Wedding Soup

When I married my husband it did not take long for me understand how important making a good wedding soup was to the family. His sister Dodie's soup was excellent and I was not sure I could make soup, let alone a good soup. My husband always talked about wedding soup, he would order it at restaurants and then say it was not right, not like the soup his sister's make. One morning he decided he was going to make the soup. He went to the store and bought the ingredients, consulted with his sister, and then started on his day long adventure to make the soup. He cut vegetables, boiled and boned a whole chicken, and meticulously made perfect little meatballs. It literally took 10 hours for him to make the soup! It was delicious! Seriously though, I thought I do not have time to make this soup!!

Several months later, I came across the recipe and I decided to give it a try. Lo and behold, in an hour and half I was able to make the soup, do two loads of laundry, and clean up the kitchen. I did take a few short cuts but the results were the same.....delicious soup!!

This soup is very good. The flavor is smooth and the soup is hardy so you do not need much else to make it a meal. I have never really cared for spinach, but in the soup it is subtle so I really enjoy it.

Italian Wedding Soup

SOUP

Whole 4 lb chicken, or 2 chicken breasts bone-in, or 4 boneless breasts - (This is where you can save time)

1 onion chopped - I use a very large yellow onion

1 1/2 cups chopped celery

1 cup chopped carrots

2 32 oz containers of chicken stock

10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and drained

1 tsp Italian seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste

MEATBALLS

1 lb ground beef or turkey

2 pieces garlic, chopped fine

1 tbsp parsley

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/3 grated Parmesan cheese

1 egg

1/3 cup bread crumbs

DRIZZLE

3 eggs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Boil chicken in large pot with enough water just to cover chicken. Add in about 1/2 cup of the onion and little salt. When chicken is falling off bone, or is cooked through, remove from pan and shred. Add the chicken back to the pot, add stock, onion, celery, and carrots.

While this simmers, mix all ingredients for the meatballs and make tiny little meatballs. We like them the size of marbles. When they cook in the soup they are very tender and melt in your mouth.

Bring soup back up to a boil and drop in meatballs. Add spinach. Reduce heat and cook for 15 minutes. This is a good time to add 1 tsp of Italian seasoning and salt and pepper to taste. Beat 3 eggs and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan in a small liquid measuring cup. Bring soup back up to a boil and drizzle the cheese and egg mixture into the soup, stirring occasionally. Cook soup for at least another 15 minutes before eating.

This soup can stay on low heat for a long time and the flavor or texture will not be effected. This soup freezes well. You can re-heat in microwave, or on stove top and it tastes like it was just made.

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Enjoy!

Breakfast Potatoes

While in New York last month, we had these potatoes for breakfast one morning. They have good flavor so I worked to recreate them once I got home. These were pretty easy to make, just make sure you do not over cook the potatoes or they will be mushy. I think the dish we had in New York may have had a little cheese on top. I left it off when I fixed them this time but anything with cheese is good, so next time I will probably add a little cheese. The peppers and onion are not overpowering but give the potatoes a really nice flavor. I don't really care for peppers but I ate this up. As the peppers cook they mellow out and leave the potatoes with a hint of the peppers that adds a really nice flavor.

Breakfast Potatoes

4 medium potatoes, diced

1/4 c. red pepper

1/4 cup green pepper

1 small onion

butter

Lowery's seasoned salt

Paprika

salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in skillet. Add potatoes, peppers and onion. Sprinkle Lowery's to lightly coat all of the potatoes. Add paprika, salt and pepper to taste. Cook until potatoes are soft.

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Enjoy!

Sweet Potatoes

For Thanksgiving this year, I decided to try something a little different with the sweet potatoes. I usually make them heavy with brown sugar and Cinnamon and they turn out more like a sweet potato pie. I was digging around on the Eating Well website and I found this recipe. The comments about the orange flavoring caught my eye and everyone loved the flavor. This smelled wonderful while I made it. The taste was refreshing and not really sweet. The topping mixed with the sweet potatoes was so good; I did not miss the old sweet potatoes at all.


Sweet Potato Casserole

2 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes (3 medium) Peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks
2 large eggs
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp honey
1/2 c milk
2 tsp freshly grated orange zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt

Topping

1/2 c flour
1/3 c packed brown sugar
4 tsp frozen orange juice concentrate
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp butter melted
1/2 c chopped pecans

Preparation
Place sweet potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to boil. Cover and cook over medium heat until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain well and return to pan. Mash with a potato masher. Measure out 3 cups. (reserve any extra for another use)

Preheat oven to 350. Coat an 8 inch square (or 2 qt) baking dish with cooking spray.

Whisk eggs, oil, and honey in a medium bowl. Add mashed sweet potato and mix well. Stir in milk, orange zest, vanilla, and salt. Spread the mixture in the prepared baking dish.

To prepare topping: Mix flour, brown sugar, orange juice concentrate, oil and butter in a small bowl. Blend with a fork or your fingertips until crumbly. Stir in pecans. Sprinkle over casserole.

Bake the casserole until heated through and the top is lightly browned, 35 - 45 minutes.

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Enjoy!

Appetizers - Cucumber and Celery

This year for Thanksgiving I wanted some appetizers that were easy to make finger foods and could be prepared the night before. I knew I wanted to do something with celery and cucumbers. They are refreshing to eat and you don't really fill up on them. So many of the recipes for stuffed celery have raisins or nuts in them but I found one with cheese and ranch dressing which is a winning combo to me. I also looked for a recipe for cucumber sandwiches. After I made them I realized it was not the taste I remember from parties but this one was not bad. I used white bread party rounds so the bread held up. I actually have a few still in the refrigerator and the bread is still good.


Cucumber Appetizer
8 oz cream cheese
1 pkg dry italian dressing mix
1 c. mayonnaise
1 - 2 cucumbers
Italian baguette, slided thin, or white party rounds
Fresh dill

Mix first three ingredients to make the cheese mixture. Slice cucumbers. Spread cheese mixture on bread and then top with cucumber.

If you use the party rounds, you may assemble appetizers the night before the party. If you use Italian baguette, wait to prepare until same day.

Top with fresh dill.



Celery Appetizer
8 oz cream cheese
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup prepared ranch dressing
Celery

Mix first three ingredients and spread or pipe into celery. If you are going to pipe the cheese mixture into the celery, make sure cheddar is finely shredded.

Enjoy!

Simple Macaroni and Cheese

If you struggle with making homemade mac n cheese, this is a simple way to make good old basic mac n cheese.



Simple Macaroni & Cheese
2 (7 1/4 ounce) boxes Kraft macaroni and cheese (Make sure to buy creamy variety)
1 cup milk (plus a little more)
2 eggs, beaten
1 stick of butter
salt and pepper
2 (8-12 ounce) packages cheddar cheese, grated


Boil macaroni until tender, then drain water completely. Put macaroni in a large bowl. While it is still hot, stir in the 2 Kraft cheese packages from the boxes, stick of butter, eggs and 1 cup of milk. Salt and pepper to taste. Macaroni mixture should be creamy and milky. If needed you can add a little more milk. I make sure my macaroni is covered in milk but not floating. This mixes with the eggs and makes a cheesy custard.

Pour half of the mixture into a large baking pan (I use my lasagna pan) and cover with 1 package of shredded cheddar. Pour remaining macaroni mixture into the pan and cover with remaining cheese.

If you like a crumble top, melt one stick of butter and crush a whole sleeve of Ritz or Saltines into the butter and top the casserole during the last 15 or 20 minutes of baking.

Cook on 375° for about 45 minutes, until cheese is golden brown.

Enjoy!