Grandkids

Sara sent a CD with pictures of her kids. Thought you girls might enjoy seeing how they've grown since March.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Tri*sha Ye*ar*wood has a cookbook out. I checked it out from the library and this Chicken Tortilla Soup was in it. It was excellent. It calls for half and half but the store I was at was all out of half and half so I just used my 1/2% milk and it was still awesome and a little less fattening.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons flour
3 14-ounce chicken broth
4 cups half and half
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup prepared salsa
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, boiled, drained and shredded
1 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained
1 15-ounce can black beans, drained
1 15-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1.27-ounce packet fajita seasoning
tortilla or corn (Fritos) chips
Montery Jack cheese, shredded
Sour cream

Melt butter in large pot over medium heat; add the garlic and onion and sauté for 5 minutes or until softened. Add the flour and stir, cooking for 1 minute more. Add the broth and half and half. Bring to a boil over medium heat, about 10 minutes, reduce heat to low. Stir in cream of chicken soup, salsa, chicken, beans, corn, cumin and fajita seasoning. Continue to simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Serve with chips, cheese and sour cream.

Done for Another Year

Except for the candy. It is not my favorite holiday although it's not quite so bad with no little kids anymore. This year we went with Lisa and Karen behind Lisa's. They got more candy in a shorter period of time. I told Danny he could share his with Kaitlin as he doesn't even like candy. He'll still have some a month from now. (Unless the girls, or me, get it.) Molly went with the confo kids to Lisa and Bob's. (Dan is a "hunter guy" and Jeanie is a "gangster". Just in case you can't tell. I'm not sure what Molly is........)

Learned to Crochet

Julie L. showed me how to crochet this hat. I love to knit but look forward to doing some crocheting. Every now and then I find a pattern I really like and it's crocheted instead of knit so it will give me some variety. Jeanie wants me to crochet a flower to add to this hat. I will have to figure that out.

P.S. I am making pasties Thursday if anyone is interested.

Happy Birthday (Friday) Matt and Wade

We celebrated Matt's 30th and Wade's 22nd.

Last weekend Danny had a friend over and he was telling him that Matt's birthday was in five days. Then he asked me how old Matt was going to be. When I told him 30, he looked at his friend and said, "Hoooooooooooo IS THAT OLD!!!!!!!"

A Day in the Kitchen

And I love it! My favorite kind of day. Today is Matt and Wade's birthdays. The menu: Barbeque Meatballs, Cheesy Potatoes, corn and homemade bread. Wade wanted Ice Cream Cake (Buster Bar Dessert) and Matt wanted "white cake with chocolate frosting". I'm trying a cake recipe from Cooks Illustrated The New Best Recipe Cookbook. (From the library.) I also have Nisua dough rising for cinnamon rolls and cinnamon bread. I'm thinking I'll give some to Wade and Matt for birthday gifts. I'm sure I'll post birthday pictures later.On another note....Kaitlin, Gretchen, Molly and myself had dentist appointments and NO CAVETIES!!! I think we all have been cavity free for several appointments. Hope it's permanent!