Broccoli Potato Chowder

This isn't an exact recipe; rather, it is something I threw together to use up some veggies. The soup ended up being extremely thick. We liked it, but I think it would be too thick for more people. Feel free to adjust to suit your tastes (including adding more bacon, cream, or cheese).

Ingredients
2 slices of bacon, cut into small pieces
1 medium onion, diced
olive oil, optional
6-8 small potatoes, diced (I used russets)
2 broccoli crowns, chopped
3 cups of water (or broth for more flavor)
1 cup half and half
4 oz shredded cheese (feel free to add more)
garlic power, salt, pepper to taste

Directions
1. Brown bacon and onion. Add a bit of olive oil for flavor or if the bacon isn't rendering enough fat.
2. Add the potatoes and water. Simmer until the potatoes are cooked.
3. Add the broccoli. Continue simmering until the broccoli is cooked.
4. Add the half and half and seasonings to taste.
5. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup.
6. Add the cheese; stir until it is melted. Adjust the seasonings if needed.

Makes about 3 quarts.

My new favorite

I recently was gifted a new cooking pot, something I had been coveting for years, but was too cheap to buy myself. This is the 3 1/2 quart version, and now I'm lusting after the 7 1/4 quart version. Or maybe I should dream big and get the 13 1/4 version like my friend S has. Not that I'd be able to lift it, lol.

I've been keeping the pot on the stove because 1) I'm using the pot a couple times a weeks so why put it away, 2) It looks pretty on the stove, and 3) I don't have room in the cupboard to keep store it.

No more brown bagging it

Got myself a new lunch bag. I've been coveting these Built bags for quite a while and when I saw this one for sale, along with a turquoise version, I couldn't resist.

I had been using a Lean Cuisine/Susan G. Komen lunch bag (it looks like they aren't selling them this year), a gift from my friend V for a few years and was ready for a change.

I like how the bag squishes down when it's empty. My coworker throws hers in the washing machine every once in a while so I know they're easy to clean.

Free Museum Day

Check it out! You still have time to get tickets for tomorrow.
http://microsite.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/index.html

Fancy fingers

My SIL talked me into my first mani/pedi. I thought it was an interesting experience...I think I'll have to repeat it some day. My nails never looked so good. I thought it interesting that the guys in the office noticed my nails first and made more comments than the women (note that there are 3X more women than men in my group).

But I was disappointed that the manicure only lasted 10 days. After a week, there were tiny chips. This is they looked like after a few hours of scrubbing in the kitchen. I did wear gloves and I was trying to be careful. Oh well. The pedi is still going strong though.

My fashion statement

I was going to title this post, "I am not a terr----t," but I thought in today's political climate, that would be asking for trouble. So how are the titles related? Well, I'll taken to wearing a scarf to cover the lower half of my face on my drive home. The sun shines in at just the wrong angle and I want to protect my skin while it is healing. The heat irritates my skin, plus I want to prevent hyperpigmentation. I'm surprised I haven't gotten any stares. My carpooler said I should pretend I was holding a gun on her. Maybe that would get someone's attention. Yeah, bad idea. But it was kinda funny when she said it.

I'm turning into a vampire

Good thing vampires are popular nowadays, lol. The ER doctor emphasized that I needed to keep out of the sun to prevent hyperpigmentation on my facial scars so I've been very careful about avoiding the sun. I've been out of the house three times since the accident five days ago. My "travels" have been to accompany Mr. Fix-it to his dad's. That was at dusk, but I still wore a hat and carried an umbrella. Then once to the doctor's and then this morning to the store because I needed some more bacitracin. It was overcast this morning so we rushed to the store before the sun came out. I look like one of those immigrant Asian ladies with my hat and umbrella. Guess they knew something about protecting their skin, eh?

And I wonder what the neighbors are thinking. On a couple windows, we only have valences, no shades or curtains. So I threw on towels over the valences to block the sun. Really classy.

Not Mrs. Kravitz

I've been home all week recovering from the auto accident (I'm okay, the car isn't, don't wanna talk about it) and I'm obviously not spending enough time peeking out the front window. I haven't noticed anything funny going on. Didn't even notice which neighbors went to work and which didn't. Haven't seen the new neighbor kitty-corner to us. I assume he bought the house, but he's never there. Haven't noticed kids walking to school; maybe they're all grown up and I haven't noticed?

But yesterday, I noticed some trucks pull up to the house kitty-corner to us in the opposite direction. Hmmm, what was going on? I wasn't brave enough to walk across the street to ask what was going on. The house is for sale, but I thought it had been emptied earlier. Unfortunately, there was only so much dishwashing I could do so I went to the living room to rest. By the time I went back to the kitchen, the trucks were gone so I have no idea what they took out of the house.

Then this morning, a little more excitement! It was street cleaning day and another neighbor parked their car in the for-sale house's driveway. Surprise! The trucks came back. Hmmmm. I wasn't 100% positive which neighbor's car it was, but I had an idea so I went to their house. Unfortunately, they did not open their door dispite their dogs barking and waking up everyone in the house. Yes, it was early, but not that early. The people w/the trucks saw me, but I did not talk to them (I was feeling a bit ugly/shy since I hadn't showered yet and the accident and all). A little later, I heard the neighbor's dogs going crazy again and it turns out the driver had gone to the neighbor's to ask about the car. Darn, another opportunity lost! Now I'll never find out what's going on with that house.

