tomato blue cheese soup

My very least favorite part of blogging is the writing part.

Sometimes it comes fairly easy.

Easily?

See!?!?

Right off the bat I'm stuck on easy vs. easily.

Sometimes, like today, it's a huge struggle to do the words putting into sentences part.

So, since I have recently acquired a recipe for tomato soup that just may change your life, and I really, really want to share the tomato soup love with you, I am simply going to go the bullet point route and leave you to make sense of it all.

But first, here's the picture. Hopefully that will hold you over until I actually get to the recipe part.


Ready? Here we go.

(Where is the bullet point key on my keyboard?)

(I guess we'll do asterisks instead.)

(Chemo brain. Love having that excuse in my back pocket.)

* I have a neighbor.

* My neighbor has an amazing garden - both flowers and veggies.

* My neighbor regularly hosts gatherings for some of the neighbor ladies, of which I am one.

* My neighbor did that very thing last week and served tomato soup as part of the delicious menu.

* My neighbor passed the recipe along to me.

* My neighbor also gave me a large bag full of delicious heirloom tomatoes.

* Score!

* My neighbor is very pretty and sweet and giving.

* I have been on the hunt for a good creamy tomato basil soup for years.

* We used to have a restaurant in town that made the very best creamy tomato basil soup on the planet.

* Sadly, that restaurant closed.

* This recipe is even better than that recipe.

* Score!

* Here is that recipe, along with the changes I made.

Tomato Blue Cheese Soup from allrecipes.com

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced - I used a very small amount of garlic, as I'm not a huge fan
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper - didn't have a pepper on hand
1/4 large red onion, chopped - used a Walla Walla from my garden
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese - used Gorgonzola, and let's be honest - I used more than 1/4 cup
1 (4 ounce) package cream cheese, softened - cream cheese makes everything better
1/4 cup heavy cream - used half and half
1/4 cup milk
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes - used the heirlooms
1 1/2 cups tomato juice - had V-8 on hand
2 teaspoons dried basil - I used fresh and lots of it
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon granular no-calorie sucralose sweetener (such as Splenda®) - good old sugar for me

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, bell pepper, and onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the blue cheese, cream cheese, heavy cream, and milk. Heat until the cheese is melted and the mixture is simmering, 5 to 7 minutes.

2. Stir in the diced tomatoes, tomato juice, basil, sweetener, and pepper. Continue to cook and stir until the soup is heated through, 15 to 20 minutes.

I doubled the recipe because I had so many tomatoes, and I added the Gorgonzola at the end because I didn't want it totally melted.


If you are a tomato soup fan, this recipe is a keeper. It is creamy and dreamy and delicious.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

molasses cookies

Have I mentioned that my middle son is back in the desert?

He's about half way through his deployment, and I can't wait for him to come home this spring.

In the meantime, I send him cookies!


We've discovered that his all time favorite chocolate chip cookies are a no-go. It can take anywhere from a week to a month for a package to make it into Junior's hands, and even vacuum packed, the chocolate chip cookies are not at their best when they arrive.

However, my sister's molasses cookies are another story. They are still soft and chewy even weeks after I send them off.


Spiced with lots of cinnamon, cloves and ginger, these cookies are a perfect fall treat.

I have big plans to fill them with pumpkin ice cream, as I think they'd be out of this world as ice cream sandwiches.

(Just to clarify, I would not be sending the ice cream sandwich version overseas.)


Molasses Cookies

1 and 1/2 cups melted butter - recipe calls for shortening, but I'm a butter believer
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup molasses - I use the dark, full flavor version
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon salt

I usually soften my butter in the microwave to an almost, but not quite melted point.
Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs and beat until light and fluffy.
Add molasses and mix until blended.
I usually sift the dry ingredients together into a bowl and then add them to the mixer in batches and stir until everything is just combined.
But sometimes I'm not very Martha and don't sift anything but just dump all the dry ingredients into my mixer and then say bad words as the flour goes flying all over my kitchen.

Four cups of flour is a lot of flour to add all at once.

Either way, they always turn out perfect and delicious.

Except for the first time when I made them with no sugar. They were not delicious that time.

Chill the dough for a couple hours, and then roll the cookie dough into balls. Roll the cookie balls in granulated sugar and place on a ungreased cookie sheet. Do not press the cookie balls down. They will flatten out into perfectly round cookies as they bake.

Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

I've made them from all different sized cookie scoops, as I'm always trying to maximize the amount of cookies I can fit in a flat rate postal box. The smaller cookies are usually done the eight minutes and the largest can take up to eleven minutes.


So are there any other cookie shippers out there? If you've got a recipe that travels well, I'd love to hear about it.

Have a happy Tuesday!

fresh apple cake

Another recipe!

From the photo dump!

Won't you be glad when I'm done with the photo dump and therefore quit saying the words "photo dump"?

Me too.

I made Paula's Fresh Apple Cake last fall when I had a couple girlfriends over for coffee and dessert.

Part of me wishes it was still fall, because apple cake is more of a fall-ish dessert than a late January dessert, but I suppose apples are pretty much a year round fruit, so here you go.


This is one of those cakes that gets better and better with each day spent in the fridge.

I served it with cinnamon whipped cream, which was delicious, and my sister serves it with cinnamon ice cream. I've never had cinnamon ice cream, but I can only imagine how delightful it would be with this cake.


(Can anyone tell me why it is that when I make a long photoshop document, like the recipe above, it shows up skinny on my blog even though it's the same pixel width as all my other photos that show up full width?)

(Edited to add that I do not use blogger for my photos. I upload to Photobucket and then paste them into my post.)

(Thank you in advance, because I find this to be very frustrating.)

Have a wonderful Monday!

baked brie

I'm finally cleaning up my computer picture files.

This is a good thing, because removing one folder at a time whenever my Mac yells at me about the lack of storage space is not the most efficient form of computer or time management.

Be on the look out for lots of recipes and miscellaneous photos that have been lurking on my hard drive for far too long.


(Oh, how I wish, wish, wish that apple had a stem.)

The fact that I am doing this little bit of computer maintenance is quite impressive considering all I want to do is play Fruit Ninja on my son's new iPod touch.

I became instantly addicted last week during my very first game, and now I spend large amounts of time negotiating with Junior for usage of his new toy.


He is very stingy.

I did manage to score some quality fruit time over the weekend while he took his girlfriend home on Saturday night, but negotiations broke down as soon as he returned.

I now have plans to accidentally back my car over my Blackberry so I can replace it with an iPhone, and then there's a really good chance you'll never see me again, because I'll be playing Fruit Ninja all day, every day.


When I'm not playing Fruit Ninja, (which is all the time because did I mention that my son won't share his iPod touch?) I'm trying to finish the last book in The Hunger Games series.

I find myself saying "Katniss Everdeen" over and over in my head, and sometimes I even say it out loud. Please tell me that every once in a while you get hung up on a word (or a name....a rather strange, made up name) and it just gets stuck in your head.

And sometimes comes out your mouth.

Please tell me that sometimes happens to you.

Katniss Everdeen.

Katniss Everdeen.

Katniss Everdeen.

(Spell check is not acquainted with Katniss Everdeen.)

Okay, we're going to move on now, and pretend that I am a very normal person who spends her days cooking and cleaning and doing her laundry, instead of a person who repeatedly says the name of a fictional character out loud and licks marshmallows in the snow and dreams of uninterrupted fruit slicing time.

I have several recipes to clear off my computer, and the first one comes from my bff. She made it for us when we were blobbing last month, and it is fabulous.

Baked brie. With fruit and nuts, no less.


Fabulous.

The recipe calls for the Costco wheel of brie, but I only had access to the 8 ounce grocery store version, so it looks a little overwhelmed by the toppings in this picture.

19 oz wheel of brie
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar - I only used about 1/2 cup
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup finely diced Granny Smith apple
orange juice - a splash

Saute all the ingredients (except the cheese) in a skillet until the apple is slightly soft.

Place the brie in a pie pan, and pour the fruit and nut mixture over the top. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.


I wasn't thrilled with the grainy consistency of the melted butter and brown sugar mixture, so the next time I made the recipe, I dissolved the brown sugar in a little bit of orange juice, and then added the butter to the pan.

I also put foil over the pan after about ten minutes in the oven, so the topping doesn't get too brown.

I'm not a huge fan of Table Water crackers, as I think they taste a little bit like cardboard, but in this case, they are perfect. The plain cracker really lets the cheese and toppings take center stage.


Speaking of brie, I used to work for an airline, and every once in a while I'd get to sit in first class if there was room. One of my first class meals included a really cute, mini round of brie, which I attempted to cut with my knife. However, cold brie is a little on the rubbery side, so instead of slicing, the mini brie went flying through the air and landed in the lap of a humorless business man sitting in the row in front of me. He didn't even smile when he handed it back to me, and he should have, because it was pretty darn impressive to see that brie flying through the air.

