Friday, February 11, 2011

A Warm Hearty Soup

To me nothing tastes better
on a cold winter day
than a bowl of soup!
I made this new recipe last
week and I am here to tell
you that it was
AMAZING!!!

I hope you give it a try.


Wild Rice Soup

1 large carrot, coarsely chopped
2 medium stalks celery, sliced
1 med onion, finely chopped
2 T. butter
3 T. flour
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1-1/2 c. cooked wild rice
2 c. chicken broth
1c. half and half
1/3 c. chopped parsley
6 slices lean bacon,
cooked and crumbled for garnish

Saute carrot, celery and onion in butter in
3 quart saucepan until veggies are tender.
Stir in flour, salt and pepper.
Stir in wild rice and broth.
Heat to boiling; reduce heat.
Cover and simmer,
stirring occasionally for 20 minutes.
Stir in half and half, almonds and parsley.
Heat just until hot.
Do not boil again after half and half
has been added. Garnish with bacon

Add 1-1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken if desired
to make a heartier soup.

Now, I did not follow the directions completely ;)
Along with the veggies I added some sliced mushrooms.
So that the butter didn't burn I did add a little olive oil.
I also wanted this to be a thick hearty soup
so I just added enough chicken broth to make it thick
and when I added the half and half I DID NOT add
a whole cup I maybe used 1/3 if I used that much.
Definitely used the chicken (1 chicken breast)
I didn't have any almonds or bacon so those got left out.
For the wild rice I used a box of uncle Ben's chicken wild rice.

Feel free to make it your own and
if you try something different let me know.

(recipe came from a handout I received
from Thimbleberries quilt club)

Such a warm hearty soup and very easy!
Now go and give it a try.

~Nancy~

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Priorities

Since the girls have
moved out and my
nest is empty most of the time
I am having a problem
prioritizing my time.

Why, look what I made
yesterday...




Some pillow cases for
Jen and her roommate.

WHEN

I should have been
washing up this mess...


Enjoy your day!

~Nancy~

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Busy Hands

The plan was to gut my sewing room!
You see, it lives in the 1970's
and while I really like the color green
the green faux paneling with it's black trim
just isn't hip any longer!
(pictures to come later)
But, the Lord had other plans
for the cute engineer.
(he'll be doing the remodel)
So for the time being we put
the remodel on hold.
At least for the next few weeks.
My hands really needed to be busy
this past week end
so I popped downstairs
into that 1970's sewing room
and worked on a quilt I
started last fall.
The borders still need to be put on
and then it's off to the quilter!








I just love the fabric!
It makes me smile.
So often I will make
a quilt and then give it away
but this one is staying here.

The fabric is a line from
Moda called Bliss
and the pattern (The Kitchen Sink)
is from the book
Scrap-Basket Surprises
written by Kim Bracket.

I love that book!

I have made several of the
quilts in this book.
The patterns are
easy to follow and you can use
up some of your stash
or
go shopping!

Kim has a new
book out called
Scrap-Basket Sensations.
Can't wait to make a few things
from that book either.



Happy sewing!

~Nancy~

Friday, February 4, 2011

Check It Out



Check out my week end wheels




Isn't she a cutie!
She belongs to Katie
who needed to trade
cars for the week end.
She is peppy
making me feel quite young again.
She loves to play music (loudly) and
comes with a cold, half full coffee!
PLUS
if I get the urge to go sledding
she comes with not just
one sled but two!

Life is good!
Have a great week end!

~Nancy~

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Nothing But Blue Sky!

The blizzard has come and gone.
If you were here
the sounds
of snow plows, snow blowers
and children's laughter
would fill your ears.
Your eyes would see mounds
of beautiful white snow,
neighbors helping neighbors
and the most incredible blue sky!





Sometimes I have to pinch myself
to see if I am really living in such place!
Only God could take a cold and gray day
turn it into a blizzard
with blue sky as the cherry on top!

Enjoy your day!

~Nancy~


Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The Blizzard of 2011

Oh my!
To say it is snowing
would be an understatement.
With in a twelve hour period
we have received
eleven inches!


AND


it is still going strong.
When it's all said
and done we are suppose
to get any where from
fifteen to twenty five-inches.
I must say the snow is
BEAUTIFUL!
Last night around midnight
I went out and took a pic



not the best but it was
so pretty.



Today, Libby and I dug
out a trail for her to get around.
Poor thing...the snow is
deeper than she is tall.
She absolutely loves the snow!
and had a blast playing in it.

Now, I am off to play in
my sewing room!

Have a great day.

~Nancy~

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

A Doozy...is on it's way!

Good morning

How are you this fine
February day?

According to my
very own weather man
(AKA: the cute engineer)
we are in for a
DOOZY
of a snowstorm.

As my very own weatherman
was leaving for work
(at 5:30 am...who does that?)
he woke me up
so that I could get to the store early.

As it turns out the store
was fairly empty of
both people and
STUFF.
I guess everyone went
out last night to stock up!
I did manage to buy out the
rest of the grocery store
and now our cupboards are full.

So...
let the baking commence!

Have a great day

~Nancy~