Dessert

Leftover cornbread, warmed in the microwave and covered in half and half. I would have used milk but we didn't have any. And I resisted pouring maple syrup on top. So this was the semi-healthy version, lol. On the other hand, since when is dessert supposed to be healthy?

Are your kids driving you crazy this summer?

If you're looking for activities for early elementary or younger kids, check out Angie's Finding Educational Activities in the Most Unexpected Places. She's got the e-book on sale for 50% off right now. And if you want to see what I thought of her book, check out my review.

$2.99

The usual summer spike in prices hasn't been too bad this year.

Vegetable tart

We made a veggie tart (aka crustless quiche) to take over to Uncle J and Aunt T's last weekend. I wanted to bring something that could be eaten at room temperature and was inspired by the yellow squash and zucchini from the garden. As usual, we didn't use a recipe, but here's my best recollection as to what was included.

Ingredients
4 medium yellow squash or zucchini
1/2 onion, finely chopped
olive oil
5 eggs
3.5-4 oz shredded cheese (about 1/2 package of pre-shredded cheese, we used cheddar-jack because that's what we had on hand)
powdered garlic
pepper
1/2 cup bread crumbs
optional: asparagus

Topping: mix together 1/4 cup bread crumbs and 1/4 cup finely shredded cheese

Directions
1. Grease a 9x13 pan.
2. Partially cook the asparagus for the top (we used the microwave).
3. Thinly slice the squash (we used a mandolin) and the asparagus.
4. Saute the onion and squash in the olive oil until the squash is partly cooked. If there is a lot of liquid in the pan, cook a little longer to cook off the liquid. Add the sliced asparagus and cook for another minute.
5. Add the eggs. You could scramble them first, but I just scrambled them in the pan w/the squash.
6. Add the cheese, bread crumbs, and spices, then pour the mixture into the greased 9x13 pan.
7. Top w/the asparagus, then top w/the cheese and bread crumbs.
8. Bake at 325 for about 30 minutes or until egg is set. You could broil this for a minute or so if the top needs more color.

Can be served warm, cold, or at room temperature.

My mom used to make this all the time, but included sausage. I bet it would be good with bacon and/or Italian spices.

Wedding card

I made a wedding card for a coworker last week. I was hoping to get by with the supplies I had on hand (because you know I've got enough to open a small store), but ended up buying a couple of things anyway. Thank goodness I had a 25% off coupon. I ended up buying the bling since I couldn't find the black Prima bling that I know I have (but I was planning on using it on a layout anyway).
I was so proud of myself for stamping the sentiment (even if it did smear a bit). I suppose that blue and black aren't traditional wedding colors, but her invitations were blue and white and I didn't have any white transparencies so I went with blue and black. Oh, and since she's Catholic, I figured she would be okay with the bible verse.

supplies: Mulberry cardstock, Creative Imagination transparency, Zva and Kaisercraft rhinestones, satin ribbon, Boxer stamps, Catseye ink, Fiskars border punch

Crockpot before and after

I know you're not supposed to fill the crockpot all the way to the top, but why make soup unless you're making a lot? The before picture doesn't show it all; I carefully added some turkey broth/meat too. The after picture also doesn't show the whole truth. I had taken out a bowl of soup before taking the photo (hey, I was hungry). I also added some orzo, but that was cooked on the stove and added separately to the individual bowls of soup. The leftovers are also stored separately in the frig. I don't want the pasta to absorb all the broth overnight.

Christmas in July

(most of) our haul from our annual trek to the Hallmark store. I am a bit amused that Mr. Fix-it collects more ornaments than I do. Although I am considering starting a new collection. Unfortunately, I won't be able to see that ornament in person until October. Yet another opportunity for Hallmark to get more of my money. Although some might think they have enough of my money since I've been collecting the Nostalgic Houses and Shops series for 27 years.

She said what, when??

For those of you who subscribe to this blog via a reader, I will be back-dating several posts since I like to keep posts in the order they occurred. Just wanted to give you a heads up so you're not confused.

Inspiration

I've been in a scrapbooking rut, no mojo, no motivation. But a recent trip to JoAnn's helped. This kraft cardstock was 50% off, plus I had a 10% off coupon, which would cover the tax. I've been wanting to work with kraft cardstock (and I have some on order w/SU, oh well) and thought this would be a cheap way to try it. I was pleasantly surprised by the weight of the paper. It will be interesting to compare it to the SU paper, which is three times the cost.

Here's the card I made from the cardstock and scraps (and I already sent it to a friend).Bazzill, CM, and no name cardstock, KI and Current (remember them?) patterned paper, Kaisercraft pearls, Catseye ink, Technique Tuesday stamp, CM punch, Cuttlebug embossing folders

Today's harvest

It might not look like much, but this is the second squash I harvested and I'm so excited about that! Usually, my squash plants die or the squash rots before I can harvest anything. And I've three more squash (squashes?) that should be ready to pick in a few days.

Happy 4th!

This is one of my favorite tee shirts. I wasn't thinking this morning and put on something else, but then I remembered the day and pulled out this shirt. I figured I should at least dress in the right colors for the day. This is a long-lived shirt with lots of memories. If you wear something only once a year, it is bound to last a little longer than usual.

Summer sandwich

A quick dinner made with ingredients we had on hand: toasted submarine sandwich bread, ricotta cheese, roma tomatoes, basil, marinated artichoke hearts, red onion, fresh ground pepper. No dressing/mayo was needed. So fresh and yummy...and fast!