Soup, Soup, Soup

 It is winter. It is cold.  What goes better with that then SOUP!  We decided to commit to trying some new soups this month after the holiday food fest was over.

One of our favorites is French Onion soup.  This soup requires a  time commitment because the onions have to sauté for almost three hours. Any dry white wine will work in this soup and organic boxed beef broth is a big time saver.

French Onion

Once the soup is finished top with Gruyere cheese, bake in the oven for a few minutes and serve with toasted baguette.

Pork & Herbed White Bean

Other soups that we recommend are Pork and Herbed White Bean and Chick Pea and Dumplings.  Both of these soups are very hearty and are a meal by themselves. One thing to remember is if dry beans are being used always soak them long enough. This was a hard lession learned one Sunday night when the soup was not ready until after 11p.m.!!





A New Year with Old Friends

While the new year is all about what is to come it is important to remember the importance of some things old. This includes old friends, old traditions, old recipes, and that old sparkly bubbly champagne.

This year we were lucky enough to be invited to a friend’s house for a lovely cocktail and appetizer party. The food choices were numerous and the cocktails were flowing. There was also no shortage of fancy New Year’s attire and laughter.

It was great to be able to spend New Year's with such fun people. We also didn't forget to stuff our mouths at midnight with 12 grapes, like they do in Spain, for 12 months of good luck.

At our house the celebration does not end on New Year’s Eve. It is a tradition to prepare steamer clams for New Year’s Day.

                           

The clams are a steal at the Reel Fish Market! Only $4.95 a pound. You really can't beat that and they go great with champagne.

To end the night we had a light dessert of Spanish Rollos. They are supposed to be served with a sweeter white wine such as a Moscato but we just served them with champagne.

So this year, let us all make a resolution to continue to celebrate every moment we can. Why? Well, it is just more fun! Cheers.

Time to Take Down Those Stockings

There is always so much anticipation and planning that goes into the holidays and then in the blink of an eye they have come and gone. The day after Christmas our stockings were packed up, the Christmas decorations were taken down, and our once beautiful Christmas tree was put out by the curb.  Here are a few of our favorite things that we enjoyed this Christmas.

Delicious peppermint martinis! These were so easy to make --1 part good quality vanilla vodka, 1 part peppermint schnapps, and one part whole milk. Shake and pour into a festive red martini glass rimmed with crushed up peppermint. Christmas in a glass!

No Christmas is complete without appetizers. One of our family favorites is shrimp cocktail. This is baby shrimp and your favorite cocktail sauce served over cream cheese. Eat it with whole wheat crackers. Doesn’t get much easier or delicious than that.

Dinner must be followed by dessert! This year the pick was a pound cake made with canola oil served with raspberries that had been frozen from the summer. Perfect with coffee the next morning. Here's the recipe!

We could not forget about our annual craft project. We love to make homemade Christmas bags for everyone that contains small stocking stuffers to open on Christmas morning. The idea for this was to bring back the fun of Santa for the adults!

                                           We hope everyone had a very merry Christmas!