Come on, stodgy business man. Laugh! It was funny!

He was obviously not a cheese lover. Personally, I'll take my cheese anyway I can get it.

Happy Tuesday!

the great cookie bake-off

Pinterest.

It's responsible for so much of my behavior these days.

The good. The bad.

The highly caloric.


Pinboard claims of the "best chocolate chip cookie on the planet", and "you'll never make another cookie recipe....ever!" got my attention.

I've got several go-to cookie recipes in my arsenal, but the fam always seems to like good old chocolate chip the best.

What if I've been making sub-par chocolate chip cookies all these years?

Perish the thought.


So I gathered the ingredients for the recipe that kept catching my eye on Pinterest, and started about the twenty four hour plus process required to produce what I'd been led to believe could quite possibly be chocolate chip cookie perfection.

I followed the recipe step by step, word by word, with the exception of the bittersweet chocolate fèves, because I don't know what a fève is and I'm going to guess that whatever they are, they're not readily available in Montucky. I stuck with semi-sweet morsels, because that's just how we roll here on the farm.

I also made a batch of my tried and true and ever reliable Nestle Toll House cookies.

I felt a side-by-side comparison was in order.


It wasn't even a contest. By a wide margin, (after much sampling and milk sipping to cleanse our palates between cookies) we discovered that we are not a New York Times cookie kind of people.

We are Toll House people, through and through.

But I think, deep down, I knew that already.

I also knew that even if I was a New York Times cookie kind of person, the twenty four hour chill time required would probably be a deal breaker. We are instant cookie gratification people above all else.

So, still on the subject of cookies, I have to share my most recent and currently most favorite way to eat a cookie.

I visited my sister last month, and she introduced me to this fantastic creation - hot from the oven, baked cookie cups. With ice cream, no less.

I love ice cream.

The process is simple. The results are divine.

Grab some ramekins and some cookie dough, and have at it.


I had a surplus of cookie dough from the bake-off, so I froze it in cookie scoop sized balls. Each ramekin had two balls of thawed and then crumbled cookie dough.

Cookie cups will change your cookie world forever.


Since I had an obvious aqua color thing going on here, I called my aqua eyed neighbor Ceili to see if she felt like sitting in an aqua chair and eating cookies and ice cream out of a pretty aqua cup.

With an aqua spoon.


She did, so we had a cookies and ice cream party on my front porch.

That's a perfectly normal thing to do on a cold winter's day, isn't it?


It was windy and our eyes were watering, but we had a date with a cute striped straw and some fun convertible mittens, so we powered through.


Thank you, Ceili! You are fun! It's not just any girl who can smile and sip milk through a straw at the same time. You've got talent.

p.s. My sister and I spent a ridiculous amount of time coming up with cookie/ice cream combinations. Here are a few that are on my list to try.

Oatmeal Cookies and Cinnamon Ice Cream.
Peanut Butter Cookies and Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream. (That one might kill me.)
Brownies and Peppermint Ice Cream. My niece came up with this and said it's a winner.
Brownies and Coconut Ice Cream - my favorite sweet combination of all time.
Molasses Cookies and Pumpkin Ice Cream. Have you tried Dreyer's Pumpkin Ice Cream? Yum.
Cowboy Cookies and any kind of ice cream.

I'm sure there are many more combos that we haven't thought of....feel free to toss your ideas into the ring.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

on monday

I woke up at nine o'clock this morning.

9:00.

Nine in the ayem.

I am discombobulated on so many levels by this turn of events. Usually, I am a wake up at six without an alarm kind of girl, and on a rare day, my alarm wakes me up at seven. This morning, I woke up with a wrinkle in my cheek that I fear may never go away, and an instant axe in the noggin caffeine deprived headache, so it's probably best if we all keep our expectations of this post making any sense at all to a minimum.

I know I've blogged about my kitchen and its remodel before, but two things happened on Monday that have led me to blog about it again today.

First, I pulled something off one of the open top shelves in my kitchen, and a shower of dust bunnies came down with it. It was time. Time to take everything down, wash it all in hot soapy water, wipe down the shelves, and then put it all back and feel good about the cleanliness of my kitchen shelves for at least a week. I remembered that I planned to do this particular project right before the wedding, but along with about 267 other projects that I planned to do right before the wedding, it didn't happen.

