#BLC 2018 - Day 9: Rainy Days and The Sewing Gourmet...

...it has rained CATS and DOGS here for two days in a row.  There is always something about rainy weather that makes me crave a good bowl of soup - a trait left over from my childhood when my Grand Father would make pots of delicious soups or stews for us on rainy or cold days.  The soup of my choice is usually vegetable beef.  I did make a pot of  that when Matthew flew through here as a Category One  Hurricane exactly a month ago.  It's hard to make just a little soup (that is really never really my intention) so I had enough left over to freeze three nice sized containers for lazy days ahead.

Today I wanted a nice pot of homemade Chicken Noodle Soup so that is just what I made.  So it was soup for tonight, and it'll be soup for lunch tomorrow with the balance going into freezer containers.

I know it's much easier to open up a can, but making it from scratch is just one of the ways that I pamper myself.  Here's the recipe that I used with the help of good old Google:

EASY HOMEMADE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP
Courtesy of  Delish.com

Ingredients

1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 c. diced onion

2 carrots, diced

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2" pieces

2 celery stalks, diced

Kosher Salt

Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. Thyme

32 oz. low-sodium chicken stock
1/2 cup water

1 c. egg noodles

1/4 c. chopped parsley
Note:  For my own twist I added 1/4 tsp. Rosemary, and 1 Bay Leaf.
 

Directions

1. In a large pot over medium heat, heat oil. Add onions, celery, and carrots and cook until softened, 6 minutes. Add garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, 1 minute more.
2. Move vegetables to one side of the pot and add chicken. Season with salt and pepper and cook until no pink remains, 6 to 8 minutes. Add stock and 1/2 cup of water and bring to a boil.  

Note: I added all of the stock and the 1/2 cup of water then reduced heat cooked about 20 minutes before bringing to a boil to add the noodles as instructed below.

Add noodles and cook according to package instructions. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add parsley and serve immediately.

Should you make it, I do so hope that you thoroughly ENJOY!!!

#BLOGLIKECRAZY 9 - THE SEWING GOURMET DOES EARLY THANKSGIVING DAY MEAL PREP...

... preparation for one of the biggest meals of the year can really take a toll on you.  To avoid this I took the advice of one of my former clients to get a jump start by making dishes that are really time consuming ahead of time.  So I've made it a tradition to make 3 of my dishes weeks ahead of time - and freeze them. Almost anything freezes, and most dishes taste better after they have had a chance to marinate.  My cornbread dressing is the first thing that I attack, and I try my best to get it made by Halloween each year.  So while others are celebrating Halloween, I'm making Dressing for my big day.  My recipe involves loads of vegetable chopping that I would rather not have to do on Thanksgiving Day.

There are as many different recipes for this Southern Classic as there are Southern families.  (Here we have dressing; Northerners have stuffing. Used the same but they are two different dishes).  However, the most important part of  ANY dressing recipe is the CORNBREAD. I've played with my cornbread recipe over the years and I think that it's darn near perfect!  So if you don't have a recipe of your own, I'd like to share mine here.  I call it:

EGG/ONION/BUTTERMILK CORNBREAD

2 1/2 Cup of White Lilly (or another brand) Buttermilk Cornbread Mix

1 Large Onion, Chopped

3 Large Eggs, Well Beaten

1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil

1 1/2 Cup Buttermilk

Mix Cornbread Mix and chopped onion in a medium mixing bowl.   Mix in well beaten eggs.  Add  vegetable oil and buttermilk.  Stir to blend all ingredients thoroughly.  Pour mixture into two greased cast iron skillets.  Bake at 425 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. 

This cornbread is soooo good, and of course can be used for purposes other than dressing.

To put the dressing together cooks use a variety of different ingredients:  chicken/turkey stock, sauted in butter onion, celery, mushrooms, scallions, cream of chicken/celery/mushroom soup, oysters or sausage and a variety of spices: it all depends on personal likes and dislikes.

Sealed tight after mixing (before baking) and freezer ready.  Enough for Thanksgiving Dinner and several nice Sunday Dinners months away. I freeze the excess up to 4 months.

Bet you've never seen an entire post on Cornbread...

#BLOGLIKECRAZY 2017 6 - THE SEWING GOURMET'S DAUGHTER...

...the apple didn't fall far from THE SEWING GOURMET tree.  I couldn't force my daughter,  Alondra Lewis to like sewing (even though I did try).  When she was in high school and wanted me to sew for her, I required that she lay out the pattern and cut it out.  That is the closest she ever got to sewing; she didn't even really like going into a fabric store with me.  But she did inherit my love of pretty gourmet food!  Here's her take on a tasty, Sunday afternoon Fall football season dinner entree...

SAUSAGE, RICOTTA, & SPINACH STUFFED PASTA SHELLS

• 1 package jumbo pasta shells (16oz)
• 4 cups ricotta or cottage cheese
• 12 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 Eggs lightly beaten
• 4 tsp garlic powder 
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 3/4 cup Parmesan grated or shredded is fine
• 1 large jar Creamy Vodka Spaghetti Sauce
• 4 cups spinach rough chopped and stems removed
• 1 lb ground Italian Sausage
• dried parsley for garnish

In a skillet over medium heat, brown and crumble the sausage. Drain any excess fat and remove from heat. In the same saucepan, cook spinach until wilted or about 1-2 minutes. Cook the shells according to package directions  (cook them until they are pliable for filling and no more).  In a mixing bowl, combine the ricotta, 8oz of mozzarella, 1/2 cup of Parmesan, eggs, oregano, and garlic powder. Stir in the spinach. 

