Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

1 T. Olive Oil

2 stalks celery, diced small

2 medium carrots, diced small

1 medium onion, diced small

Salt and Pepper

4 cups chicken broth

1 ¾ pounds  boneless chicken breast

6 ounces vermicelli or angel hair pasta, broken into 1 ½ inch pieces

In a large pot heat oil over medium-high heat add celery, onion and carrots and cook till celery and carrots are crisp tender; about five minutes.

 

Add salt and pepper. Add broth and 4 cups water and bring to boil.

Add chicken, reduce heat to simmer and cover.

Cook until chicken is cooked through, about ten minutes. With tongs remove chicken and chop or shred into bite-size pieces.

Add pasta to pot and cook until tender, about four minutes. 

Stir in chicken pieces and serve.  

Squash Casserole

I got rid of the written version of this recipe years ago. It's one I just "know" how to cook......

Take a few squash.....six to seven medium to small squash.  Wash them and trim the ends. 

Slice the squash and add to boiling salted water.  Cook about five to ten minutes.

While the squash cooks. Chop one medium onion and two carrots.

Use a colander to drain squash. While it's draining....it should not be watery....open one can Cream of Mushroom soup and add to it one small container of sour cream. Mix together and add salt and pepper to taste.

Add drained squash to the soup/sour cream mixture.

I used a whisk to mix in the squash. You don't want to puree it.....just break it up into manageable pieces. Stir well.

Melt one stick margarine or butter in a microwave safe container.  Add one-two cups Pepperidge Farm Seasoned Stuffing Mix to the butter. Stir well. Add more stuffing mix if you need to in order to get the butter mixed in. Spread some of the stuffing mix....just a little.... into your casserole dish. Reserve most of it.

Pour the squash mixture on top of the stuffing mix and spread evening in dish. Top with remaining stuffing mix.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

The recipe was my mother-in-law's....I made a few changes to it, and have made it for years and years. It's one way I managed to get a few vegetables down my the throats of my children when they were little.

This dish is always one we rely on for big family dinners......or like tonight....when I want a little "comfort" food.

Ham and Swiss Breakfast Pie

This "pie" is a simple recipe that I'll use again. It's real easy to substitute other ingredients depending if you are using the dish for brunch, breakfast or dinner. Change it up with sausage, bacon. Use Gouda cheese or Parmesan  Add in some chopped asparagus for a brunch type dish.  

No matter what.....it will be great!

I followed the recipe exactly last night and paired it with sliced tomatoes and fruit topped with a little mixture of sour cream and brown sugar.

1 1/3 cups water or chicken broth (I prefer the broth, but if you use it omit the salt)

1 cup whipping cream

2 garlic cloves, pressed

2 Tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper 

2/3 cup uncooked quick-cooking grits

1 1/4 cups (5 oz.) shredded Swiss Cheese

8 large eggs, divided

1/2 lb. cooked ham, diced

4 green onions, chopped

1/2 cup milk

Garnish with fresh chopped chives

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Bring first 6 ingredients to a boil in a medium saucepan; gradually whisk in grits. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer, whisking occasionally 5-7 minutes. Add 1/2 cup cheese stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat, and let stand 10 minutes.

Lightly beat 2 eggs, and stir into grits mixture; pour into a lightly greased 10-inch, deep dish pie plate.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes; remove from oven. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees.  

Saute ham and onions in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until onion is tender. 

Layer ham mixture over grits crust. Whisk together milk and remaining 6 eggs; pour over ham mixture.  

Sprinkle remaining cheese over mixture. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes and cut into wedges. Garnish, if desired.

Chicken Casserole

Everyone seems to have their own version for a Chicken Casserole and my mom and my mother-in-law were no different when I first married. Each wanted to know that I was using their recipe with some regularity. 

It was a little stressful considering I wanted to put my own mark on the whole thing. After all......it was MY kitchen, right?

So....I combined the two recipes.  Well, actually I combined the parts of both recipes that I liked, and this recipe has seen us through busy school days, nights at the ball field, and serves as a type of comfort food when we need it.

It's one of those things I make with NO recipe.  I just know what it should look like.   So.....I'll try......TRY to get it written down here.

First take one box (16 ounces) of linguine and cook it according to the package.   I salt the water and add a little olive oil.  I sample the noodles while they cook to make sure I don't get them too done......I generally take the pot off the stove once the noodles reaches the al dente stage.   

Drain the noodles.

In the meantime chop one medium size onion.   Throw it in a bowl with 2 cans of Cream of Chicken Soup.  

Mix in one 8 ounce container Sour Cream, salt and pepper to taste, a small package of slivered almonds.

Add in 2-3 cups of diced, cooked chicken.   I generally buy 2 packages of the diced, cooked chicken at the grocery store to save myself a step.   I stick to breast meat.....

Mix everything well.  

Add the noodles and mix again very well to coat the noodles.   

Pour the noodle/chicken mixture into a glass 13 x 9 baking dish.  

