Celebrate National Homemade Soup Day with a bountiful bowl of soup that soothes your very soul. For my hubby, Sir Ronald, something thick and beefy fills the bill. No need to open a canned soup when scrumptious is this easy to make on your own stove.
Souper Simple Beef Stew
6 T butter, divided
3 lbs diced and/or strips of steak
2 large, sweet onions, coarsely chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
14-oz frozen pearl onions, thawed
1 env dried onion soup mix
2 (6-8 oz each) pkgs sliced mushrooms (shiitake & baby bella)
1 tsp Mrs. Dash (or other) garlic & herb blend
1 tsp thyme
Salt & pepper, to suit your taste
32 oz beef bone broth
2 c hot water whisked with 2 tsp Better Than Bouillon beef
½ c red wine
1 or 2 (14½ oz cans) petite diced tomatoes & juices
2 c raw baby carrots
Melt 2 T butter in large skillet over med high heat. Quickly brown beef, stirring; transfer with slotted spoon into a slow cooker on high heat. Add 2 T butter to the skillet and the chopped onions and celery. Let cook 5 minutes, stirring a couple of times; transfer to the slow cooker. Add remaining butter to the skillet along with the mushrooms. Let cook 5-6 min, stirring once or twice. Meanwhile, stir the pearl onions and onion soup mix into the slow cooker mixture, along with the seasonings. Gradually whisk 1 c bone broth into the cornstarch or flour till smooth. Then stir into the mushrooms in the skillet. Pour in remaining bone broth and the bouillon mixture. Let cook till bubbly and thickened. Transfer to the slow cooker. Stir the wine into the skillet to deglaze the pan, releasing any cooked on particles. Transfer to the slow cooker, along with the tomatoes and baby carrots. Cover the slow cooker and let cook 45 minutes.
KISS Tip: This is great served with some crusty, cheesy garlic bread.
The Winter Dance Party Tour scheduled 24 concerts in 24 days visiting 24 mid-western cities. Though it started on January 23rd, it ended abruptly on February 3, 1959, when wintery weather caused a plane to crash shortly after take-off into a cornfield outside Clear Lake, Iowa.
“Be gentle with yourself, learn to love yourself and forgive yourself, for only as we have the right attitude toward ourselves can we have the right attitude toward others.”
“History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.”
If you are of a certain age, you may well recall tuna casseroles topped with potato chips. For National Corn Chip Day, we suggest topping your dish with Fritos… regular or scoop-style, or any other chip made from corn meal, such as tortilla chips.
Super Simple Taco Pie
Meanwhile, spread 4 c Fritos in bottom of olive oil-sprayed 13×9” baking dish, turning open sides of scoops to face upwards. Sprinkle 1½ c cheese over the chips before spreading evenly with meat mixture. Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top, sprinkle with green onions, and bake at 350°F for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, crumble 1 c of remaining Frito chips. Sprinkle them over the melted cheese and return to the oven for 5 minutes. Serve with your choice of garnishes & toppings on the side. Makes 4-6 servings.
“It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.”
Super Simple New England Clam Chowder
Want to use fresh clams to replace some or all the canned ones? Scrub 7-8 lbs fresh cherrystone or littleneck clams. Bring 5 cups water and 1 cup white wine to a boil in Dutch oven. Add clams, cover and let cook 5 minutes. Use slotted spoon to remove opened clams. Cover and let cook another 2-4 minutes. Remove remaining opened clams and discard any that failed to open. Pour remaining clam juice through fine mesh sieve to remove any shell bits or sand. (Add bottled clam juice or water if you don’t have a total of 4 cups of broth.) When clams have cooled, remove from shells and finely chop.
For National Peach Melba Day, let’s whip up a batch of this delectable Victorian-era dessert, originally made from peaches, raspberries, and ice cream. (Hmmm… rather like a frozen Bellini.) The dish was created by French Chef Auguste Escoffier in 1893 at London’s Savoy Hotel and named after the opera singer Nellie Melba. (Yes, the Melba Toast was also named after her.)
Super Simple Peach Melba
The deep-fried cakes we know as doughnuts or donuts enjoy a long European history and an even longer Middle Eastern legacy. Arab cooks fried up small portions of dough and drenched them in surgary syrup. In Ancient Rome and Greece the fried pastry strips were coated with honey. Called oily cakes or fried cakes, they were introduced to the Western hemisphere by Dutch immigrants in New AmsterdamThe deep-fried cakes we know as donuts enjoy a long European history and an even longer Middle Eastern legacy. Arab cooks fried up small portions of dough and drenched them in surgary syrup. In Ancient Rome and Greece the fried pastry strips were coated with honey. Called oily cakes or fried cakes, they were introduced to the Western hemisphere by Dutch immigrants in New Amsterdam, now called Manhattan.
“An effective technique in developing a peaceful mind is the daily practice of silence. Begin to listen for the deeper sounds of harmony and beauty that are to be found in the essence of silence.”
For National Shortbread Day, I thought I toss in a twist on the standard, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookie. With Potato Chip Cookies, you get all that sweet decadence with a balanced touch of saltiness tossed in and a touch of crispiness, too.
I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself.
I enjoy sharing recipes on my website and social media articles. In 2024, I am pleased to note that I shared some 4 dozen recipes with you. Some have been previously published in my various cookbooks; others are new. They ranged from appetizers and beverages to entrees and desserts. Here is the full list of my recipes shared via my website & social media in 2024.
1970s Cheese Fondue
“The biggest seller is cookbooks and the second is diet books – how not to eat what you’ve just learned how to cook.”
“Men fight for liberty and win it with hard knocks. Their children, brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor fools. And their grandchildren are once more slaves.”
