Saturday, October 19, 2013
Friday, October 18, 2013
Bar Harbor Wicker Rocker for the Dollhouse
I just received this little wicker rocker in the mail yesterday.
Isn't it cute? It's for the new dollhouse I am building.
It makes me think of a sunny afternoon on a big porch.
I just saw a tutorial about lighting up the dollhouse. Now
that I know it's not so hard I will be looking for lamps too.
I believe that I am actually starting to enjoy decorating mini
homes more than big ones!
But all of that will have to stay on the back burner for this
afternoon. Mom and I will be cleaning five pounds of Texas
Gulf shrimp that our friend Captain Mark Robinson gave us.
Remember Captain Mark? He's the one that caught that
huge alligator in Calhoun County. I showed you all a pic
of that a few weeks ago. I think I would rather be on shrimp
boat than hunting gators.
It's raining outside, but I am going to put on some New Orleans jazz,
tie on an apron and start peeling and cleaning shrimp. None of
the shells will go to waste and I will share a recipe for shrimp
stock with you tomorrow.
Okay Mom ~ tie on that apron and let's get peeling. And
Bentley ~ you can curl up in your dog bed in the kitchen and
keep us company.
Big Texas Gulf Hugs,
Susan and Bentley
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
It's Finally Fall Y'all Lunch
Remember how I was belly aching about missing fall yesterday?
Well I need to be careful what I wish for because fall is here in
Victoria, Texas. It's cool and cloudy. Makes one long for hot
spiced cider and some warm soup.
And I love it!
So in between the raindrops, Mom and I will catch a few lovely
fall moments out in the backyard.
The warm reds and oranges, golds and brown just cozy me up!
And there is nothing quite so tasty as a hot cup of soup on a
cool and rainy fall day. I made this batch of carrot and ginger soup.
It's my Mom's very favorite and she does not have to share.
The recipe follows.
Carrot and Ginger Soup
EVOO
1/2 large onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 small piece of ginger, grated
(use your microplane)
salt and pepper to taste
4 large carrots peeled and sliced
2 cans chicken broth
(or your own fresh if you have it)
splash of half and half
Add 1 Tablespoon EVOO to a soup pan. Saute
the diced onion until translucent. Add salt now
to sweat out the onions. Next add the garlic
and saute briefly being careful not to brown. Add
the grated ginger and the carrots. Cook for a couple
of minutes stirring often. Add the chicken broth. Bring
to a boil and then cover and simmer for at least 30 minutes.
Let the mixture cool before adding to your blender
to puree. You don't want the hot mixture flying
all over your kitchen :-)
Just before serving add a splash of half and half.
Bon Appetit!
Bentley ~ stop barking at that poor little lizard!
He is our friend and he eats the bugs.
Big Texas Hugs,
Susan and Bentley
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Missing Fall
It still feels like summer here in Texas. No golden leaves, no
sweaters. I am drinking iced tea instead of hot cider.
And suddenly I am homesick for fall.
I miss the crunch of the fall leaves under my feet.
Bentley and I will not be raking up the garden this year.
We will be sitting on the porch swing instead.
Drinking our sweet tea.
We have pumpkins of course but there is no nip in the air.
But we can always decorate and create a fall mood.
And ...
I can crank up the AC, put on a sweater and
get cozy in the family room.
So even though it looks like this out the family room windows,
I will pretend that it looks like ...
This!
Happy Tuesday Everyone!!
Big Texas Hugs,
Susan and Bentley
Monday, October 14, 2013
Soup's On
We have been having very gray and rainy weather and I have been
in a soup making mood. Yesterday I made some carrot ginger soup.
It's my Mom's favorite and I will share that recipe with you later
this week. This morning I woke up and thought I should do
something with the remaining cremini mushrooms that were left
over from a stuffed flank steak I made over the weekend.
I didn't have all of the ingredients I needed to make it strictly homemade,
so I made my own semi homemade version. By tweaking canned soup
with a few fresh ingredients you can add lots more flavor to on hand
pantry soup.
I had to purchase some store bought thyme. Can't wait to get an
herb garden going again because I sure do miss the one I had
off the back porch back in Idaho.
A little bit of sherry wine added to the soup adds lots of flavor too.
I'll give you the recipe at the end of this post.
I brought my soup creation into my studio where I am re-reading the
instructions for putting my dollhouse together.
Paint, glue guns and wallpaper are ready to go.
Let's hope I don't botch it up. My hubby will tease me
forever if I do! Tee hee.
Semi Homemade Wild Mushroom Soup
Cremini Mushrooms (I had 7) ~ sliced
EVOO
1/2 Onion diced
Fresh Thyme
Splash of Sherry Wine
Can of Cream of Mushroom Soup
Can of Beef Broth
Thinly coat bottom of a small soup pot with olive oil
over medium heat. When oil is hot, add diced onion.
After onion becomes translucent (don't rush this step)
add a pat of butter and the sliced mushrooms. Lightly
salt to bring out the water in the mushrooms. Be careful
about the salt because canned soups are salty.
Let the mushrooms get nice and soft and then strip the
leaves off a couple of sprigs of thyme and add to the pot.
Add the sherry to deglaze the pan and then add the
can of cream of mushroom soup and the beef broth.
Bring to a boil and immediately reduce to a simmer
for 30 minutes. Ladle the soup into a pretty cup
or bowl and enjoy.
This is a quick and easy version. I have made the
fully homemade version with a variety of types of
mushrooms and homemade broth and just added
some cream. The homemade version is less salty
and has a fuller flavor, but in a pinch this semi-
homemade version isn't bad.
I told you that Bentley is a first class lizard hunter now,
but he has added a new creature to the hunt list ~
frogs!
Big Texas Hugs,
Susan and Bentley
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