'Cuz I'm a woman -- W-O-M-A-N!"

What is 2” high, thick with personal history, has bullet points, and bragging rights?

It is a stack of my resumes I have sent out in the last 6 months for employment. It’s tough out there looking for a job!

Knowing that, I don’t take it personal that I haven’t landed the big one yet. If truth be told, I couldn’t be prouder of what I have accomplished in owning my own restaurant. And I can tell you, I’m a far better woman than I was 5 years ago.

Remember that song, “I bring home the bacon, fry it up in the pan. And never let you forget you're a man. Cuz I'm a woman -- W-O-M-A-N!

I’ll be belting out that tune very soon. It’ll just takes time.

The recession isn’t going to take me out. I’ll just catch the economy on the up take.

Testing, Testing, Testing

I was wondering if anyone was really out there looking at my blog. You might think it was a clever ploy to publish my best recipe, leave out an ingredient, and see if anyone noticed. First of all…

1) I’m not that smart
2) I’m not that calculating
3) I don’t have test kitchen chefs to catch my errors

My friend Lindy caught the error in the Leek & Potato Soup. I forgot to list potatoes on the ingredients. What a ditz! So here is the revised recipe….and it’s still my best of my best recipes.

Leek & Potato Soup

½ cup butter
4 large leeks, thinly sliced
2 potatoes, diced into bite-size pieces
3 stalks celery, thinly sliced
2 carrots, thinly sliced
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups hot chicken broth
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
3 cups whipping cream or half-and-half
2 teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
4 tablespoons chopped chives

Melt butter. Add vegetables; cook until brown. Blend in flour gradually. Stir in hot broth and bring to a boil. Simmer until vegetables are tender. Add cheese; stir until melted. Scald cream (or half-and-half) and add to mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer 20 minutes.

Here’s where your preference comes in. Serve as a rustic, hardy main dish soup or strain.

Serve garnished with chives.

Yield: 4 to 5 main dish servings or
8 to 10 starter servings

Leek & Potato Soup

Because I’m of a giving spirit, I am giving you my best of my best recipes:

Leek & Potato Soup

½ cup butter
4 large leeks, thinly sliced
3 stalks celery, thinly sliced
2 carrots, thinly sliced
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups hot chicken broth
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
3 cups whipping cream or half-and-half
2 teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
4 tablespoons chopped chives

Melt butter. Add vegetables; cook until brown. Blend in flour gradually. Stir in hot broth and bring to a boil. Add cheese; stir until melted. Scald cream (or half-and-half) and add to mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer 20 minutes.

Here’s where your preference comes in. Serve as a rustic, hardy dish soup with the vegetables left in their chopped form or you can choose to strain the soup to a puree.

Serve garnished with chives.

Yield: 4 to 5 main dish servings or
8 to 10 starter servings

I can’t control my :)

I thrive on moments of well-being. I hoard them and memorize them.

If I can capture it in a photo, I paste it on my desktop so I can stare and absorb that moment over and over again.


Photo credits: LYFE Photography, Portland, Oregon
http://www.lyfephotography.net/

If I can capture that good feeling in a journal, I put pen to paper.

If it is a taste, I run the flavors over my tongue so I can remember and capture them again in my kitchen.

A reassuring touch…how is it to be chronicled or captured? Only by quickly sharing that confirming touch to someone else.