Recipe Thursday

Yeah, I'm technically posting this early but I graduate from the Intern program Thursday morning and won't be in the office. I pretended it was Thursday though.

Cauliflower Cheese Soup

This soup is awesome! It is such a perfect football meal and it is so comforting and wonderful.

Ingredients
1 head cauliflower (chopped)
1 cup celery (diced)
1 cup onion (diced)
6 1/2 cups water, divided
8 ounce pkg cream cheese
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 lbs grated cheddar cheese
2 cups milk
1 tsp parsley
salt & pepper

Directions
1. In a large saucepan, simmer vegetables in 6 cups water until tender; drain. Add cream cheese.
2. In a small bowl, dissolve cornstarch in remaining water, then add to saucepan.
3. Blend in cheddar cheese. Add milk, parsley, salt and pepper.
4. Heat until ready to serve.


Notes

While soup is cooking I stir it fairly regularly to keep the cheese from just clumping.

Recipe Thursdays

I was thinking that Thursday would be a good day to share recipes, because we can try them out on the weekends (when most of us have a little more time to cook). I also want to share this cool site I found. WeGottaEat is a cool website that you can type your recipes into and it organizes them pretty nice. Just a suggestion. I joined it (it was free.)

I hope that you will have a chance to post recipes that are tried and true, and I hope that you enjoy the recipes that I post. My first couple recipes will be my most favorite of the past few months because I want to start on a high note!

Happy cooking!! See you Thursday with a recipe.

Cooking with Good Tools

I just have to take a moment to discuss my new cookware. I bought it several weeks ago, and have only been able to use it twice (as our kitchen is being remodeled, so I’ve only cooked at the cottage with them), but they really are wonderful. After much debate, a cost-benefit analysis, and asking everyone I knew, I decided to purchase the Calphalon One, Hard-anodized cook set. It is non-stick, you can use any utensil in it that you want, but it is not dishwasher safe…but it’s so big I’m not sure it would fit into the dishwasher. I decided that I needed to have the right tools for all the cooking that I want to do and I saw a good deal and had to take it. I can’t wait for the kitchen to be done so I can make some more delicious meals.

I’m wondering if anyone is interested in exchanging some recipes with me. I’d like to try new things and pull together favorites of my friends. I’m even considering making a cookbook based on all the recipes I’ve collected (printed out with Lulu or something), but I’m not sure how feasible that would be. I think it might make a nice gift. Who knows?

I realize this was a strange post. I really don’t have a lot to write right now. I almost need to take a hiatus, but I don’t want to lose all three of my readers! Any thoughts on what I should post about?

Bowling: Its a Sport, Right?

I joined a bowling league with my friends Ben and Robyn (and our other team mate Kelly, who I'm just getting to know). The four of us are known as the Garage Guzzlers, which is actually Ben and Robyn's beer pong team name (and I'm an honorary member of the team since I guzzle beer in Ben's garage too). We play every Thursday and we are currently in 5th place. We are terrible, mostly because I am horrendous at bowling. My handicap is 122. That's right! My average is 94, and I had such a rough time this last Thursday that I didn't make my average on any game. The guy bowling in the lane next to us bowled a perfect score and it was really awesome. He gets a satin jacket with his name on it, and I think everyone knows how I feel about satin jackets (love 'em).

Things are going well other than that. I'm in a business law class and I really enjoy that. So far the homework isn't too intense so it is ok. I'm getting back on the weightloss and fitness bandwagon and have been doing well all week. It's nice to be "back" a little and not just pigging out all the time for no reason.

I'm walking for the Luekemia and Lymphoma Society tonight. I raised $625 for the event, and our whole team beat their goal of $7k. It should be a great night!

I helped my friend Murthlyn move this morning. I'm so sad. We started at Enterprise together when I first moved here and we both left for Government jobs. She's going to go work for the Department of Homeland Security up in DC. I miss her already!

There Patty, are you happy?

We Have Fleas!

Does the fun ever start? We are a household of miserable itchies. I never knew fleas had such a taste for me...it's really quite amazing. Other than finding flea dirt behind my ears while I was buying Frontline, my favorite part of the day was giving all four cats a bath. Yukon howls so loud you think you're killing him, Stinky's claws are super sharp, Lily pooped in the tub while I was washing her, and I pretty much gave Fern her bath on my lap, as she wouldn't let go of me. It was just lovely. I've been washing all the bedclothes and spraying spray all over the house, which is giving me a terrible headache and making me think I'm poisoning the whole family. It's really been lovely. Here's hoping they go away in one treatment because I don't want to do the quadruple-bath again. That was painful. I'm glad to have Yukon back, but this is ridiculous. He had flea repellant on, but apparently that didn't work. I still feel bugs all over me, though I know they aren't there. Technically, I have had 4 flea baths today, plus my shins have had quite a Raid treatment, so I'm probably good for awhile. Wish us luck!

An Interesting Couple of Days

First of all, the reason I posted the picture of Yukon was two-fold. He ran away on Saturday night and we didn't find him until yesterday. We spent many days calling his name in the woods, leaving out food (only to find out that we have a raccoon friend) and spending many nights awake being sad that he was gone. I also made several trips to the animal shelter and put up fliers around town. Yesterday, we went on a door-to-door neighborhood canvas, and talked to people and got varying stories on the whereabouts of our baby boy. At one house, this mom and her little girl were talking to me and the little girl said "Well, I saw this kitty at the bus stop this morning. He was headbutting one of the kids in the leg". I asked her where this was and Mircea and I headed over there. There was Tons-of-Fun, just chillin' under a tree, looking as relaxed as could be. That quickly changed as we came towards him and he ran like the dickens off into the woods and eventually this nice little girl said "He just ran under that house". After lots of searching, we found an entrance that was "people sized" to this crawlspace, and Mircea went in to find himself faced with a total of three cats, one of whom was our baby boy. We scooped him up and took him home. He was so sweet in the car, giving kisses and headbutting. I gave him a bath and we just hung out the rest of the night. He was so cuddly! I love that little boy and I'm so glad that he is home. The girls were all ok with him being back, and Fernie was sniffing him like "what in the world is that stench?" Lily is the only one who complains. She has taken to sleeping under my desk...which is about 6 inches off the ground (the little footstool part). She's a weirdo. But all three girls slept with us on Monday night, so it was an interesting couple of days.

Mircea's birthday was Tuesday and we had a good time. His mom had a steamed crab feast at her house for him, and we had a blast. The food was super yummy and great. I'm sort of going backwards in time. On Friday of last week, I finally bought the Prius! I love the car. Love love love love love it! I didn't get gray like I wanted (Fernie colored), but it's white and it's beautiful and it has bluetooth in the car so I look like a crazy person talking to myself but I love it! Love it!!!!!!!!

I hope everyone has a great weekend. I had the worst week I've had in a long time, but I'm on cloud 9 now. Woo hoo!!

My Tubby Baby

Mircea and I are in love with little (not so little) Yukon. I have much more to write, but just wanted to post this picture because my happy little boy was on my mind.