Rotel Scoops

I was inspired by this recipe but made it my own.

ingredients

• 1-10oz can Rotel tomatoes, drained
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1-3oz package real bacon bits
• 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese (I use Italian blend)
• 3-19oz packages mini filo shells, thawed

directions - Combine first 4 ingredients. Fill shells and bake for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Now, this is what I actually made:

• 1-10oz can Rotel tomatoes with green chilies, drained
• 1 cup of sour cream
• 1-lb cooked sausage  
• 1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese 
•  Tostito Scoops
  
  Mikey loves these. The Rotel Scoops would be perfect for a SuperBowl Party.

 

 

Stracciatella Soup

“Stracciatella” (strah-chi-ah-tay-lah)

Most people think of Chinese food when they hear “egg drop soup,” but this version comes from Italy. Stracciatella means “little shreds” and refers to the strands of cooked egg that form when the soup is swirled.

It is prepared by beating eggs and adding grated parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, nutmeg, then adding this mixture to the hot broth. The broth is set whirling first with a whisk, and the beaten egg mixture added in a slow stream to produce the stracciatelle ("little shreds") of cooked egg in the broth, which is clarified by the process.

Tonight, I made a Stracciatella that included sausage, potatoes, spinach, lots of garlic, and chicken broth.  Cut the heat off of the boiling broth and added the whisked eggs/shredded parmesean mixture.  Oh my, I'm still licking my chops. 
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I've received two used soup books that I bought from Amazon.

Lorraine Wallace writes so lovingly about preparing soups for her family.

This looks like a good one too but haven't studied it yet.

Pasta with Pancetta and Leeks

I made a Ree Drummonds recipe - Pasta with Pancetta and Leeks.
Was pretty good.

I added sauted mushrooms to mine.  Anytime a recipe calls for half and half, fresh mushrooms are going in the pool.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/pasta-with-pancetta-and-leeks-recipe/index.html

downed pine-tree limbs from Thursday's snow

I see on the photo, I misspelled Alpine.

Thursday's snow was a heavy, wet one. 

The goats love the pine needles.

The poor washing machine.

Things are still very tough at work, continues to get worse instead of better, but I just keep pushing on. 

Book of Soups, Wild-Rice Soup

Purchased from Amazon, I bought used Book of Soups. Can't wait to try many of 'em.

Tonight, I prepared Minnesota Wild Rice Soup. This is the photo from the book.

Here's my wild-rice soup, along with the biscuits, our meal was delicious.

Link for the garlic cheddar biscuits.
http://www.thelittlekitchen.net/2013/01/09/garlic-cheddar-biscuits-recipe/#more-8854  

Italian-Wedding Soup

Italian-Wedding Soup is a soup with a lot of fans. The spinach, garlic, mini meatballs and tiny pasta are the perfect marriage of flavors and texture in the mouth. Interestingly enough the term “wedding” was a mistake in translation of sorts. It was in reference to the flavors blending well, not that it was served at weddings. The history of this italian recipe originated in Spain where the heavier version contains more meats. It wasn’t until pasta became more affordable that it was added to this fantastic Italian-Wedding Soup.

I used this recipe
with a tiny bit of my tweeking.
Also, if I'd had some white wine on hand, I would have added some in. 
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/mamas-italian-wedding-soup/ 
Mike especially loved the little meatballs. I sauteed 'em prior to putting them in the soup pot.

split-pea soup, immersion blender

Emeril Lagasse wants his chefs to make soup, which is something he always judges a restaurant by. He says it’s about depth, flavors, and passion.  

SOUP - Locally, Amalfi's Restaurant makes good soup. Last time we were there, I asked our regular server how many people order the soup. On their lunch specials, the entree comes with the soup-of-the-day or salad. She replied that she didn't think that 5% of the customers ordered the soup. 

Why? It's pure comfort food and it's so healthy. As you can tell from some of my previous posts, I don't understand most humans.

In fact, although it may not be popular with most humans, I really want to operate a soup truck. I've dreamed about having a food truck for many years. A few years back, I made a $5,000 deposit on a food truck but got scammed.  He scammed several people, it went to court, and we got some of our money back from him. I still receive small checks from the Ashe County district-attorney's office. In distance, I was the closest person who got scammed, some people were several states away and had made larger deposits.

Here's a link for Paula Deen's split-pea soup.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/shaggy-man-split-pea-soup-recipe/index.html 

Mine was different in that I cut up a ham steak, added two chopped potatoes, and of course, I used Simply Organic's Garlic and Herb's.

The soup turned out luscious, I added the bacon bits on top for the photo effect, but the soup  doesn't need 'em, the ham-steak flavor comes through.

If you like really silky soup, take the extra step of pureeing the peas once they have softened. I just bought this refurbished Immersion Blender and Chopper from Ebay. Oh, I love it! The 350-watts easily ground up the ham steak chunks too.

Bon Appétit 350-Watt Immersion Blender with Chopper BowlThis handheld blender works perfectly for mixing and pureeing hot and cold liquids, making it a great choice for soups, shakes, baby food, sauces and frosting. You can also whip cream, whisk eggs, blend pancake batter or prepare the perfect gravy. Use the chopper attachment to cut and chop vegetables — it even makes preparing salsa a cinch. This may just become your favorite kitchen gadget! 

Mike was my prepper, using the chopper for celery, onions, carrots, and potatoes. 

We've got some newly hatched babies. I love to watch the interaction of MamaHen and her chicks.

BlueBoy is looking good. blue-laced red wyandotte rooster.

The weather was awesome today, In JANUARY, I've got on short sleeves. We're watching the NFL Denver/Baltimore football game in Denver and the wind-chill factor is one degree.

The Alpine girls are still here.

Big buddies - Ancho and Tank.

Tank, Ancho, and Bordy.

BarbaraJean has been a bad dog. Every now and then she kills a bird, one of our poultry birds. I think that is a mutilated young guinea. She was down in a muddy embankment and I didn't want to break another ankle to see what it was for sure. She lays by her kill, and dares Jack or any other critter to get near her, if they come close, she acts aggressive. She only does this rarely. I have no idea what instinct drives her to do this and she may only do it every several months. I think her full sister, Bertha, at Buttermilk Acres behaves the same way.