I've Got Nothing

I had a fun but not blog worthy week. For some reason, I'm forgetting to take photos, but here's my week.

Monday I finished my blog post about Christmas in Kansas City. 

Tuesday I stripped the bed and did the laundry I was supposed to do on Monday, went to the market, and prepped for lunch on Wednesday.

Bought myself some Walmart flowers - $5, instead of the cinnamon rolls I really wanted.

Joey, Terri, and Sue came to lunch on Wednesday and I decided to do a cardinal table so I can pass along the cardinal knick-knacks. I took a photo of the table when it was almost finished, but nothing else. I hadn't even put the glasses on yet. Then I totally zoned out. Not a very exciting menu: Meat loaf, baked potatoes, buttered carrots, vegetable salad, corn and corn muffins. All the recipes are on my old Teas and T's blog. Click HERE if you're interested. Use the drop down labels under the header.

Thursday I drove to Joplin to have some preventive maintenance on my car at the dealer. Lil' Bro' Jim picked me up and we ran errands and took a tour of the tornado route. Lil' Sis' Becky met us for lunch at Red Onion, my favorite restaurant in all of Missouri. Again, no photos. It was a beautiful 70-degree day, and we also visited Fox Farms where I actually found watercress. Wow! My car took most of the day, so we went to their home to visit my new Niece Kitty Maggie Mae. She's about seven months old, still not trusting enough to let me pet her, but an adorable yellow and white baby. You know how I love to take photos of kitties, but again, I forgot.

Red Onion Cafe - Click HERE.

Fox Farm Foods - Click HERE.

Friday Rita and I went to Golden Corral for my fried chicken fix before our bonus gift cards expired.

Saturday I realized that Valentine's Day had crept up on me, and started frantically making valentines. Fortunately, I had a few extras I made last year.

And I forgot to take a photo of the one I sent Becky and Jim. I made several of the colorful one which doesn't look like a valentine, but hopefully I'll be forgiven. 

And I discovered that not all Temu dies are bargains.

You can't even use it this way unless you want to pick out all the little missing pieces of the a's, e's, p's, and an h. 

Sunday night I put the valentines in my mailbox to be picked up on Monday and crossed my fingers that at least the local ones would arrive on time. Then I started thinking that I sould retrieve them on Monday morning and take them to the main post office in Springfield to get them on their way more quickly.

 

Monday morning I got up to this. And it snowed all morning. It's all Nieghbor Barb's fault because she loves winter, and I'm sure she ordered it. And her husband, Bud the Trash Master, lets nothing deter him. He trudged through the snow and delivered my trash can to my garage door after the trucks came through. I, on the other hand, said, "I'm not going out in six inches of snow to drive those valentines to Springfield."

Then Barb was forgiven, because by evening, the streets, driveways, and sidewalks were totally clear, and only the pretty snow remained on lawns. So thank you, Barb, for a beautiful winter wonderland while it lasted. The mail wasn't delivered until after 6:00 p.m. and my valentines are surely going to be late. Mea Culpa.

And those aren't people tracks in the snow - they're kitty tracks which were formerly little groups of holes, but then the snow melted.

And now my blog post is late because I was busy yesterday helping BritBox detectives solve murders. I decided I needed a little day off. I had lousy TV for so long, now I want to watch all these shows I've been missing.

The days are a blur now, but somewhere during the week, I made my watercress soup. Here's the recipe, and if you can find watercress, you should try it. And then you should let me know where you found the watercress if it's closer to Nixa than Joplin is.

CREAM OF WATERCRESS SOUP

1 bunch watercress

2 TBs butter
1 medium onion, sliced
2 medium potatoes, sliced
1-1/2 qts chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup whipping cream
 
Blanch watercress leaves and stems (reserve some for garnish if you wish) by boiling in a large pan of salted water three minutes.  Drain.
 
Melt butter in large saucepan.  Add onion and cook until tender, but not brown, about three minutes.
 
Add potatoes, broth, salt and pepper and watercress.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer thirty minutes.
 
Puree in small batches in blender.  The trick is to put the blender on “low”, pulse at first, then use “blend” and finally “liquefy” or “puree” and flip over to “high”.  This way you won’t scald your hand or wrist and you won’t have to clean up the walls and cabinets where the soup flew out.
 
When all is pureed, stir in cream and reheat for hot, refrigerate for cold, or go ahead and serve for warm.  It’s good either hot or cold, but I prefer it warm. 
 
If serving cold, chill the bowls first – a nice touch.

And I made another dinner for my new project. I inherited the Jumping Bean gene from my father. We start a new project while others remained unfinished. I haven't finished the four books in progress, but I decided since I'm cooking to eat anyway, I might as well do a book of dinners. Someday, I'll have books of 52 soups, 52 salads, and 52 dinners, and I'll never have to decide what to cook. Just open a book, close my eyes, and point. I'm doing 13 each: Beef, Pork, Poultry, Seafood.

This week I made Chicken Tetrazzini, Buttered Carrots, Cran-Orange Sauce, Pears and Cheese, and Herb Crescents.

CHICKEN TETRAZZINI

About 1/3 of a 16-oz spaghetti
1/2 cup butter, divided
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
8-oz container fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup flour
1 qt. (4 cups) chicken broth
1 cup half and half
3 cups cooked chicken, shredded or cubed
3/4 cup cooked peas
Salt to taste
Shredded Mozzarella
 
Cook spaghetti in salted boiling water and drain. Let cool.
 
Butter a 13” x 9” baking dish, and layer the spaghetti in the bottom.
 
In a medium skillet, melt 2 Tbs of the butter and sauté the onions and celery 2 minutes.
 
Add mushrooms and lemon juice and cook until slightly tender.
 
Remove from heat.
 
Heat oven to 350°.
 
Heat the balance of the butter in a large saucepan. Stir in flour until smooth. Add salt.
 
Gradually add the chicken broth; stir and cook, until mixture is thickened.
 
Add half and half, chicken, peas, and sautéed vegetables and cook until heated.
 
Pour over spaghetti and sprinkle Mozzarella in a thin layer on top.
 
Bake 30 minutes or until bubbly.
 

CRAN-ORANGE SAUCE

1 15-oz can whole-berry cranberry sauce

1/4 cup orange marmalade 

Mix together and chill.

How I know I'm in Divine Order. I get green traffic lights, parking places near the door, and things like this happen.

I always read a little when I go to bed (my sleeping pill). Last night I was reading an interesting little book about French pastries which has some recipes, but also lots of little stories and interesting tidbits which appeal to a Francophile - that would be moi. The book is called Paris Sweets by Dorie Greenspan. Click HERE. I was reading the Kindle version, and no, I didn't pay that price. 

The book mentioned a bread called Poitou which is supposed to be popular all over France. But she didn't describe it, nor did she include the recipe. Naturally I was curious - I'm much too nosy. Decided I'd Google it when I got a chance.

This morning I wanted to send a Jacquie Lawson card for Mardi Gras, but she doesn't have one. I know pancakes are the traditional dish for this day, so I looked for something similar, and you guessed it, there was a card with a picture called French Treat and it's Broye du Poitou.

 Here's the recipe she included.

 

If you're on my JL card list, you'll see the picture. If you're not on my JL card list, and wish to be, email me at patriciakaye1065@gmail.com.