Snowglobes and Soup

I feel like I have been living in a snow globe for the past two weeks.  Somone keeps shaking it up!  If only the scene I live in was as serene as the scenes you see in the snowglobes. 

No pine trees, warm fires and hot cocoa for me.  It is more like falling on my bum, pushing neighbors cars up the drive way, refilling the bucket of salt because you have just emtpied it for the 7th time, convincing Riley the faster he does his business the faster we can go back in the house, scraping car windows every morning, drivers that use their brakes too much, slick roads, 40 minute commute times...etc.  It just won't stop.  Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be making it into the mountains where we need the moisture stockpile.  I am enjoying the fresh air, but I don't get out in it much because it keeps snowing. 

One thing cold snowy weather does is increase my desire for comfort foods.  I somehow convinced Ralph that I needed some of his homeade tomato soup.  I promised to make a "bread" of some kind to go along with it.  It was so tasty.  I made Mel's Kitchen Cafe, Cheddar and Herb Biscuits to go along with it.

Tomato Soup
2 quarts canned tomatoes
2 cups diced carrots
2 cups diced celery
1 cup diced onion
1 cup cooking sherry (you can substitute water)
4 chicken bouillion cubes
2 Tbls olive oil
2 Tbls butter
4 ounces tomato paste
2 cups water
Seasonings: garlic powder, parsley, french or italian herbs, black pepper, salt if necessary

saute carrots, celery, onions, and dried herbs in the olive oil and butter
add sherry to deglaze
add tomatoes, paste, water and bouillion
simmer until vegetables are tender
puree and serve

***to cut down on sodium use low sodium canned chicken broth, and real sherry.

I hope you are all keeping warm and safe.
Ta Ta for now.

Ummmm....Wow

Not really a title to give to this post, but I wanted to share a little episode that occured over this last weekend.  Ralph and I were at costco around 4:30 and the parking lot was still jam-packed.  Crazy.  I just figured nobody had anything to do that day, so they went shopping.  Anyway, we finished the chore and had just unloaded the cart - all healthy.   I was on my phone talking to Mom.  I didn't see a cart dump off site close, so I pushed it up against the curb where we were parked and proceeded to turn around to get into the car when out of nowhere the car directly to the left of us honked his horn and opened the passenger window and proceeded to tell me that he had just taken two carts to the dump off spot and figured I should do the same.  I just kept talking to Mom and went on my merry way.  I finished talking to Mom and let what happened seep into my brain.

Who does this guy think he is that he can yell at me for not taking my cart back.  Aren't there more important things to worry about?  They hire people to do that very thing.  Maybe I was really tired from prepping for a stamping activity the night before and then had two 2-1/2 hour sessions of classes.  Maybe my foot hurt.  I turned to Ralph and spit out my frustration and said, I wish I would have told him that not everyone could be as perfect as he was.  Then Ralph turns to me and tells me to remember that when he doesn't meet my expectations. (that very rarely happens)  GULP

Why are we as a society so quick to make judgements and expect everyone to be a star model citizen everywhere we go and in everything we do?  What do ya think?

A Stay at Home Day

I looked forward to today as I knew that neither I nor Ralph had anything extra planned.  We had the church thing, no extra meetings, visitors, projects due etc. 

This morning was amazing.  I didn't taste the air when I left to take Riley for his morning business.  The sky was blue and the sun was shining.  Halfway through church, I looked out the window and what did I see.....(not popcorn)  Rain.  When I left church it had stopped raining, but I knew what was coming.   SNOW  When I got home from church I put on my Utah sweats and sweatshirt, a pair of socks and snuggled down under the blanket with Riley and a glass of diet coke and watched mens figure skating. 
(Ralph begged for control of the remote, but I didn't hand it over until a winner had been announced.  He wasn't even watching, he was reading a spy novel anyway, so why should he care?)