Since everything was all bright and shiny and clean, I might as well take a picture or two.

Secondly, again on Monday, (I feel the need to point out the Monday part again, in order to justify my post title), I was digging out my stash of Christmas magazines, and in the process I found an old and extremely tattered issue of Country Living magazine that brought me straight back to our pre-remodel, pre-Montana move days.

It features a kitchen that served as very heavy inspiration for our soon to be new home.



It was fun to look through the pages and see the ways our kitchen turned out to be similar, and also the ways it is different.


Obviously, one major difference is my heavy handed addition of lots of aqua....my favorite color ever.

Ever, ever.

But the pink was a little trickier. If it was not for the fact that I found the pretty pink bowl for a whopping five dollars, I probably wouldn't have even gone there at all.

For a while, I was really hung up on the pink. In my mind, you either go more primary with a color scheme by leaning to the red side, or more pastel by going to the pink side.

But then I took a closer look my two very favorite vintage tablecloths, and noticed that they each had a touch of pink mixed in with red, and as I love these particular tablecloths more than a person should love any sort of fabric object, I decided to follow suit and add a few pink touches here and there, and therefore overcome my pink and red issues once and for all.

(Can someone please fix that sentence/paragraph? I still have a bit of a headache, and therefore am in no condition to cure it of its run-on-ishness.)

In case it's not clear, my first favorite tablecloth is the cherry beauty in the above collage, and my second favorite is this little fella.


Believe it or not, this cloth was a bonus that the seller threw into the package when I purchased another tablecloth on Ebay. Pure craziness.




(Does anyone know what that little aqua chicken is supposed to be? He is about the size of a salt shaker, but has a hole in his back that is filled with some kind of plastery substance. I don't know his purpose, but I love him anyway.)

Almost everything in my kitchen is vintage, but back when we were remodeling, Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware were really doing some fun reproductions.

Speaking of which....

Dear Restoration Hardware,
What has happened to you?
I don't even know you anymore.
Sadly,
Teresa

The wall phone was a Pottery Barn find. I also have a reproduction desk phone that I love, and while I don't miss all the sales calls since we canceled our home number, I do miss talking on the old school style tellies.

Thanks to Martha, jadeite was also making a big comeback, and everyone from Sears to Linen's and Things, to Marty herself were selling new versions of the old favorite. Butter dishes, batter bowls, ball pitchers and cake stands were a few of the new things I added to my collection of vintage goodies.

It took years and years of antique show hunting to totally outfit my kitchen, and I truly enjoyed every minute of it. I'm still on the lookout for fun tablecloths and dish towels, but other than that, I feel like my little cottage kitchen has totally come into its own, and I love it.

And now I'm off to snuggle up to my Costco sized bottle of Ibuprofin, because I have to go to the grocery store this afternoon and we all know the grocery store on the day before Thanksgiving is its very own headache inducing experience.

Have a truly wonderful Thanksgiving!

let's talk soup

Is it soup weather at your house?

It is definitely soup weather at my house. It's snowing and windy and gray. Perfect weather for a pot of soup.

Soup which, by the way, I cooked in my brand spanking new Caribbean Blue Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron Round French Oven.

The manager at Macy's gave me full credit for my four Marthas, and the 7.25 in Caribbean was on close-out, so I got the deal of the day all the way around. I still have enough of a credit to get another smaller pot if I feel so inclined. It's a little slice of Le Creuset heaven.

I'm always on the lookout for a great new soup recipe, so if you've posted one on your blog, please feel free to leave the link in the comments.

Let soup season begin!

greek bread salad

I go to Bible study on Thursdays.

Well, not last Thursday.

Or today, for that matter, but generally speaking I do go to Bible study on most Thursdays.


(These photos have absolutely nothing to do with this post. In the editing process, I realized I ended up rambling quite a bit, and large chunks of rambling text without pictures to distract you from the rambling nature of the text makes me uncomfortable. Hence, we now have distractionary pretty pictures from my archives for your viewing pleasure.)

I've been to a lot of Bible studies in my day, but this one is far and away my favorite. Ever.

Why is it my favorite you ask? Three reasons.

A Bible Study Trifecta, of sorts.


First off, there is the study itself. It's been a great one. Really, really good.

Part two is...the people.

As I said, the study itself is wonderful, but the interaction between the participants and what I've learned from each of them is truly the highlight of the study for me.


