a quick addition to the recent beer cheese soup recipe: (I noticed my notes in the margin after I'd posted it...)
1- you really only need to add one bottle or can of beer
2- to thicken it (I thought it was a bit thin) and to add protein, I added 2 cans white beans (you could probably use any kind).
I think that's it for food, now for books:
In the last five weeks I've read 5 books, as follows:
Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult--not her best, I thought; about a little girl who begins to manifest the wounds of Jesus after her father leaves her and her mother. It's more of an exploration of the topic of stigmata and faith than anything, but doesn't come to any conclusions, rather unsatisfactorily so, I thought.
The Saturday Wife by Naomi Ragen--again, not one of her best books either. It's really a spoof on Orthodox Judaism (written by someone who I assume is Jewish, which makes it more acceptable, I thought) and the hypocrisy of those who "strain at gnats" (keeping scrupuously kosher) while "swallowing camels" by being shallow, materialistic and just generally snotty.
Steve and Me by Terri Irwin--the story of Steve and Terri Irwin (he was the crocodile hunter on Animal Planet-guy with a great Aussie accent). An excellent and sadly moving book! I replayed it in my mind dozens of times after I read it. Definitely worth reading.
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer--the story of the young man who hiked into the Alaskan wilderness, never to be heard of again. Jon researched what actually happened to the guy, and it makes a fascinating, if sad, story. Worth reading.
A Safe Haven by Dave Hunt--I'd like to read more by this guy. A good read, exciting and God-honoring story line and just enough facts and present-day info to make it credible. A modern, atheistic revolutionary is kicked out of his home country and ends up in Israel, and nearly perishes there.
Now I'm reading Joe's Law--a book by Joe Arpaio, the sheriff of Maricopa County in AZ who is notoriously tough on illegal immigration. So far it's fascinating and is a real eye-opener to the whole issue of illegal immigration.
What have you ladies read? THis has been a bit of an unusual time in my life- feels like a rewind back twenty years, only I'm not trying to homeschool as well as run a house and raise kids so it's a bit more peaceful. (And I probably have more time to read than I normally do...) I'm actually enjoying being a "mom" of little kids again for a while.
Monday, September 29, 2008
OK, so here's the famous Best Beer Cheese Soup Duke was looking for. We made this for Dan; personally I thought it was a bit salty, but that could have been because while it called for two bottles of beer (yuk!) I actually used one normal beer and one extra strength by mistake. Dan, however, liked it and that was the important thing at that time...
5 slices bacon
2 tbl butter or marg
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 celery rib, diced
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 tbs flour
2 c chick broth
2 12 fl oz cans or bottles beer
1 lb processed cheese, cubed
1/2 lb sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 tsp garlic pwdr
Cook bacon in a large deep skillet; drain on paper towels; crumble.
Melt butter over med heat, cook onion, carrot and celery until soft, 7-10 min. Add bacon, basil, oregano and green onions; cook and stir for 2 min. Stir the flour into the mixture until completely dissolved; pour in the chicken broth and beer; cook until heated through. Melt the cheeses in the mixture in small batches; season with the garlic powder and serve.
Hope you all enjoy it; it's a good, hearty soup. Today we're trying a creamy chicken and wild rice since Dan had some from BreadCo and loved it. (Oh, to be so spoiled!) It's from allrecipes.com and it's called cream of chicken soup with wild rice. We'll let you know how it goes; it got rave reviews. (Pretty good, hunh, looking up recipes on allrecipes.com and all?)
Just a funny note: Sarah reported on her blog that she and Anna and I ran a 5k race the other day. She mentioned that Anna did quite well, actually winning 3rd place in the 15-19 year old category. What she didn't mention was that she and I also medaled; she in first for the 20-29 year olds and me in 2nd for the 50-59 year olds. And this despite our 40:30 time! (There were no others in the 20-29 year olds and only two of us in the 50-59s...) Anyway, it was fun! We were pretty stiff the next day though!
5 slices bacon
2 tbl butter or marg
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 celery rib, diced
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 tbs flour
2 c chick broth
2 12 fl oz cans or bottles beer
1 lb processed cheese, cubed
1/2 lb sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 tsp garlic pwdr
Cook bacon in a large deep skillet; drain on paper towels; crumble.
Melt butter over med heat, cook onion, carrot and celery until soft, 7-10 min. Add bacon, basil, oregano and green onions; cook and stir for 2 min. Stir the flour into the mixture until completely dissolved; pour in the chicken broth and beer; cook until heated through. Melt the cheeses in the mixture in small batches; season with the garlic powder and serve.
Hope you all enjoy it; it's a good, hearty soup. Today we're trying a creamy chicken and wild rice since Dan had some from BreadCo and loved it. (Oh, to be so spoiled!) It's from allrecipes.com and it's called cream of chicken soup with wild rice. We'll let you know how it goes; it got rave reviews. (Pretty good, hunh, looking up recipes on allrecipes.com and all?)
Just a funny note: Sarah reported on her blog that she and Anna and I ran a 5k race the other day. She mentioned that Anna did quite well, actually winning 3rd place in the 15-19 year old category. What she didn't mention was that she and I also medaled; she in first for the 20-29 year olds and me in 2nd for the 50-59 year olds. And this despite our 40:30 time! (There were no others in the 20-29 year olds and only two of us in the 50-59s...) Anyway, it was fun! We were pretty stiff the next day though!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Miriam's Shrimp Bisque
INGREDIENTS
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 (1.25 ounce) envelope hollandaise sauce mix
- 4 cups half-and-half, divided
- 1/4 cup butter
- 3 tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning TM
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1 pound fresh Shrimp
- -->We bought a pound of fresh shrimp at the seafood counter and had them steam it for us. We refrigerated it when we got home, and then de-shelled it when we were ready to make it. I think you could definitely use frozen shrimp too.
