Friday, August 23, 2013

Mom's Strawberry Shortcake


Delicious!  If you are picturing fluffy angel food cake, this isn't the recipe for you.  This is dense and delicious, almost biscuit-like shortcake.

1 qt fresh strawberries
3/4 C-1 C sugar

Slice strawberries.  Sprinkle with sugar to taste.  Let stand 1 hour.

2 C flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 C shortening
1 C milk
Whipping cream, whipped with a touch of sugar and vanilla

Combine flour, 2 Tbsp sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Cut in shortening until mixture looks like coarse meal.  Stir in milk just until blended.  Pat into pan.  Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes in a greased 8in round pan.  Shortcake should be golden brown.  Enjoy while still warm.

Monday, August 5, 2013

Creamy Veggie Chicken Tortilla Soup

This soup was fabulous!  But who can turn down a good tortilla soup.  And then, added bonus, it used all sorts of things sitting in our fridge that were begging to be used and even used a few carrots from the garden.

Another food that doesn't picture well - or at least doesn't picture well by me.  But trust me, it's delicious.


And, I know this looks like a lot of ingredients upon a quick glance, but they are mostly spices.  You probably have most things on hand to make this easy and delicious recipe.


Olive oil
1 small onion (or 1/2 of the huge mega onion that I had)
1 C diced carrots
1 C diced celery
1 bell pepper, diced
salt and pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
4 C chicken stock
1 C water
2-3 tomatoes, diced and then "crushed" in a mini food processor (it calls for canned crushed tomatoes but I needed to use up fresh)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4-5 (6-inch) corn tortillas, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 C cooked, shredded chicken
1/2 C half and half (or just use milk)

Optional Garnishes:
Tortilla chips
Shredded Cheese
Diced Tomatoes
Cream Cheese
Green Onions
Diced Avocado

Heat oil in a large soup pan.  Add the onion, carrot, celery, and bell pepper.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook until veggies have softened (6 min).  Add the garlic, chili powder, coriander, cumin, oregano, paprika, and cayenne pepper.  Stir until fragrant (2 min).  Add the broth, water, tomatoes, and salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Add tortilla strips.  Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the tortillas have disintegrated (45 min)

Add chicken and half and half.  Simmer an additional 15 minutes.  Serve with any desired garnishes (we garnished with cheese, tortilla chips, and sour cream).

Thanks My Favorite Things for the recipe.
 
 

Our budding pianist.  This was not posed.  He crawled up there one day and sat down to play.