What started out many months ago as a very diverse group of ladies, some of whom were perfect strangers, has ended up as one of the closest knit groups I have ever been a part of. Each and every lady there now permanently owns a pretty large chunk of my heart.

I love these ladies.

Part two of the trifecta actually has its own two parts.
A. The aforementioned lovely ladies.
B. One of my very favorite short and smushy people on the planet, Baby Tyler.


Baby Tyler is not a little baby anymore, he's a Big Baby. Immediately after his very first photo shoot last summer, I invited myself to become his honorary Auntie Teresa. I didn't really even ask his mom or grandma if that was okay with them, I just used the assumed sale approach and so far it seems to be working.

If it's not working, mom and grandma are too nice to tell me so.

I've been a shameless baby hog during every single study, and as such I got to enjoy one of my very favorite pastimes ever.....giving a sleepy baby his pre-nap bottle.

Baby Tyler and his mama Jess aren't going to be able to come on Thursdays anymore, and they will be missed in a very big way. It just won't be the same without them. My lap will be empty, the seat next to me on the couch will be empty, and no one will be trying to rip my Bible study book to shreds.

At least I don't think anyone else will try to shred my book. A couple of these ladies do look like they've got a little wild side hiding under the surface, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

In an attempt to fill the hole left by Tyler and Jessica's absence, I will now move on to the third Bible Study Trifecta factor.

The food.

Oh, the food.

When we started meeting way back when, I'm pretty sure the food was supposed to be on the snacky side. But, very quickly it evolved into full on lunch, and not just typical lunch....fabulous lunch.

The last time we met up, it was my friend Delia's (Tyler's grandma) turn to wow us with her culinary skills. She did not disappoint. Among other delicious things, Delia made a Greek pita bread salad, and I found myself going back for seconds, thirds and fourths.

Delia shared the recipe, so I made a batch the next week and proceeded to eat the entire thing in two days.

I made another batch yesterday, and this time I had the good sense to take some pictures before it vaporized before my very eyes.

This is one of the few recipes without cream cheese that I've deemed worthy to share on this blog. It is delicious, and when you go to the store to buy the ingredients, make sure you buy enough to make more than one batch because I guarantee you'll be making this more than once.


Greek Bread Salad

1/4 cup chopped jarred pepperoncini, plus 1-1/2 tablespoons pepperoncini brine
1-1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dried oregano - I didn't have any oregano
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved - I used Campari tomatoes from Costco
1 (16-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
cucumber, peeled and sliced. I didn't peel mine. Lazy.
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
3/4 cup sliced kalamata olives - I think Delia used black olives and it was equally delicious
1/2 small red onion, halved and sliced thin - I left this out

2 (10-inch) pita breads, (not pockets), torn into 1-inch pieces
1 garlic clove, minced - I left this out
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley - I left this out, too
Salt and pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine pepperoncini brine, vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon oregano, and mustard in medium bowl. Slowly whisk 5 tablespoons oil into vinegar mixture. Add tomatoes, chickpeas, cucumber, feta, olives, onion, and pepperoncini and toss to combine. Let sit 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, toss pita, remaining oil, garlic, and remaining oregano in medium bowl.
Bake pita on rimmed baking sheet until golden brown, about 10 minutes, stirring halfway through baking.
*The second time around I baked my pita at 350 and stirred them every four minutes. They got away from me the first time:(
I also cut up all six pitas in the package and just tossed them in olive oil and sprinkled them with Kosher salt. Why toast two pitas at a time when you know you're going to make the salad at least fourteen more times.

Stir toasted pita and parsley into salad. Let stand 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Since I wasn't serving the entire salad at once, I added the feta and pita to the veggie mixture each time I made a bowl for myself. Soggy pita is not happy pita.

I have no doubt I will eat this salad on a very regular basis until I make myself sick and never want to see it again.

Greek Bread Salad....an entire batch every two days will do ya good.

flower power

Pretty, pretty flowers. The greenhouse is full of them. They are good for the soul.


I am making a determined effort to appreciate the fact that I have these gorgeous beauties at my beck and call.


(Even gorgeous beauties that are covered in aphids. It would seem this batch of lady bugs are pooping out on us. Perhaps it's time to call in some reinforcements.)


I'm making a determined effort not to succumb to the late winter (even though it's technically spring) dreary and depressed doldrums.

Easier said than done, right?


Today is our first sunny day in weeks and weeks and boy, does it do a winterized heart good to finally see some blue skies.


