Posts Tagged ‘recipes’

Today I’m thankful that my mom taught me how to cook – and to improvise when something doesn’t turn out quite right! I planned to make white chicken chili, but the quick-soak method I used on the beans didn’t work and they were still too hard when it was time to start dinner. I tried boiling them in the broth, but that didn’t help either, so I just strained out the broth, and made a thick chicken chowder (try saying that 5 times fast!). Not quite as chili-like as I had planned, but still delicious.

{Image is from stock.xchng.}

• 5 Second Rule is a fabulous food blog I just discovered. Cheryl, the author, posts awesome-looking recipes with gorgeous photos, and absolutely hilarious stories and descriptions. This post is one of my favorites.
• If you like to spend a few minutes every day blog-hopping to enter giveaways, you’ll want to bookmark Tightwad in Utah. Every day these frugal ladies post a list of low-entry giveaways around the web that are ending that day.
• If you like ice cream and sweet bread, then you might want to try making some Ice Cream Bread. I’m going to pick up some self-rising flour next time I see it on sale so that I can try it myself!

{This is a photo I took last summer at Fort McHenry. From now on, each week’s Sunday photo will be one I took that week, instead of one I happened across in my blog-hopping.}

You know those recipe exchange e-mails that go around – you sign up for it, pass it on to a dozen friends (even though it says 30 – good heavens!), and then half those friends e-mail you back and say they got it already or they don’t have time to do it, and instead of sending it on to a different half dozen friends, you forget about it. And you never get a recipe.

Well, last week I got one of those recipe exchange e-mails. So I sent a recipe. And then I e-mailed it to a million people. Okay, it was 26, but it sure felt like a million when I was going through my address book to find friends I thought would participate – or at least not hate me forever for sending them the e-mail! One person wrote me back to say that she had already gotten this from the person who sent it to me. I figured 25 was close enough to 30, so I didn’t find someone to fill her place.

Today I got two recipes! One for a casserole very similar to our favorite (if I ever have my sister’s sister-in-law over for dinner, I’ll know what to fix), and one for a yummy looking salmon chowder. I can’t wait to see if I get more recipes in the next couple of days. I won’t get 30-something like the instructions say, since I didn’t send it to that many people, but maybe I’ll get a half dozen or so. We’ll see. Maybe I’ll post them here in a series.

In any case, today I’m thankful for recipe exchanges that actually work!

• The Vintage Pearl creates beautiful hand-stamped jewelry. My sister has one from The Relevant Conference and they’re even prettier in person than they look online.
• These custom stamps from paperfinger would be perfect for dressing up plain stationery or creating your own invitations. I particularly like the address stamps.
• Mmmm . . . I don’t think these homemade “Oreos” will taste like real ones, but they still look delicious – and simple to make.
• I’ll be participating in the 25 Days of Thanksgiving, a blog party to share our blessings. You should participate, too!

• If you’re looking for a fabulous DIY project, check out Green Submarine DIY. Green Submarine blogger Angela has started collecting some of her favorite DIY ideas from around the web and listing them in one spot, with lots of labels to help you find the specific project you want.
• Another place to look for DIY projects is the DIY Project Parade, a weekly link up at DIY Showoff.
• These Blueberry Sunrise Muffins from Hostess with the Mostess look yummy! I’m bookmarking this recipe to try for weekend brunch sometime.
• Emily of Jones Design Company was a guest blogger earlier this week at Finding Fabulous. Click here to see her tutorial for turning a (thrifted) cable knit sweater into a lovely throw pillow.
• Here’s another easy DIY pillow idea. This one utilizes a handmade stencil and fabric spray paint to make a bold design.
• Totally unrelated and not a link at all, but today my husband and I have been married for three months!

No photo this week – I didn’t find anything in my normal browsing and after half an hour of a dedicated search, there still wasn’t anything that captured my attention enough to share (and had sharing permission).

My computer is back, which means so is The Sunday List!

• Take a peek at this gorgeous pâtisserie-inspired table shoot. This would be fabulous for a bridal shower, baby shower, or a ladies’ tea.
• While we’re on the subject of tea, here’s a quick tutorial for making your own sugar “cubes.”
• This zippered case tutorial is very easy to follow, and the case would be perfect for a variety of things, from carrying your cash to your makeup, or your child’s school supplies.  It looks like a great project for homemade Christmas presents!
• Mmmmm. These bacon-wrapped potato chunks look tasty. I think they’d taste delicious dipped in ranch dressing, but you may want to try the hot sauce and sour cream combination described in the recipe.
• Marisa at A New Dress a Day took on the challenge of transforming a thrifted piece of clothing into something new to wear – every single day for a year, with just a $1/day budget. Not everything she designs is to my taste, but she does this in the morning before she leaves for work and her creativity is inspiring! Here are some of my favorites: Day 212, Day 253,  and Day 291.

The photo of the week:

{Photo copyright Uwe Hermann}

Autumn came to Virginia as September ended and October crept in. But our visitor didn’t stay long, leaving us once again with high summer-like temperatures. However, during those few cool days we had, I decided cozy foods were in order – even if I was going to wake up to a 70-degree six-o-clock the next morning.

My first thought was to make potato soup, but then I decided on Broccoli and Cheddar Soup, a la Panera Bread. It didn’t take long to find TONS of recipes online, so I skimmed over several and then tossed some ingredients in a pot to make this:

Michael even stopped at Panera Bread on his way home from work and picked up a bread bowl for each of us! The soup was delicious. Not quite like Panera’s but still tasty in its own right. I think it was even better reheated the next day. Next time we’re at Panera I’ll have to get the soup and pay close attention to the flavors and textures so that I can try to mimic it a little better at home, but I was pleased with the results anyway.

Now, I have terrible tendency to not follow recipes and not measure ingredients and not write things down. So I will attempt to share my recipe with you but, if you prefer exact measurements and instructions, you may want to do a search online for one that’s a bit more precise – there are a bunch!

{Broccoli Cheddar Soup a la Rebekah}

• 1/4 C butter
• 1/4 C flour
• 2 C cream, half-and-half or whole milk (I used raw milk that hadn’t been skimmed yet. Just poured it in without shaking first.)
• 2 C chicken broth
• broccoli (And here I admit that I have no idea how much. I used a quart-sized Ziploc bag of broccoli that I froze a few weeks ago.)
• 1/4 C onion, diced or minced (I minced my onion and forgot to include it. The soup was still good, but I think the onion would have made it better.)
• 2 large carrots, julienned, diced, or very thinly sliced
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp. mustard (I used plain, but Dijon would probably give it a better flavor.)
• smidgen of chili powder
• 2-3 C cheddar cheese

Melt butter in pan. Whisk in the flour and continue stirring for several minutes. Slowly add the cream or milk. Continue whisking and add in the chicken broth. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Add the vegetables and simmer for 20-25 minutes, until the veggies are soft. Add salt, mustard, and chili powder. Mash the broccoli and carrots with a potato masher. Stir in cheese.

Serve with bread.