The snowstorm hit and I knew it was a good thing to stay home.  As of now we have about 4 to 5 inches of new snow.  That should make the commute to work in the morning loads of fun.


We had a total comfort food dinner of meatloaf, twice baked potatoes, cooked carrots and a big green salad.  The meatloaf recipe I use is from the Barefoot Contesssa, except I use a couple of large cloves of garlic as well.  It uses ground turkey (healthy)  I half the recipe and it gives us food for the week.  I love me a good meatloaf sandwich for lunch.



Can you really make meatloaf look appetizing?



Turkey Meatloaf

• 3 cups chopped yellow onions (2 large onions)
• 2 tablespoons good olive oil
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (1/2 teaspoon dried)
• 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 3/4 cup chicken stock
• 1 1/2 teaspoons tomato paste
• 5 pounds ground turkey breast
• 1 1/2 cups plain dry bread crumbs
• 3 extra-large eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup ketchup

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a medium saute pan, over medium-low heat, cook the onions, olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme until translucent, but not browned, approximately 15 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce, chicken stock, and tomato paste and mix well. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Combine the ground turkey, bread crumbs, eggs, and onion mixture in a large bowl. Mix well and shape into a rectangular loaf on an ungreased sheet pan. Spread the ketchup evenly on top. Bake for 1 1/2 hours until the internal temperature is 160 degrees F. and the meatloaf is cooked through. (A pan of hot water in the oven under the meatloaf will keep the top from cracking.) Serve hot, at room temperature, or cold in a sandwich.

Looking forward to a productive week.
Ta Ta for now.

BRRRRR

I just can't seem to keep warm.  Not only is it cold, but the air here is toxic.  Worst air quality in the US.  I know it makes you want to pack up and move to Utah right now.  If you can't find Riley these days...he has parked himself over a heating vent.  During the day, he chases the sun coming in the window.  He gets all out of sorts if it is cloudy.  Poor little guy doesn't know what to do with himself when the sun doesn't adhere to his schedule.  Oh, the life of Riley! 

We have a forcast for a storm big enough to blow the icky air away and snow/rain some more.  Lets hope that the clear air sticks around.

I have been going through card making/craft project withdrawal...  Here is a valentines card that has been swirling around in my head once I saw all the cool new accessories and stamps in our new spring catalog.

I used the new honeycomb embossing folder on two different papers and then cut them out and inserted the hexagon in the embossed sheet.   Lesson learned...if you use Stampin Up's white paper, then you have to open another tab on the platform in order for it to not tear the paper.   I didnt redo it, but noted for next time.  I used the flower from collage curios and the sentiment from my little valentine.  

I am teaching a class this weekend so I have 3 cards to design. I also have two family birthdays this month. It seems to all come at once. I like having an excuse to make a mess in my "crap" space. 

 

Work is crazy.  I got dumped with another mess to clean up.  I just hope I can keep up with it.  Right now I am operating in crisis mode.  Yikes!  It is amazing to me how somone can be assigned to a project and when things start to go south with it...why don't they ask for help.  It would have been much easier to address this when the problem started.

 

I have been able to sneek in a little bit of reading.  I just picked up The House at Riverton, by Kate Morton.  I have read her other two books, The Forgotten Garden, and the Distant Hours.  I love them both.  I read Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson.  I liked it so much I read it twice over my Christmas break.  I just finished I got this by Jennifer Hudson - Not what I expected.  Hopefully I will have a report soon.

 

I haven't really tried any new recipes lately, so nothing to report on that front.  Although, my brother shared another one of his bread recipes.  I am hoping to get better at it.  I love home made bread as it comes out of the oven.  The heel/crust in my favorite.  Slathered in butter and local honey.  MMMMM!  Maybe one day the loaves will be good enough to take a picture.

So...my one of my new goals is to get to my blog at least twice a week.  It is great therapy and it keeps my fan base informed.  HA HA HA HA.  Yes I am delusional.

Ta Ta for now