On a totally different, non-flowery note, we recently re-discovered a jello recipe we haven't had since the 80's. It's quite scary to think that the last time I had this I was probably wearing acid wash jeans and sporting very big Aussie Sprunch sprayed bangs.

Dear 80's,
Why?
Love,
Teresa

It's a recipe for raspberry jello with a pretzel crust. It is one of the wackiest combinations out there, but there is something truly delightful about the saltiness of the pretzels, the tartness of the raspberries and the creamy sweetness of the cream cheese layer. I promise, strange as it is, it's worth a try.


This is also one of the messier food photos I've ever taken. It would be much more appetizing if I'd taken the time to primp the subject even a little bit, but alas, it was not to be.

Raspberry Pretzel Jello. It may not be pretty, but it sure is good.

spring dreams and carrot cake

It's March!

Even though Spring usually doesn't even consider making a real appearance here in March, the calendar makes its arrival official and that's all I need to start thinking springy thoughts.

I have snow on the ground and more on its way, but still I dream of green grass, pink blossoms and temperatures that don't take your breath away.

My seed catalogs get a second glance....and then a third and fourth. I can safely let my mind wander down the garden path and those wandering thoughts have the hopeful feel of possibilities. (As opposed to the somewhat dramatic and desperate January and February garden thoughts wherein I am absolutely convinced that I may very well die from an overdose of gray and brown long before sunshine salvation arrives.)

The plants we overwintered are coming out of hunker down mode.


We'll be starting the petunia cuttings later this week and then it's game on in the greenhouse.

I made the best springy carrot cake this weekend when my company was here, and if you're needing your own dose of cream cheese laden springtime goodness, you might want to give this cake a try.



Carrot Cake

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups oil - I substituted 1 cup applesauce for 1 cup of the oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups grated carrots

Combine sugar, oil, (and applesauce if you choose to substitute), and eggs. Sift together flour, soda, cinnamon and salt. Add to
sugar/egg mixture. Mix well and fold in carrots and pecans.

Pour into a greased and floured 9x13 pan. Bake at 300* for one hour.

Cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 - 8 oz package softened cream cheese
1/4 cup softened butter
4 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla

Cream the cream cheese and butter, then mix in the vanilla and powdered sugar. Spread on the cooled cake and lick the beaters and the bowl clean.

This, my friends, is a bit of heaven in a 9x13.

So, how about you. Are there any signs of spring in your corner of the world? Are you still in the depressed doldrums of winter, or are your thoughts turning toward the equinox?

I need to know.

lentil soup

Let me start by saying, I should not like this recipe.

It has lentils and generally speaking, I am not a lentil person.

It has sausage, and I believe I've mentioned several times before that sausage makes me nervous.

Aesthetically speaking, this is not a particularly pretty soup. It's gray. I've tried to disguise that fact with a chiffonade of spinach and some finely grated parmesan cheese, but the bottom line is gray is not a happy food color. Gray food tends to bring back bad memories of your junior high cafeteria.

All that to say, against all odds, I love, love, love this soup. It's in my top three favorite soups of all time, and that's saying something.

Lentil Soup

1 pound bulk Italian sausage
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced carrot
1/4 cup diced celery
1 1/2 cups lentils, rinsed
4 cups chicken stock
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp salt - or less, depending on the saltiness of your chicken stock
1 cup cream
1 cup finely sliced spinach
grated parmesan cheese

In a large stockpot, brown and drain sausage and set aside. In the same pan, saute carrot, onion and celery in butter and olive oil till they start to soften. Add lentils and chicken stock. Simmer on low for about 30 minutes, until lentils and vegetables are tender. I usually add about a cup of water at this point as a lot of the liquid has been absorbed or evaporated. Add mustard, vinegar (both are vital to this recipe) and salt. Stir in cream and heat through.

Garnish with spinach and parmesan cheese, and you've got yourself a perfect meal for a cold winter's night.

Ina's Parmesan Crackers are the perfect accompaniment to this soup.


My sister is my Parmesan Cracker supplier, sending me a box every Christmas, so I've never actually made these myself. Sister adds an additional two tablespoons of butter to the recipe, as the dough tends to be pretty dry. She also highly recommends baking them on a Silpat so they don't stick to the baking pan. Oh, and she cuts the pepper back to 1/4 teaspoon.

They are a savory slice of shortbread heaven.

Make some today!

But only if you want to.

I don't want to be bossy.