Month of Macro: Plums

Over the weekend, I bought some plums.

Since I'm into canning at the moment...

I wanted to take advantage of the great price on plums I found at my local grocer... 

So I picked up a few pounds and made some jam.

Of course, before I started the canning process I took some macro photos.

And while the exterior of the plums were fun to photograph....

I also liked shooting the insides!

I'll admit, I had never taken a close look at a plum slice.

Did you know there were so many veins and juicy protrusions?

I didn't... and now I'll never look at a plum slice the same way again!

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you had a great weekend!

Month of Macro: Blackberries

Over the weekend, my grocer had a big sale on blackberries ($1 per half pint).

The berries were really lovely...

And I couldn't resist picking up a couple pints.

Plus, they were huge- check this out!

Once I got the berries home, I washed them and attempted a project I've been wanting to try for a while.

This little project used some of my favorite spices, including whole cinnamon sticks.

Unfortunately, I won't know if this project worked for over a month (per the recipe, believe it or not)!

If everything turns out, I'll make sure to share the outcome of this project in a few weeks... and in the meantime, I'll just do my best to be patient (which is not my best quality!)

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you're enjoying your Labor Day weekend!

Soup + spuds

My mom makes the best soups!! 

I mean, they are really delicious! Unfortunately, I live pretty far away from her, so I don't often get to enjoy her soups these days.

So the other day, when I had a craving for one of her soups, I decided to make it myself. 

After a quick call to my mom, she shared her recipe for Cream of Potato Soup!

I really like this soup, and since I had plenty of room in my freezer I decided to double the recipe. (However, a single batch of the recipe still makes over 10 cups of soup!)

First, I peeled a ton of potatoes. Whenever I do this, I always think of those WWII movies where people pull "KP Duty" and sit for hours peeling buckets full o' spuds!

Then I poured the chicken broth into my soup pot (our preferred brand of broth for this soup is Swanson).

Once the potatoes were peeled, I chopped them into similar sized pieces and added them to the broth.

While the potatoes simmered, I sauteed some chopped onions in butter.

While the potatoes cooked, I organized the rest of the ingredients.

Most importantly was the milk. In order to thicken the soup, we mix flour into the milk.

It is important that the milk mixture be smooth, so instead of just dumping the flour into the milk, we mix a bit of the milk with the flour until it it smooth, and then we whisk that mixture into the milk. Are you still with me?

Once the potatoes were tender, I added the onions which had been sauteed in butter, along with the milk that had flour mixed in.

As the soup cooked more, I made sure to stir it frequently so it didn't burn.

Of course what is potato soup with a bit of salt and pepper?

So I ground a couple teaspoons of black pepper...

And added it to the soup. (This step is pretty important, as you'll see from my mom's recipe below!)

Believe it or not, that's all it took to make my mom's tasty Cream of Potato Soup!

If you'd like to try this recipe yourself, here it is:

Cream of Potato Soup
Recipe courtesy of my mom!!

Ingredients*:
3 ½ C Potatoes (or more)- cut into cubes
8 C Chicken Broth (Swanson)
½ C diced Onion
1 stick of butter
2 C milk
5 T flour
1 teaspoon black pepper
Salt to taste


Directions:
Peel and cut potatoes into small cubes and simmer in chicken broth until tender. Sauté onions in butter until translucent. Mix together milk and flour until there are no lumps. When potatoes are tender, add sautéed onions and butter and stir in milk and flour mixture. Soup will thicken. Add pepper starting with ½ tsp. and adding more to taste. (The pepper makes a huge difference, so don’t be a sissy!). Add salt to taste.

 *Note: I doubled this recipe in the blog post above!

Thanks for stopping by- and special thanks to my mom for the recipe! I hope you have a great day!!

A curry twist on an old favorite!

I don't know about you, but I like deviled eggs... especially in the summer!

So over the holiday weekend, I decided to whip up a batch with a twist: Curried Deviled Eggs!

The ingredients are incredibly simple:

I started with 6 hard-boiled eggs, sliced in half.

I plopped the yolks into a small mixing bowl...

And added mayonnaise...

Turmeric...

Curry powder...

And salt and pepper to taste!

I creamed the mixture together until the consistency was smooth, and then I piped it back into the egg halves before adding some sliced green onion on top for garnish!

Curried Deviled Eggs
(Recipe courtesy of Life's Ambrosia)

Ingredients:
6 hard boiled eggs
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
3/4 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper
1 green onion, green part only, diced


Directions:
Slice the eggs in half lengthwise and remove the yolk. In a bowl combine yolks, mayonnaise, curry powder and turmeric. Mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Place filling in a plastic bag and pipe it into the eggs. Garnish with green onion.

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you had a great holiday weekend!

Noodling around...

Yesterday, I had a wicked craving for fettuccine alfredo. So I looked online, cobbled together a recipe, and whipped up a dish of creamy Broccoli Fettuccine Alfredo.

The ingredients for this recipe are pretty basic (but definitely not heart healthy).

I started by melting the butter and cream cheese.

Then I added some Parmesan cheese...

And garlic powder (I used more than the recipe called for and was glad that I did).

Then I added the milk (and forgot to take a picture- sorry about that!). After a bit of time on the stove and lots of mixing, the sauce was the smooth consistency I wanted.

In the meantime I boiled some pasta (per the instructions on the package) and nuked some frozen broccoli florets.

When the pasta was al dente, I drained it and plated it.

Then I added the cooked broccoli...

Before spooning the alfredo sauce over the top.

If you'd like to try this recipe for yourself, here it is:

Broccoli Fettuccine Alfredo

Ingredients:
½ cup Butter
½ teaspoons Garlic Powder
8 ounces, weight Cream Cheese
⅓ cups Grated Or Shredded Parmesan Cheese
¾ cups Milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Frozen broccoli florets, heated

Directions:
In saucepan, combine butter, garlic powder, and cheeses. Heat over medium heat, stirring until cheeses are melted and smooth, then add milk. (Include salt and pepper to taste.) In another pot, prepare your preferred pasta (I used fettuccine) per the instructions on the package. In a microwave safe dish, heat frozen broccoli in microwave. Once pasta is cooked, drain and place in a dish. Top with cooked broccoli and alfredo sauce.

I must admit- the pasta was pretty delicious! I love broccoli, but not everyone feels the same way. I suspect that the sauce and pasta would taste great with grilled chicken or plain!

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great day!