Coat the bottom of a 9x13in pan with the entire jar of spaghetti sauce. Spoon the cheese mixture into the shells and place shells open side up, very close together in the dish. There will be more shells than will fit into this pan and you can either make a second smaller pan (5x8 is good) or freeze for future use. Sometimes the shells also break in the box so this is fine.

Sprinkle the sausage over the top of the shells. Then sprinkle with the remaining 4oz of mozzarella and 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 25-35 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. If you like a cheesy crust, you may broil it uncovered for 3-5 minutes (watch closely). Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Add a crisp green salad and lots of crusty bread and this makes a perfect Fall dinner...

#BLOGLIKECRAZY 2: #THE SEWING GOURMET...

... can you believe that I actually fell off the cooking wagon for several months.
I guess I had grown tired of all my regular recipes; couldn't come up with any meal plans ideas, couldn't even think of anything that might taste good. Not a good situation at all because eating out all the time is definitely the PITS! While trying to make some changes in this area a recipe for  NASHVILLE HOT CHICKEN popped up during blog surfing.  I had never heard of it but became very interested after reading a bit about it's history (you can read about it here). 

I took the slider approach although I've never ever made them.  You can imagine that when I Googled for a recipe I found lots of similar  recipes.  I took the ingredients I liked and that I knew I had on hand to come up with my rendition.  This didn't take much time at all especially since I had a bag of chicken tenders on hand.  Now I have a new recipe for my collection that I will use from time to time.

How do you pull yourself out of meal plan doldrums???

#THE SEWING GOURMET...

...
Dear Johnsonville,
I know for a fact that I am one of the BIGGEST fans of your Italian Sweet Sausage ever.  Can you imagine my surprise when I discovered this week that you now make the PERFECT roll to accompany them.  I jumped at the chance to purchase them, and find that they are just the right texture.  They really hold up to my sausage w/peppers, onion and sauce without becoming soggy, crumbling and falling apart.

Of course there are six (6) rolls in the package.  I have ALWAYS wondered why sausages always  come in packages of (5) leaving me with one lone roll.  I thought I'd ask, "could I please have just one more sausage to sort of even things up a bit?".   I'm just saying.

Sincerely,
Linda Faye Lewis

HENLEYS & #THE SEWING GOURMET...

...as you may have guessed, I am currently dealing with a bit of sewing project procrastination - we'll just call it the SPP Syndrome, if you will.  I have really been wanting to make a few Henley knit tops since Fall of 2015. That's just how far behind with my "Things I want to Sew" list.   I even ordered an Indie Henley top pattern but have been too lazy to tape it together.  I promise you comfortable knit tops like this really suit me - I'm really a simple person. Cute Henley tops would be a staple of my weekend dress code; I could even make several as pajama tops.  I just discovered that McCall's has a jiffy little version of this type top

McCall's 6747

but, of course it's out of print.  I searched and searched my pattern stash and cannot find this pattern.  I could have sworn that I bought it.  I would have made at least two this past weekend had I found the pattern.  I did track it down on Esty so it's on the way from Canada.  

Today I found out that Mimi G has a new Simplicity Henley dress pattern for Spring,

but of course I'd need to wait for a pattern sale to get my hands on that one.  So I'm sitting around procrastinating on what I really need to be working on - that being Pants Fitting.  Yes, I do need to get back to that over whelming task.

In the meantime, I've added a new touch to The Sewing Gourmet's repertoire

I had my favorite butcher block counter top cutting board digitally engraved compliments of the Engineer at school.  I'm serious about my culinary tools.  It's a one of a kind and I love it. 

Hope you're not suffering from SPP SYNDROME...

nnnnnnnnnnnnn

BLOGLIKECRAZY 2016 DAY 28: #Faye's Work Life / #The Sewing Gourmet...

...we had our annual pre-Thanksgiving Luncheon at school the Wednesday before break.  Everyone brought a dish and it was WONDERFUL as we took time to fellowship and give thanks for our wonderful Career Academy!  The real clincher though was on Thursday,  the day after, when our illustrious leader and Principal, Mrs. Phelps made use of Wednesday's leftovers to make gourmet paninis for us all. 

Nothing makes you feel more appreciated than a leader who takes time to make delicious sandwiches for her faculty and staff.  Mrs. Phelps, a former Home Economics teacher, really did it up for us. Did I ever tell you that I once dreamed of becoming a Home Ec teacher??? We are THANKFUL to have such a wonderful principal!

That tasty panini lunch was an instant hit with me.  I immediately bookmarked it under EASY DINNER IDEAS!  A quick after work stop by the grocer deli to pick up a few items yielded a tasty and quick dinner for me.  Quick dinners = more time for blogging and maybe a little sewing.

MY RENDITION OF PRINCIPAL PHELPS' TURKEY/HAM PANINIS

Oven Roasted Turkey slices

Black Forest Ham slices

Swiss Cheese (on hand)

Ciabatta Rolls (on hand)

Fresh Tomato slices (on hand)

Red Onion

Romaine Lettuce (on hand)

Fresh Baby Spinach Leaves

Mayo & Mustard to Taste (on hand)

Ocean Spray Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce (on hand)

That my friends is What's For Dinner...