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Creamy Pepper Pot Soup – Tasty Tuesday
Magic ingredients can turn a overflow of peppers into a tasty filling lunch that can be cooked up from scratch in 30 minutes. The magic isn’t quite Disney, or David Copperfield, but still transforming from counter top or refrigerator extras to steamy bowl full of goodness! And, this soup is for two, not twenty! Substitutions are allowed and encouraged when making your very own homemade from scratch: as you know where the senses are! Should you have the urge for some extra heat, use hotter peppers. A child sharing that pot with you… mild jalapenos and NO Hungarian Wax peppers are the key. I like to walk the fence… just…
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Tasty Tuesday Dress Me Up Salsa Pico De Gallo
Salsa is a staple at our house, and has been for years. Tell me… WHO can live without tortilla chips and salsa? Or quesadillas with salsa? The occasional late night nachos with salsa? You get the picture. I used to have a truck load pumped into the house… back ‘er up and fill the tank. Well, not really, but if felt like that. I would wipe out a whole shelf in the commissary each time I went.So, naturally after canning a gazillion tomatoes the light bulb went off as to how to use these red beauties and the first thought: Salsa.There are several recipes for this mainstay, here is my…
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Quick and Easy Low Carb Lunch
Fresh from the oven, a dish of broccoli, carrots and Angle Hair Pasta… Nice! There are times when pasta just sounds right. My mind really likes the idea of that comfort food… and when it comes, presented in the form of Angel Hair pasta… oh my! I like this! This summer we canned carrots like nobody’s business. We love them. Some I put in quart jars… a bit too big for us to use in one meal. I also froze broccoli. We had the best plants ever. So there are freezer bags and bags of them yet in produce freezer downstairs. Life is so good!We zoomed in late for lunch…
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Soup Liquid Warmth at Your Fingertips
It is Tuesday. It is snowing. It is dark gray and cold. Company is coming for lunch. Our driveway is a bear to climb and make the turns. So, a warming, aromatic entry will calm the nerves of those who came fishtailing at idiot speeds up the drive. I know my friends!Today there is a pot of soup simmering on the stove. As I have said before, dishes are my passion… so the opportunity to use some deep red pottery bowls is a bonus! With a basket of sliced bagels the vegetable soup is going to be great!Vegetable Soupserves 3 (8 oz servings)Olive oil1/2 medium onion2 mushrooms chopped2 T chopped…
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A Minute Out of the Norm: Science!
I have to admit I have an affinity for science! I remember as a child making ‘mud pies’ in the backyard. Armed with a big bucket, I’d add water… dirt… leaves… sand… whatever I could find… and thoroughly enjoying watching the change. Add a little bit of this and a little bit of that and watch what takes form. Add enough dirt to the water and my mud-soup practically went from a liquid to a solid. I never thought of it as science but in hindsight … it was watching matter change, and therefore in its own way science. Just the beginning of a lifetime love of watching science take…
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Great Travel Weekend in the Great Lakes
Planning to travel? Need a reunion getaway after a long deployment? We recently had the opportunity to travel to Petoskey, Michigan for an extended weekend getaway for an anniversary (can barely count the number on both of our toes and hands)! What a great time and we saw some new parts of the world we had never seen before! We have lived overseas in Central America and Iceland and visited South America, the Caribbean and Europe. We have also lived in numerous US states from the Puget Sound of Washington to the Low Country of South Carolina. After retiring from the Air Force we relocated to Michigan to be near…
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Cioppino: A #1 Seafood Soup
Cioppino is the quintessence of seafood dish. I love tartness, tang and even taste buds on fire. And, I love using the beautiful soup tureens that I picked up over the years. Great food in a beautiful dish… does it get better? I still do not know how to pronounce this… I usually point at it on the menu. It is always a wonderful choice, and always a bit different. I have asked for the recipe at several restaurants, and their response has been great; however, the recipes have been for about 45 folk… Not my usual family gathering! This recipe, which serves 6, came from a neighbor who swears…
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The “Witching” Hour
There is an hour, or a couple of them actually, in my house that can be the hardest of the entire day. It usually falls right when it is time for me to be thinking about dinner: 4:30pm till about 6pm, and called the “witching hour” amongst many moms. My boys get a little (or a lot depending on the day) whiney, the fighting starts and I can be a little grumpy myself! (I am amazed at how food can affect my own mood. A few hours between meals can leave me feeling very “blah”.) So my goal is usually *simple* meals OR a meal that I can start at…
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Poppy Seed Chicken
I love recipes with poppy seed as a key ingredient. I hate that they try to find permanent lodging in my teeth… but I love the peppery taste that they guarantee. Summertime salads are served with Poppy Seed dressing as a choice. But in the dead of winter, -15 degrees today in Michigan, I opt for a hot meal. This recipe is a crowd pleaser. It does not skimp on the chicken, and is not a dry casserole. Poppy Seed ChickenServes 10Preheat oven to 350 degrees 2 cans cream of chicken soup2 c sour cream1 chicken bouillon cube1/2 c water8 to 10 chicken breasts, skinned and cooked and cut into…
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Chopped Tomato Basil Salad
Tomatoes are red and heavy on our vines. We have been picking them almost daily, the bounty this year is wonderful! Dale and I have been canning our produce weekly – so the promise of a summer’s kiss will be tasty in our winter soups and sauces. The Harvest I have a passion for pretty plates and dishes. I look for meals that compliment a color theme, or let me use a certain precious gift given to me by a Grandmother who’s memory I hold dear. This great recipe uses fresh tomatoes and pungent basil. These tomatoes need to be skinless. This is a simple process. I put a small…
