Food Bond

Have any of you heard the term “the closer to your food the better”? What with all the food bacteria/egg scares lately the term is quite true.

I’ve been MIA, blog wise, lately and have been doing a lot of this

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Yes-sir-ee I am quite the farmer lately

Shhh, it’s my dad who is really the farmer, I’m more the picker I suppose.

and when the fresh produce runs out this winter we’ll be enjoying some of these

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I have to admit I consider it quite the blessing to have such an opportunity.

Have any of you been canning this summer?

Red, White and Blue

I love having parties, any excuse to have people over and decorate is good in my book.

Here are a few pictures from our patriotic weekend.

I do love me a glittery door hanger.

 

and bunting!

Our BBQ was so much fun and I loved decorating with Red, White and Blue.

 

I can’t wait for next year!!!

Homemade Soup

I should probably start this post with a disclaimer, a chef I am NOT! In fact, I honestly rather prefer not to cook. Have you ever heard someone say “You’ll get tired of eating out”? Are these people crazy? Who gets tired of eating out? I’m sure somewhere there are those Martha Stewart/Wonder Woman mothers that just thoroughly enjoy cooking and feed a child with one hand while making homemade cookies with the other. I hate those people. Ok ok, it’s not really hate it’s actually jealousy but this isn’t a therapy session so we’ll keep moving on.

Any who.

I have to come clean and admit that there are in fact certain times of the year, for whatever reason, that I actually kick into “I like cooking” mode. Odd, but true. Right now I love making soups, they are usually super easy to make and even better they are fairly cost effective.

I thought it would be great to have a chance to exchange a few recipes for soup. Since I am new to blogging and don’t really know how Mr. Linky works I figured you can either give your recipe in comments or a link to a post for the recipe.

Last night I made Broccoli Cheese Soup for the first time, it was nummmmmeeeeee.

I should also probably mention that I am not really a measure things out exactly kinda girl. I’m going to guess that would make me a horrible baker since that is more of a chemistry dependant but I’ll fight that battle when it comes.

Now onto the “recipe”.

1/2 bag of Broccoli florets (cooked till tender in salted water then set aside)

In large stock pot:

1/2 cup butter (melted)

1/3 large onion finely chopped (cook in butter till translucent)

1/2 cup flour (add to butter/onion mixture and cook long enough to get a slight color change, about 2 minutes)

1cup chicken stock

1cup milk (the amount for the liquids will depend on how thick you like your soup)

Be sure and whisk heavily while adding liquids to prevent lumps

Add, salt, pepper, garlic powder, mustard to taste and bring to high heat and then add following ingredients.

1 cup Cheddar cheese

1.5 cup processed cheese (Velveeta)

Add the cooked broccoli

Eat

The amount of cheese and spices can be adjusted to fit your tastes.

I think the whole soup took about 15 minutes to make and made enough for LOTS of leftovers.

Maybe I’ll have to share the butternut squash soup that even the hubby loved.

Now it’s your turn. Do you have a soup recipe you love to make that you’d like to share?

 

Ornament Exchange Party

I loves me a good par-tay! Just one more reason I love the holidays.

This week I had my first annual Ornament Exchange Party and it was a HIT. If any of you are sitting on the sidelines wanting to have an annual holiday party but unsure of a theme, this might be the one for you.

I am all for having a party (sing it with me HEY HEY) but I require a few things, can you guess what they are? Yep, it has to be cheap and easy. I want to be able to enjoy the party also and not feel like it’s a big stressful event. You know what I’m sayin? You shouldn’t be left singing, “it’s my party and I’ll CRY if I want to”!! (Sorry I had to do it)

For those of you who haven’t been to an ornament exchange party, they are super fun. Everyone brings a wrapped ornament and places them in a pile and then draws names to see who gets to pick first. The first person grabs a present and unwraps it. **Insert the OOOoohhs and AAAHHhhhs** When the second person is picked they can either STEAL the ornament from the first person, or pick a new wrapped ornament. Rinse and repeat till everyone has a goodie.

So fun!

I wanted everything to be easy for people to grab whatever they wanted so I set things up on my dining table in a buffet style.

Please forgive this picture, I forgot to take one pre-arrival so this is after everyone had their fill. Sorry!

Now, don’t get me wrong I enjoy cooking (every now and then HA) but when it comes to a party I’m more of a let someone else-er. I’m a stickler for my house being clean when I’m having company and having dirty pans, or extra dishes to do before they arrive just isn’t for me.

For this party we had:

Seafood Crab cakes, Spinach Quiche, Three Cheese Quiche, Mushroom Turnovers—These were sooo yummy and flakey crusted, people went back for more and more. Oh Did I mention I paid $5 for 48 of them? Can you believe that, $5 and I didn’t have to bake!!

I also took 6 big eggrolls and cut them in half for finger food size—Cost $1.32 total !!!!!! (My local Teriyaki place sells these exact eggrolls for $2.50 each)

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins—$1

Along with a few other goodies like cupcakes and fudge dipped cookies, but you get the idea.

I took cardstock and holiday stamps and made food labels to place in these cute little ornaments on the table. I left extra and a marker available if my guests brought anything they wanted to label.

  

They looked really cute on the table and made it easy for people to get what they wanted.

At the end of the night I sent each person home with a little favor box.

I found these KAY-UTE “to go” boxes for .25 cents each. Inside I put candy and flavored tea, then topped them off with an ornament to complete the theme of the night and Ta Da, party to go.

Maybe next year you’d like to come?

Candy Cane Kisses

**We Interrupt this blog for a snack attack**

Yummm numm numm.

Oh excuse me while I finish my candy, I would certainly share………but we all know the limitations of the internet. Thank goodness

Have any of you seen these little beauties in the store?

If not, I’m so sorry for you!……. Seriously

I had never had these till I grabbed a bag for my Ornament Exchange Party (I’ll post about that soon) but now I am hooked. Ohhh Hershey’s why oh why would you do this to me!!!

First let me state that I am not a sweets or chocolate girl. You have no idea how strange my mother-in-law thinks I am for not being a chocolate lover. I guess it is some unspoken rule that ALL women be diehard bite-you-if-you-get-in-the-way chocolate fiends.  I’m more of a salty person—HA HA that kind of makes me sound like a pirate or sea captain.

Anyways, on to my point. These little bite size pieces of holiday goodness wrapped up in white chocolate are OMGawwsh Yummy!! They are white chocolate with stripes of peppermint flavoring and little crunches of candy cane inside.

You could use these goodies in cookies or just melted over pretzels—ohh the possibilities! My favorite however, just unwrapped and indulge.

I suggest that you run out now when you get a chance and pick up a bag. If you live with someone who has a sweet tooth or might want to share your bag, you should probably get two.

Happy Snacking and let me know what you think!!

 

Disclaimer: I have not been compensated by the manufacturer of this product and do not endorse said product. I am simply sharing my experience and/or opinion of mentioned product. Use of said product is at your own risk.