soup's on

Last time I posted I mentioned that it was starting to get cold so we had butternut squash soup in bread bowls. Well the truth is, I have been on a bit of a soup kick lately. I just keep making them! This month I have made:

Roasted Butternut Squash and Shallot Soup

If you make this one I recommend you add a little milk or cream to finish it off.

2% would be a responsible choice.

The verdict on this soup was that the flavor was great,

but the texture was closure to butternut squash puree.

Get some dairy in there for creaminess.

Roasted Cauliflower and Aged Cheddar Soup

I made this one just because I wanted to.

Only seven ingredients*.
*EVOO and S&P don't count
Delectable as is.
No changes from me. Rare.

Chicken Verde Stew with Hominy
aka- Green Chicken Chili

I made this one because I had the ingredients.
I almost always have carrots, onions, peppers, chicken broth.
 I had leftover celery from a batch of curried chicken salad
and just needed a few extras to finish this one off.
Verdict? A little spicy but the sour cream is a great touch.
Good flavor and very fresh!
My preferred modifications?
Replace the big can of hominy with a little one and add a can of garbanzo beans.
Get yerself some extra protein.

Am I talking too much? Okay fine I'll cut to the chase.

I made chili for some college students that came over.
I usually make beef-free chili, but that isn't as publically acceptable
so I made the real stuff this time.
All American Chili

This is not the speedist chili recipe, but it is delish.
Definitely a crowd pleaser. Don't change a thing.

Today for lunch I am eating
Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup

I accidently let this simmer a little too long and it turned it into
a chicken noodle/ potato soup hybrid.
This is about as hearty as soups come. Filled with protein and veggies.
Plus the creaminess of potatoes and... well... cream.
Brett likes to call it a "casserole soup" just to ruffle my feathers.
It's not a casserole. It's a soup. K?
Verdict? Awesome,
but don't expect a classic brothy soup.
Modifications? Pull the chicken off last night's rotiserrie chicken.
Way easier than cooking your own just for this soup.

I'm forgetting one soup... oh well.
Our favorites in order:
1. Roasted Cauliflower
2. All American Chili
3. Chicken Noodle
4. Green Chicken Chili
5. Butternut Squash.

Next up? My favorite soup cooking tools!

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sweet friends and their sweet baby ray*

Okay so maybe the baby's name isn't really Ray. But I can't tell you what it is. That would break all my rules about using names around here. This is public interneting, people! I can't just be tossin around names like they are salads...

Back to what I was saying...

We have some great friends. Nine weeks ago they had their first baby boy. Let's call him Sweet Baby Ray. Because they do call him Sweet Baby and because Sweet Baby Ray has a BBQ sauce so I know those words just roll off your tongue.

On Thursday night we got a note from them announcing an impromptu trip to our side of the midwest! Hooray for meeting Sweet Baby Ray! I didn't mean to make that rhyme. Sorry about that. We got to hear all about life in their "new" town (where they have now lived for almost two years...) We enjoyed butternut squash soup in sourdough bread bowls and sipped on hot tea while we caught up on jobs, life with the little guy, and just life in general.

Sometimes in life I just think I wish I had more time to spend with these people. And more time with those people. And I just wish I had time to get to know them better. Oh and that girl seems so sweet, I want to get to know her better. I hope you have people in your life like that. Life is all about people, you know. That's why hubs and I run around like maniacs all the time. Because we love spending time with people.

When we graduated from high school we stopped seeing our families daily. When we left college we stopped seeing our friends weekly. When our friends moved away we stopped seeing them monthly (Iowa and Texas, I'm talking to you!) We now see our families and our friends when we can. Sometimes its often, other times it is only once or twice a year. And no one holds grudges or asks why you never called. You just pick up where you left off. Except maybe you cut off 10 inches of your hair and have a baby. You, of course, not me.

Speaking of family and friends, I know you want to know about our trip to the Royale... More on that later.

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treat yo self... and my dog

My birthday was last week. I had a treat-yo-self day. 

Never experienced treat yo self?

I stopped at Starbucks to get a latte. 

Thanks, Starbucks card, for my free birthday drink.

Treat yo self fail.

I went to get my nails done over lunch and invited my sister. 

She paid for mine. 

Treat yo self fail.

I was about to go pick up some cookies from the Plaza 

when I got a call that my cousin had delivered 

cupcakes and flowers 

to my office. 

First flowers delivered at work and 

not one, but two cupcakes from Cupcake a la Mode. 

Treat yo self fail again.

So I gave up on treat yo self day. 

And enjoyed wonderful family treating my-self. 

My sister make me and all the family 

butternut squash casserole with kale and gnocci

pan seared scallops

and served us  all chantilly cake.  

And the whole fam chipped in to get me a nice camera.

Hooray!

Mack got to be my model on Saturday while hubs went for 

a two hour long run. 

Yes. I said two hours. 

Anyway, these shots are straight out o' the camera. 

Smiiiille Mack-a-doodle!

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Don't try it on.

What is the same about trying on wedding dresses, looking for houses, and cooking?

I'll give you a clue. When we got married a friend told me not to do anything the first week of marriage that I didn't want to do forever. For example: putting down the toilet seat, picking up dirty socks from the couch where they were taken off, turning off lights as your dear loved on walks from room to room. Once your lover-bunch-kins experiences the wonders of having a maid, he/she might never be able to not have a maid.

So let's apply that to life, shall we? When you bake mac and cheese and it calls for 4 cups of heavy cream and 4 cups of extra rich cheese, just use the low fat. If you make it with the fully-leaded stuff the first time, you'll never be able to go back. You might as well just buy a new pair of pants with that pint of cream.

When you look for houses, don't set foot in the houses that are out of your price range. You won't be able to forget how nice that large closet was or how pretty that granite looked. We'll all seen how that turns out on House Hunters, haven't we? It gets ugly real fast.

When you go to look for wedding dresses, don't try on the ones you can't afford. Of course a dress that is $1,500 is going to be prettier than the one that is $500. Durr. Then you'll never be okay with the one that has factory made lace instead of silk from specialized chinese worms.

I am usually pretty good about this rule. Usually.

So I wandered into J Crew the other day. I had been looking for a Chambray shirt and they had one so I thought I'd just try it on. Danger zone. Okay, I'm in love. So I splurge. Just this once. I don't do that often.

But of course it doesn't look right with my jeans so I ask hubster to grab a pair of colored pants for me to try with them. He has a knack for picking out things that I love, so of course he comes back with a pair of bright red cors and they made the chambray look totally fab. "Don't worry..." I told hubs, "I can find knock-offs like these cords somewhere else for cheaper." But I had already broken the rule. J Crew cords will never be like the knock-offs.

So I got home and was stoked to find that Old Navy was having a sale on cords for only $19. Hoolllerrr! I tried on a pair in green. Wait, these are like latex on my legs. Go up a size. Go up two sizes. Yeah, these will work. Even though they still look like suction cups, they are way cheaper. Got home, put them on with the new top. Negative. Won't work. I look like I have moss growing from my legs. And they make my legs look chubby. Like the kind of chubby you see on a 6 month old's legs and call "cute" because they have all the ripples that make them look kind of like a bulldog puppy. Who knew bulldog puppy legs weren't attractive on adult women? So I returned them. And scoured the internet for an alternative.

And bought the J Crew red ones.

Lesson of the day? Don't try on wedding dresses you can't afford, don't look at houses you won't buy, and don't cook fully leaded food if you don't want to eat it like that forever.

And don't wear pants when you try on shirts.

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