Melt 1 stick butter in a 4-cup glass container.  Once melted mix in 2 cups Pepperidge Farm Stuffing Mix. Coat the dried breadcrumbs with the butter.

Spoon the breadcrumbs over the casserole.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until bubbly around the edges.   

I generally serve this casserole with a nice green salad and rolls.  

Great Balls of.........Ice!

 More and more as we order drinks here and there my husband and I noticed that many places are choosing to use ice balls rather than the boring smaller cubes when serving their cocktails.  

You might not realize it, but ice is the most important ingredient to a cocktail.

Ice keeps what you are drinking at the appropriate temperature...and while you might not like the fact that the ice melts....it's actually a good thing.  Water seeps into your drink and balances the blend and helps various ingredients to harmonize.

The ice ball is perfect for sipping whiskey....and as many bartenders advise...it just looks sexy cool.  

The trend to use ice balls actually started in Japan.  They carve the balls out of mineral water using an ice pick or a very sharp sushi knife.  One of the tasks that must be completed if someone wants to join the National Bartenders Association in Japan is to be able to carve a perfect ice ball quickly.  

So, what do you do if you want to have a drink with an ice ball at home?  Well, my family rarely lets me around a knife due to my "handicap".....being left-handed, but other methods exist besides carving them yourself.

You can purchase an ice ball maker for an insane amount of money.....over one thousand dollars or, you can go to the silcone mold route even though they tend to leave a seam mark around the sphere.

Check out this post from theKitchn.com where two types of silicone molds are discussed.

Anatomy of a Shopping Trip

I've been spending most of my shopping time lately in the housewares departments of various stores including HomeGoods.......

Now I like dishes, glassware and linens almost as much as I enjoy shopping for clothes, for jewelry or shoes....but sometimes it's not as much fun when the trip is a "have to go" trip and not just an impromptu "fun" trip.

My trips lately have been to help Dear Daughter purchase things for her first apartment........so, I did some fun things while shopping to keep my boredom at bay while we looked at basic things she needed.

For example......these lovely martini glasses with a brown tint.     There were six in the set, so I snapped them up.   They now reside at MY house.

Fell in love with these wonderful chairs, but I can just see them with motor oil stains or ink.....or anything else that will head like a magnet in my house.   Even with grown children my furniture is still a magnet.  Still.....they are pretty.   

I snapped a picture and then walked quickly away.

                                              

Now this chair is a little more feasible in design, and I like it......Cataloging it in my memory for a hunt at a later time.

I've been wanting to move my dining room lamps on my buffet cabinets to the master bedroom which means i need new lamps for the buffet cabinets.   These might work....but then I decided they were a little too plain.   

 I've only been hunting for lamps for the last year.......

I was drawn to this piece of wall art, but when I tried to think about where it could go I decided I was basically drawn to the arrangement of plants on the steps and decided that's what I really want.

Perhaps the Mister will see this and make it so.....one can only hope.   I mean.....I saved him some money by NOT puchasing the the picture, so......

I'm always drawn to black and white art..........again, I wasn't sure where I would put it so I kept walking.

Dishes.....my real weakness.  

I loved these so much I took two pictures.   I loved the square plates....especially the small plates.    I loved the colors noticing right off the bat how they would match my kitchen/dining room.   

I kept talking myself into getting them.

The good girl in me fought back.....I knew I already had now many sets of dishes?   How many sets of dishes stored all over my house?>   I quickly snapped a picture and posted it on Facebook and instantly had several comments regarding how pretty they were.   

Just goes to show my friends have good taste.    So, then I admitted how weak I was with dishes.   How I buy them on whim and was very, very close.   That's when the Mister zoomed in and commented......"What?  More dishes?   Where are we going to to put them?"

I mentioned how I loved the square plate.......the scalloped edges of the bowl, and the very tall coffee cup..............but I knew I needed to keep walking.   

I mentioned how he had yet to build me those cabinets in the basement to store my various dishes, serving pieces, cutlery, linens, and glassware, but I knew I really didn't need them.

I was proud of myself when I walked away.   I had my martini glasses after all, and I really did need them......

.....But  I wonder now - a couple of weeks later - if those dishes are still there waiting for me.   :)

They wanted to come to my house so, so terribly bad.

I hope they found a good home, but.....if I go back this week, and they are still on the shelf.......

The Best Chicken Marinade Ever

The bad news......I had to wait until close to 9 p.m. last night for dinner.   The Mister wanted to grill some chicken, and he was late getting off the golf course. 

The good news....it was worth the wait.   Seriously.    I've decided our chicken should be marinaded using this recipe from now on......it's THAT good.

Recipe source:    The little old website you will find here.

Put the amount of chicken you want to grill in the bottom of a big bowl. 

In another bowl combine the following using a whisk:

1 cup vegetable oil

1 (10 oz) bottle Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce

3 T. Italian Seasoning

1 T. Salt 

1 T. White Pepper

Pour the mixture over the chicken, and refrigerate overnight, or for 4-5 hours...at least.

Remove chicken from the marinade to grill......Enjoy!!!!