Archive for November, 2009

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Panera’s Baked Potato Soup… So much that I even know it’s served on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays LOL! And while I love it, I don’t love how many calories it has or the sodium content… Or that I’m limited it when I can have it. So, I decided to make my own from a recipe I found on Recipezaar.

1½ hours | 30 min prep

SERVES 6 -8

4 large baking potatoes
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup flour
7 1/2 cups milk
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup sour cream
6 green onions, chopped
14 slices bacon, cooked till crisp and crumbled
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1. Heat oven to 350F and bake the potatoes until fork tender, about 1 hour. (You can bake the potatoes beforehand)
2. Melt butter in a medium saucepan.
3. Slowly blend in flour with a wire whisk until thoroughly blended.
4. Cook the roux (flour in butter) until a very pale golden.
5. Gradually add milk to the roux, garlic and season to taste, whisking constantly.
6. Cut potatoes in half, scoop out the interior and set aside.
7. Chop up half the potato peels and discard the remainder.
8. When milk mixture is very hot, whisk in potato.
9. Add green onion and potato peels.
10. Whisk well, add sour cream and crumbled bacon.
11. Heat thoroughly.
12. Add cheese a little at a time until all is melted in. (NOTE: You can set aside a bit of the bacon, green onions and cheese to sprinkle on top for a nice appearance) Enjoy!

Now, while this is a good recipe, and quite tasty, I need to let you know some alterations need to be made on this recipe! At least I’ll be sure to make them on my next go round:

1. I recommend making the potatoes as if you were going to make mashed potatoes, but not letting them get as soft as you would need for mashed. I baked my potatoes for an hour, and they weren’t quite fork tender. I ended up putting 3/4 of the potatoes into a blender to “soften” them up and not have it as chunky.
2. I HIGHLY recommend using a pot larger than 5 qts. Definitely larger than the medium saucepan they tell you to use. My soup was right at the rim, and that’s even after I mashed/blended up potatoes.
3. You might want to cut back on the roux to about half. This soup ends up extremely thick! I’ll probably only make half of the roux next time and add another 1/2 cup of milk or so.

Other than that, it’s an awesome soup! Very flavorful! John said it reheated nicely (he was up in the middle of the night sick & hungry – poor guy). I think it’ll be dinner again tomorrow night, except we’ll add some more milk to thin it out some. Definitely let me know if you try it and how you like it!

(Picture provided from Recipezaar)

I didn’t like it so much growing up… Mom made a huge fuss of decorating, and it all had to be perfect. Couple that with having a birthday not too long after Christmas, and it was all just kind of “blah!” Although, I’ve always loved Thanksgiving, and I’m not too sure why… Maybe it’s because Mom and I always sat down and read a VC Andrews book after dinner.

I’ve been begging John for years to get me a real tree, and he never followed through on his promise. This year he was definitely going to do it, and believe it or not, I’m the one who backed out! I realized by the time we were done, we’d spend almost as much as we would for a fake tree LOL! So, I just went and got a nicer, fuller tree from Wal-Mart than the one we have… This year will be the first in a long time that we won’t have to worry about seeing the wall through the branches LOL!

Overall, I’ve just learned to love this time of year. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, Christmas songs, baking, etc. I think now that I’m older and have kids of my own I can appreciate it all a lot more. And you know what? I can even see what made Mom so loco over the holidays with things being perfect… Even if the family doesn’t get it…

Or at least lately I do LOL! I’ve been in a baking/cooking mood. I don’t want to do the part of the job that requires cleaning and laundry though. Susie can keep that part herself. So, maybe this means I wanna be Martha Stewart?

I made the applesauce for Thanksgiving, and served both hot and cold. Yesterday I made chocolate chip cookies, and tonight I’ve decided to make Baked Potato Soup for dinner! I originally wanted to make Homemade Strawberry Freezer Jam (mom said it’s easier to make than regular jam). Alas, it looks like when you live in the North, canning jars are seasonal. WTH! Target has the jars, so I’ll have to pop in at lunch on Monday to check them out.

I still have a pumpkin pie that I need to make sometime soon, and then eventually my family will be begging me to make holiday cookies. Last time I made them from bagged Betty Crocker mix… And the time before that I spent 8 hours in my kitchen making them from scratch. I have no idea what I’ll decide to do this year, but I might make them from scratch since I have a Kitchen-aid mixer now!

Maybe I’ll take pics of my cooking escapades since I got a new camera yesterday… We’ll see! I’m off to bake the potatoes for tonight’s soup! Yum-o!

I was looking for a recipe to make homemade applesauce, and started thinking about cooking and food, etc. Originally, at one point in my life earlier on, I wanted to go to culinary school. Alas, I realized quickly that I dislike so many foods, that it wouldn’t be worth it. Which is true… sadly. I had even received letters from Johnson & Wales and Brown University about their programs too *sigh*

Anywho! Anytime I need a recipe, I automatically look on Recipezaar. I have two cooks on there that I absolutely love, Kittencal and MizzNezz. Kittencal now has her own site (Kittencal’s Kitchen), so I visit it frequently now when I’m looking for something. I think between these two awesome cooks, I’ve acquired some fave recipes LOL!

Oh, and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the food pics on the blog Seasonal Ontario Food! Even foods I know I wouldn’t eat seem to look yummy! And her pics are just overall awesome. The colors, the food set-up, etc. I also like the fact that she posts what she made that same day/timeframe the previous year.

Speaking of food, what’s on your Thanksgiving menu? Are you cooking, or going to someone else’s house? I’ll be going to the in-laws for dinner, but I’m taking the veggie and dessert… Oreo Chocolate Cream Cheesecake. Yeah, cavities are forming in my mouth just thinking about making it LMAO!

I cannot believe it’s been a year since I started my blog… I mean, I had a regular website before, but turned it into more of a blog a year ago.  Time sure flies when you’re having fun, doesn’t it?!

I don’t think much has changed in that year either… I’ve quit smoking, and I’m still smoke-free, so that’s a plus.  I’m still addicted to nail polish.  I actually cut back for a while, but now I’m back in action.  I need to figure out a new storage solution…

Next week is Turkey Day!  I have to make my cheesecake, but now I’ve been asked to also being a veggie… I have no idea what veggie will stay warm and yummy on the ride to my in-laws, so this will be something interesting!

I think that’s all of the rambling I can have for you today.  I’m not feeling too well, and it stinks!  Who wants to be sick!  I guess I’ll be happy I’m not sick over the holiday weekend!

Hello my lovelies! It’s been a long time since I last wrote, and I apologize. I’ve just been kind of “blah” towards things lately, so nothing has sparked my interest enough to write. However, I can hope that changes and I begin posting more frequently.

Anywho! I’ll be working on redoing the site and whatnot, as well as hopefully posting a review or two soon. Hopefully I don’t stray and leave you all hanging for months at a rip next time.