ChefGirlRP COOKS!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Good Morning Everyone! It's St. Patrick's Day today! Yippe!!! I love St. Patty's Day! This morning I woke up in my shamrock pj pants...

had some oatmeal (you know, just plain, straight up, Irish-style) and am currently watching Ellen Degeneres' St. Patricks Day show. Which is funny because I was just reading up on last years St. Patrick's day post and I did the same thing!
My shamrock cookies are already baked...

and decorated!It's sunny out and it's already looking like a pretty great St. Patrick's day. I hope you are all wearing something green or something Irish!

I'll keep you posted on the rest of my St. Patrick's Day adventures! What are you all doing to celebrate?

Look what I found this morning...

Poptarts!

It wasn't that long ago that I had my first poptart...strangely enough it was at the urging of my massage therapist that I went out and bought two boxes of the the things. While they were fun they were far from life changing! I haven't had them since, but when I happened upon a blog where someone had made them I knew I had to do it too! And I had the perfect occasion to make them...Tracy's sons came to visit last week! Last year when they visited Tracy and I made corndogs and I also made everyone decorate cupcakes. They were a hit and I think they poptarts were too!

We all squished into the kitchen and I rolled out the dough and cut the little squares...

and the guys filled them with cherry jam. One was filled with M+Ms...Ha!

They looked so cute and poptart-y once they were baked!Especially the baby one!!

I whipped up some pink (it was supposed to be red!) icing and we squiggled it all over the poptarts!

I do have a picture of the guys with the finished product, but I'm afraid of the harassment I'd get if I put it up here! We had fun!

Just another thing to add to the list of things I've made!

Cream Puffs

I will admit that I am a little hung-up on cream puffs after having those super big and super delicious ones in Vancouver, they are amazing. Little crunchy puffs of heaven!

I thought that the first Saturday of March break would be a perfect day to whip up a batch. And as I was making the choux paste I remembered a book I always read when I was growing, it was a series of beginner chapters books all about a maid named Amelia Bedelia. First off, her name is great, I was into (and actually still am) funny rhyme-y names like that! Second, she was just plain hilarious, she always misunderstood directions and was fired more than once...but she always got her job back by making cream puffs for the couple she worked for. As I made my cream puffs I channeled Amelia Bedelia and that put a big smile on my face which in turn may be the reason they worked out so well!

I was pretty happy! While they weren't the size of Beard Papa's cream puffs they were quite yummy!

Check out that filling! One more look...

Sausage and White Bean Soup

It is so sunny here and the snow has almost all melted, except for the big mountain of snow in the school parking lot, and it's starting to feel like Spring. This makes me so happy! But I'm trying to not get too excited...last year there was a snowstorm in April. Winter is almost gone but there is still the occasional snowflake and cold wind so I thought I'd make one last winter soup. Something hearty and filling. I picked up some chorizo sausage at the farmers market, soaked some beans, and spent the afternoon making soup! It turned out to be just what I needed! I thought I'd share the recipe just in case any of you wanted to give a hearty winter soup one last hurrah!

Sausage and White Bean Soup
adapted from 'the kitchn'
serves 4

Olive oil
2 links of chorizo sausage, or any spicy sausage, or really any sausage!
1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
3 small red skinned potatoes, diced
4 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 teaspoon oregano
1 bay leaf

1 can white beans, drained and rinsed

salt and pepper

Heat some oil in a medium sized saucepan over medium high heat and saute sausage until it's golden on all sides. Remove to a paper towel lined plate.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the onion to the pot. Saute till translucent. Add garlic, saute 30 seconds. Add carrot and potato, saute 5 minutes.

Stir in broth, oregano, and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer. Simmer till vegetables are tender.

Add the beans and reserved sausage. Season with salt and pepper!

Vegetarian Variation: Replace sausage with 1 lb kale. Wash kale and remove the hard ribs, chop into thin ribbons. Add to pot right before add the liquid and let it wilt slightly, then add the broth.

*Loving the response on the last post, keep 'em coming!*

Hello out there!

Occasionally I wonder who all reads this blog. Some I know, either through their comments or just talking. But who else is out there? So, please, do me a favor, leave a comment saying who you are and how you heard about the blog. I would love to know!