Recipes I'm Loving

I still can't bring myself to write anything really serious on here. After my unintentional blause earlier this year, sharing deep things seems harder than it was before. I'm can't say for certain, but I think it has something to do with the fact that serious posts seem like they have to be long posts...and long posts are hard to write. So I'm going to stay on the surface for a little while longer, if that's OK with you. :)

Here are a few fabulous recipes that i've made recently and I want to share them with you, the world wide interwebs, to enjoy as well...

Creamy Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup

I like this soup because it's fairly healthy with minimal fat and animal products and SUPER yummy. It's most definitely a fall recipe.

Bruschetta with Gorgonzola Cheese, Mushrooms, and Honey

Giada's fake accent every time she says an italian word annoys me. But this was just to fabulous to pass up. Her recipe skips the Mushrooms, but to bulk it up a bit a sauteed a few in olive oil and added them on top before sprinkling the gorgonzola. I made this at my recent wine night a few weeks ago, and it was a huge success!

Phyllo Wrapped Asparagus with Parmesan

I LOVE crispy buttery phyllo dough and you can't really go wrong with a Paula Dean recipe. If I were to do this again, I would cut the asparagus in bite size pieces before wrapping. Cutting through the phyllo with a knife makes it fall apart and loose the overall crunch.

Chicken Carbonara

Another Giada recipe - fake accent aside, this woman knows her italian cooking! This recipe is super simple, very rich, and SO good. We made ours with shrimp and angel hair pasta. The angel hair didn't work well because the sauce was so creamy it tore apart the noodles while stirring. 

Now that i've worked up a crazy appetite - i'm going to go make something fun for dinner!

The Soup of My Childhood

49 of the 50 states have some sort of snow right now. This stat includes Hawaii. Granted, the snow in Hawaii is on top of a volcano, so it barely counts, but that's beside the point. The only state without snow right now is Florida.

What better way to warm up from all this cold weather than with some hot potato soup. Ewing-potato soup that is. This soup recipe is one of the main dishes i remember my mom making as a child. It's so comforting and cozy and filling, easy to save and reheat, and fairly inexpensive to make. Good for big families on a budget or small families that like leftovers (like me and josh!).

The Players:

1 onion

2-3 stalks of celery sliced thin

4 Tbs of butter

8-10 potatoes

3-4 carrots

parsley

chicken broth/stock or bouillon cubes and water to cover all

salt / pepper

dill seasoning

Can of evaporated milk

Cheddar Cheese

and try not to gasp too loudly...

1/3 - 1/2 a loaf of Velveeta or other processed cheese product of your choice. Me...I go for generic Publix brand Cheese Blend pasteurized process cheese!

The Game:

Chop the onion.

Thinly chop the celery

Saute in large pot with 1 - 8 Tbs of butter (depends on how fatty you wanna be, but works with any amount)

 Peel and chop the carrots.

 Peel and chop the potatoes to about 1/2 - 1 inch.

Put potatoes and carrots in with sautéed onion, celery, and butter. Barely cover with broth (or water and bouillon cubes (1 cube per cup of water you use). Add parsley.

 Bring a low boil till potatoes are soft enough to poke easily with a fork. (approximately 10 mins or until you realize you've forgotten you were making dinner while surfing facebook and rush back to check it.)

Once potatoes are soft, drop heat to low and add cheese in chunks (1-3 inches). (Velveeta cheese is essential cause of it's awesome melting capabilities....add as much or as little cheddar as you want.)

Grab your potato masher and hold it awkwardly above the soup

Just kidding...mash up some of the bigger potato chunks and pieces of cheese. *Note: Be careful not to burn your hands on the steam from the soup!

Once cheese is melted and when nearly finished add evaporated milk salt, pepper and dill to taste. Don't boil the milk or you will get some nasty curdles and dill does best when not heated for a long time.

Cut up some tasty french bread.

Thanks to Josh for being a hand model!

Chill some delicious white wine.

And Enjoy!

(p.s. i stupidly forgot to take a picture of this delicious soup before was gone so how the end result lookst will be a mystery till you make it!)