Beer Cheese Soup

What do you get when you spend a cold day at an amusement park owned by a beer company? Yup, you are right- beer cheese soup for dinner!

This one was semi- homemade. You will have to cut me some slack since I did just spend 6 hours at an amusement park with my husband, a 6 year old, a (2 days shy of being) 5 year old, a fairly new 4 year old and a 9 month old grumpy baby. As usual, I made it up as I went a long. It was good BUT (and there is always a but) next time I will use more cheese and a darker beer.

I made garlic bread sticks with it and they were perfect for dipping. I would love to do sourdough bread bowls but the only ones the store sells are huge. I will have to figure out how to make them myself.

Beer Cheese Soup (the way I will do it next time)
2 cans "Cream of" something- chicken, celery, mushroom, etc (I used mushroom)
2 bottles of beer (Sam Adams Winter Ale or Oktoberfest or something like that)
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of Worcestershire
1/4 tsp paprika
a little salt, pepper, and whatever else you love
3 cups sharp cheddar
4 slices of bacon, fried and crumbled

Pour cans of soup, garlic, Worcestershire, and seasonings into medium saucepan. Slowly pour in beer, heat on medium heat until simmering. Stir cheese in slowly. Continue stirring until cheese is melted. Pour into bowls and top with bacon.

Another Basil Mishap

It was really windy tonight and my basil plant fell over. It broke like 4 limbs off so instead of the lemon dill salmon we were planning on having we ended up having Loaded Salmon (help me come up with a new name for that one). I topped the salmon with garlic, white wine, mozzarella (shaved from one of Ansley's cheese sticks!) and TONS of basil. It was amazing!!!!

Ordinary Turned Extraordinary!

Knowing I was going to spend 4 hours in a meeting today, I planned for a super easy dinner- ravioli and broccoli. Boring, I know, but I wanted quick and easy. When I got home, however, I wasn't nearly as worn out as I expected to be and the idea of ravioli and broccoli made me want to revert to old ways and rush out for some yummy take out. I knew though, that we really needed to be good (AKA money is tight this week) so I begrudgingly took out the pots and pans and got to work. I decided to roast the broccoli with garlic instead of steaming it and while I was chopping it I got another fabulous idea...toasted ravioli! We were out of bread crumbs but my dearest friend, Jen, was over and told me how easy it was so make my own. I made some bread crumbs and then battered the already boiled ravioli and tossed them in the skillet with a little EVOO. I had tried making it once and it was a total FAIL.I had baked it instead of "frying" it and it just tasted like ass. Not this time though....

It was AMAZING and it honestly only took me about 5 minutes longer than the boring, ordinary ravioli and broccoli I was already planning on making.



Toasted Ravioli and Roasted Broccoli with Garlic
Matt ****
Kristen ****
Ansley *** (not a fan of the broccoli)

Oh Garlic, My Garlic

I love garlic. For years, every meal started the same- with a clove of garlic. I used garlic like other people use water when they cook. Everything tasted so good, little did I realize everything also tasted the same.

After Rylan was born I had to give up garlic. I cried. Really... She was about 5 weeks old when I realized her little tummy couldn't handle it. So for the last 6 months I have been experimenting with different ways to flavor my food. I have even grown my own basil and chives. I use parsley, dill, and basil a lot but not as much as I used garlic. I found myself missing garlic less and less as I discovered new flavors and realized all my meals didn't need to taste the same.

Tonight though, I broke down. Rylan is almost 7 months old and eats all kind of stuff on her own. Her tummy is matured quite a bit and I had nothing major on the agenda for tomorrow so I figured, what the hell. I made sauteed spinach with garlic and damn, it was good.

Here's hoping Rylan doesn't make me pay for it tomorrow.