Summer is here. The lines for the cardio machines at the gym are so long, you would think they were waiting to get on the Matterhorn or Space Mountain rather than the stair-climber. Bikini weather is soon upon us and so many people are frantically exercising and eating salads squirted with lemon instead of dressing for their every meal. If however, you feel your pants are too loose, than I have just the thing(actually probably everything on my blog could do the trick). Fresh corn is every where right now and so to mix it up from my usual way of making it(just sauted in butter with salt and a pinch of cream) I decided that corn chowder sounded good. I have made this several times. It is best with lobster of course, but I was cheap this time around and used shrimp. I use lobster stock, which if you don't have or your store does not carry it, use fish stock or even vegetable stock in it's place. The more people you have this to share with the better. I on the other hand had no one(since … [Read more...]
Roasted Onion and Gorgonzola Soup
If you read my blog on a semi-regular basis you know that it is mostly baking with a sprinkle of soup and few things here and there. So when Tami over at Running with Tweezers decided to have a soup challenge I was super excited and I knew exactly what soup to make. It is my favorite of favorites. One I created for my friend L who loves all things blue cheese. This soup is thick and velvety with a nice touch of blue cheese and a hint of garlic....and even better it is topped with bacon. It's best not to figure out how many calories is in this baby...I'm not sure there are enough hours in the day to work it off. This is my go to soup for just about every occasion. If you have eaten dinner at my house, chances are you have had this soup at least once. I say at least because pretty much anyone who has had it, asks for me to make it again. The soup itself is wonderful but the garnish is what puts it over the top. The sauted pears play nicely with the blue cheese and the bacon, … [Read more...]
Soup is good food
To say that my diet is currently out the window is an understatement. I have a feeling it will stay that way until after Thanksgiving, sigh. So since I have not be dieting while sick I thought I would throw caution to the wind and make potato cheese soup that no doubt clogged my arteries by just inhaling it. I also made the rolls(something to do when I am up at 3am coughing) but I will highlight those another day. For now I will just focus on my soup. I like texture to my soup, so instead of cubing all the potatoes I reserve one cup of potato to be shredded(like if you were making hash browns). I boil those separately and reserve them to add to the soup after it has been pureed. This soup is pretty simple with just the flavors of the potato, onion and cheese coming through. I know some people are not fans of parsley but I like what it adds to the color of the soup, feel free to just ignore it if you want. Thanks again for all the well wishing. I feel much better, though I … [Read more...]
Pumpkins, good for more than just muffins….
So when we moved to the Seattle area two years ago the first thing my husband asked before moving up here was "what is one thing you want to do in Seattle?" I'm sure he was expecting me to say go to the Space Needle or something like that, but no, I said "I want to go to the Herb Farm." He said, "sure." That was until we saw the price and nearly fell over. Phoenix is not the culinary mecca of the world and try as it might it never will be. It isn't around fresh anything and to make a good restaurant, in my opinion, you need to be around the bounty of the land. Phoenix has no bounty...just dirt. Back when we lived there I had read about the Herb Farm in one of my food magazines, I want to say Food and Wine. I saw the restaurant on the Food Network and read a many articles after that about the amazing experience at the Herb Farm. My husband is never one to go back on his word so we saved up so that we could go. We had nothing to do for Thanksgiving last year and so we decided that is … [Read more...]
