so fast. I use whole wheat penne, buy whatever peppers are on sale, experiment with different mushrooms and rotate between chicken, sausage and shrimp (sometimes, all three!) I think the most important things to know about this recipe are that (a) it's fattening - the sauce is half and half, and (b) the sauce won't get real thick, in fact, it's basically a creamy liquid. Nothing that some warm, crusty garlic bread can't take care of.

Without further ado:

Cajun Chicken Pasta

8 oz. penne pasta
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into thin strips
(and/or 1/2 lb. shrimp, a coupla cajun sausages)
3 tsp. Cajun seasoning
few drizzles of olive oil
1 green bell pepper, cut into thin slices
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin slices
6 fresh mushrooms, sliced
1-1.5 C half and half
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of garlic powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne
grated parmesan cheese

1. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add penne, cook until al dente; drain.
2. Drizzle olive oil in large skillet; add chicken and Cajun seasoning. Cook over med/high heat until no longer pink and juices are clear. Add peppers and mushrooms; cook 2-3 minutes. Reduce heat and stir in half and half. Season the sauce with basil, lemon juice, salt/pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne.
3. Add pasta to skillet. Toss well and let sit over low heat for several minutes. Sprinke with parmesan cheese and serve with garlic bread.
(serves 2 with plenty of leftovers, probably 4 with no leftovers)

If anyone wants to experiment with this baby and attempt a thicker, healthier sauce, I'd love to hear about it!!
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Pictures are fun, right?

My treasured Cooking Light/Rachael Ray collection...I am anxiously waiting for issue #1 of Food Network to arrive and that will be added! I can't imagine what this stack will look like when I'm oh, eighty.

And what good do all those magazines do if I don't have some sort of record-keeping system to maintain all the best-looking recipes?

From left to right: Mom's cookbook she made me awhile back (it's full to the brim); Ellen's gift to me, one of RR's books; Better Homes and Gardens; Bartender = from Chase that I think actually belongs to Brett; New Basics = a gift from Kathy and my dad a coupla years back; Appetizers = from Chase and Morgan; then a random collection of brochures, etc.

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Next week: 5 holiday treats, ALL of which are brand-new attempts for me! I can't share yet what they are because some of you readers may be receiving them!

Happy Holidays, everyone!

This New Idea of Mine....

I have no idea why I didn't think of this earlier. Three years ago, I was by the pool with my best friend Aimee and she said she was making her new boyfriend something called Brown Sugar Meatloaf. Though my initial thought was "meatloaf, ewww," I logged onto Allrecipes.com , found the recipe with hundreds of excellent reviews, and decided to make the same recipe for MY new boyfriend Brett. He loved it. He raved over it. He told me I was amazing. He wanted more, different meals!

From that point on, I was hooked. (to cooking AND him!)

Three years later, I've had a few cooking classes (highly recommend Kansas City Culinary,) a few cooking successes and of course, plenty of cooking failures (corn casserole that was soup in the middle, delicious, eh?)

Sometimes I take pictures of what I make...but no one wants to see that on facebook. Sometimes I send out recipes of my favorites...but is a recipe any less worthy just because it's not my favorite? So, I've started this blog to share every new recipe I try and the story behind it. If I get lazy one week and revert to cereal and nachos, I may post past recipes. But, I am hoping that this blog will encourage me to try at least one or two new things each week.

Hang in there with me, and I hope you enjoy it!
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In honor of the aforementioned Brown Sugar Meatloaf, here you are. Anytime I ask Brett, "what is your favorite meal that I make?" he will absolutely, without a doubt, say Brown Sugar Meatloaf. How could I even begin to tell a story behind this recipe? I have made it over a dozen times! I generally serve this with baby red potatoes tossed in olive oil and garlic and herbs, and fresh green beans. Also, to be a bit more heart-healthy and calorie-conscious, I generally use all ground turkey or 50/50 with ground beef. It tastes the same, I promise.

Brown Sugar Meatloaf

1/2 C. brown sugar
1/2 C. ketchup
1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
3/4 C. milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 small onion, diced
1/4 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
3/4 C. finely crushed saltine cracker crumbs or panko

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 5x9 inch loaf pan.
2. Press the brown sugar into the bottom of the pan and spread the ketchup over the brown sugar.
3. In a mixing bowl, mix all remaining ingredients and shape into a loaf. Place in the pan on top of ketchup.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes, ensuring juices run clear and the center is not pink.

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And, because I started this blog with the intention of sharing *new* recipes, here are the first and second victims of my recent soup-making kick. I credit AllRecipes for both. The first is Ham & Potato Soup and I'm happy to say that both my Mom and Kellie have already given this one a shot and good feedback! Whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, this recipe makes a TON - kinda bad for me since I'm a lone soul right now and this soup didn't freeze well (watery when reheated.) I used strips of ham that I sliced b/c the store was out of cubed ham. I will make this recipe over and over and over....

Delicious Ham and Potato Soup

3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into large cubes
1/3 C. onion, diced
3/4 C. cubed, cooked ham
3 1/4 C. water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
salt and pepper to taste
5 TBS. butter
5 TBS. all purpose flour
2 C. milk

1. Combine potatoes, onion, ham and water in large stockpot. Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are tender but not mushy, about 15 minues. Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.
2. In a seperate saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour with a whisk, stirring constantly until thick for one minute. Slowly stir in milk so as not to form lumps. Continue stirring until thick, 4-5 minutes.
3. Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot and combine well. Cook soup until heated through.

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The next one is Chicken Tortilla Soup that I made this Monday night. I did make a classic mistake with this one....accidentally adding all of the broth at once (thus the soup cooled and took much longer to thicken) rather than slowly whisking the broth into the roux. My soup was probably a bit runnier than it should be as a result, but still delicious. This is an example of a great recipe that wasn't my favorite, but perhaps it will be yours. Don't forget to add crushed tortilla chips while eating - it's a must.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1/4 C. butter or margarine
1/4 C. all-purpose flour
3 C. chicken broth
1 C. milk
8 oz. velveeta cheese, cubed
10 oz. traditional Rotel tomatoes and chiles
2 C. shredded, cooked chicken
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cayenne
salt & pepper to taste
crushed tortilla chips

1. In a pot, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour with a whisk and cook, stirring often for 3 minutes.
2. Slowly whisk in chicken broth in small amounts, then whisk in milk.
3. Reduce heat to low and stir in Velveeta cubes. Stir until melted.
4. Add Rotel, chicken and spices.
5. Heat through. Serve soup with crushed tortilla chips.

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That's enough to tide you over. If you'd like, please leave comments with recommendations or thoughts and of course, tell me if you make any of these!