DIRECTIONS
- In a medium bowl, blend flour and hollandaise sauce mix with 2 cups half-and-half.
- Melt butter in a medium, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Slowly add hollandaise mixture, stirring constantly until thickened. Add remaining half-and-half, Old Bay and whipping cream. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Add shrimp, stirring gently until warmed through. Serve immediately. Blend in blender if desired for bisque.
Hello, Ladies. Ironically, the last post was posted by Shelley the night before Danny's wreck. There hasn't been much action since then...I wonder why. It's all Danny's fault.
Anyway, I loved the topic of soup, and since I was going out to see Danny I printed a bunch of yummy soup recipes, hoping he would eat them and quit wasting away. And, he really enjoyed most of them. One of them was a beer cheese soup recipe, that I can't seem to find the recipe for. So, Sarah, if thee still has the recipe there, will thee post the link to it? I believe I found it on allrecipes.com
Another soup I made was a cream of crab soup, that I substituted fresh shrimp for instead, and after it was done, I pureed it. It was delicious! I will definitely be making that again this winter. It had a hint of spiciness from the Old Bay Seafood Spices that you add, I did not add the sherry, celery seed, or dry mustard, and I still turned out great! I think it was better pureed, because then the shrimp/seafood flavor was well distributed, rather than pieces of shrimp in the creamy soup. I think this soup would also be great as a sauce for noodles (aka fettucine alfredo with shrimp)--yes it's that thick and creamy. Here's the link to the soup, remember, I really made a cream of shrimp. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Karyns-Cream-of-Crab-Soup/Detail.aspx
If this link doesn't work, you can go to allrecipes.com and search for cream of crab soup, and it's Karyn's Cream of Crab soup.
I also made a potato and ham soup that was good. But the other yummy soup I made was this one from The Pioneer Woman's blog. Here is the link to the recipe: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/lizs-black-bean-chowder.pdf
If this doesn't work you can go to her blog: thepioneerwoman.com and click on cooking then DAIRY, then find her black bean chowder. It was really delicious chunky or blended. On this one, I also made some modifications. First, I used canned black beans. Second, i chopped up fresh ham and added it instead of using a ham hock. Third, for the yogurt sauce, I didn't have any cilantro on hand, so I added a tiny bit of fresh basil, but it was delicious anyway. I didn't ever actually eat the yogurt sauce on top of the soup, so I can't comment on that taste combo, although I'm sure it would be really good! The curry really added a pleasant flavor, several people commented on that.
With soup, I usually serve it with some form of bread or rolls and a salad or vegetable and that's it. Soup is the main course when I make it. I would love to hear your soup ideas as well. I also made a delicious pumpkin soup last year that I would be happy to find the recipe for and post if anyone is interested. What kind of soups are your favorites--vegetable, broth-based, cream-based, chicken, with beans, thick, thin??
Hope all you ladies are doing well! Much love to you all! P.S. YAY for Shelley who is getting her walking boot off this week! I know that was a long hard 6 or so weeks for you; I'm glad it's over!
Anyway, I loved the topic of soup, and since I was going out to see Danny I printed a bunch of yummy soup recipes, hoping he would eat them and quit wasting away. And, he really enjoyed most of them. One of them was a beer cheese soup recipe, that I can't seem to find the recipe for. So, Sarah, if thee still has the recipe there, will thee post the link to it? I believe I found it on allrecipes.com
Another soup I made was a cream of crab soup, that I substituted fresh shrimp for instead, and after it was done, I pureed it. It was delicious! I will definitely be making that again this winter. It had a hint of spiciness from the Old Bay Seafood Spices that you add, I did not add the sherry, celery seed, or dry mustard, and I still turned out great! I think it was better pureed, because then the shrimp/seafood flavor was well distributed, rather than pieces of shrimp in the creamy soup. I think this soup would also be great as a sauce for noodles (aka fettucine alfredo with shrimp)--yes it's that thick and creamy. Here's the link to the soup, remember, I really made a cream of shrimp. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Karyns-Cream-of-Crab-Soup/Detail.aspx
If this link doesn't work, you can go to allrecipes.com and search for cream of crab soup, and it's Karyn's Cream of Crab soup.
I also made a potato and ham soup that was good. But the other yummy soup I made was this one from The Pioneer Woman's blog. Here is the link to the recipe: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/lizs-black-bean-chowder.pdf
If this doesn't work you can go to her blog: thepioneerwoman.com and click on cooking then DAIRY, then find her black bean chowder. It was really delicious chunky or blended. On this one, I also made some modifications. First, I used canned black beans. Second, i chopped up fresh ham and added it instead of using a ham hock. Third, for the yogurt sauce, I didn't have any cilantro on hand, so I added a tiny bit of fresh basil, but it was delicious anyway. I didn't ever actually eat the yogurt sauce on top of the soup, so I can't comment on that taste combo, although I'm sure it would be really good! The curry really added a pleasant flavor, several people commented on that.
With soup, I usually serve it with some form of bread or rolls and a salad or vegetable and that's it. Soup is the main course when I make it. I would love to hear your soup ideas as well. I also made a delicious pumpkin soup last year that I would be happy to find the recipe for and post if anyone is interested. What kind of soups are your favorites--vegetable, broth-based, cream-based, chicken, with beans, thick, thin??
Hope all you ladies are doing well! Much love to you all! P.S. YAY for Shelley who is getting her walking boot off this week! I know that was a long hard 6 or so weeks for you; I'm glad it's over!
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