Potato Cheddar Soup

I have made this recipe for YEARS!
I cut it out of some flyer that I received in the mail, and have long since forgotten where it came from.

I was never a fan of potato soup as a kid, but this one had me sold.
I think it's the tang of the cheese and sour cream that makes it different?
That and I LOVE celery!

Serve it with some crusty sourdough bread and life just.got.good.

Enjoy!

Potato Cheddar Soup

4 stalks of celery, chopped

1 cup Julianned carrots

2 small onion, diced

4 potatoes, cubed

4 Tablespoons butter

32 oz Chicken broth or a little more, make sure you cover the veggies

3 cans cream of potato soup

16 ounces sour cream

2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded, divided

salt and pepper to taste

In your soup pot, melt butter.  Add the celery and onion and saute for about 5-7 minutes.

Add potatoes and carrots, cover with chicken broth, cover and simmer for about 25 minutes, or until your veggies are your desired tenderness.  ( I like mine a little firmer)

Add to this your cream of potato soup and sour cream, combine.

Add 1 cup of cheddar, stir.

Soup is done!

Top with more shredded cheddar, and serve with a warm piece of crusty sour dough bread!

I have made this in the crock pot.  Cook veggies in broth on low all day, add cream ingredients when you get home, stir and serve!

Broccoli, Rice and Cheese Casserole

My Mom makes this every year for Christmas dinner.  

I know there are many variations, but this one is BY FAR my favorite!

I love making this when we have ham, it just accompanies it so well!!

The recipe you see above is a doubled version of the one I am posting.  We had it for a big family dinner and served it with steak and a salad.  Yum!!

Broccoli, Rice and Cheese Casserole

2 boxes of chopped frozen broccoli

1 onion finely chopped

1 8 ounce jar of cheese whiz

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 soup can of milk

1 cup uncooked minute rice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat all of the ingredients over the stove and pour into a greased caserole dish.

Bake for 1 1/2 hours.

Chocolate Peppermint Stirring Spoons

I am one of the room moms for our twins' 5th grade class, and this Friday is their Christmas party.

My kids are lucky, they still get Christmas parties... I have talked to many friends, and their kids have "winter" parties.  I LOVE singing Christmas Carols and singing the kids all dressed in their Sunday best at their programs.

I am thankful my kids go to a Catholic school.

We are doing this cute craft I found on Pinterest

and having a hot cocoa bar!

My daughter and I made these cute Chocolate Peppermint Stir Spoons!

They couldn't be easier to make and so good in hot cocoa!!

Want to make your own cocoa mix?

CLICK HERE

Chocolate Peppermint Stirring Spoons

48 plastic spoons

6 candy canes crushed

2 cups chocolate chips

2 teaspoons crisco

Crush your candy canes.

Line cookie sheets with waxed paper. Rest spoons on edge of cookie sheet.

Melt chocolate chips in microwave for about 1 minute and then 30 second intervals until you can stir them smooth, add crisco and stir until incorporated.

**I used a glass 2 cup measuring cup ... worked great to pour the chocolate into the spoons!**

Pour chocolate into spoon well, and tap the spoon to make the chocolate pool evenly in the spoon.

Add crushed peppermints and place in the refrigerator to set up.

Swirl it through some hot cocoa and Relax....

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix

I made a housewarming gift basket for my brother and his family last weekend, and it turned out super cute!

I'll blog about it AFTER the holidays ... but the cute basket included this homemade hot cocoa.

I searched Pinterest, and read different recipes, but found this one from a blog that I love called wonkywonderful.com   You have seen recipes from Nicole on my facebook page, she shares there every now and then, and her stuff is always AMAZING.

So hers it was!

rich and thick and stirred into hot milk ... no water here, friends!  

Do you have a Tuesday Morning where you live?  I love going in that store, it's sort of like digging for buried treasure.  It's where I found this "Chalk it up" Glass jar.  I love how it looks like a barrel.

This is one of my favorite mugs, given to me by my dear friend, Traci.

(aint that the truth??)

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix

wonky wonderful

1 cup cocoa

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup instant coffee creamer

1/2 cup Ovaltine

Combine and store in an airtight container.

Add 3-4 Tablespoons to a an 8 ounce cup hot milk and stir.

Chocolate Mint Candy Cookies

These are my contribution to my cookie exchange this year.
I made a "test batch" about 2 weeks ago, and they lasted all of 10 minutes, I swear!!

My sister-in-law, Karen, used to make these every year.
They are my niece, Leah's favorite cookie.

You don't have to sprinkle the candy canes on them, but I thought it made them more festive!

St. Patty's Day Version

Chocolate Mint Candy Cookies

3/4 cup butter

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 Tablespoons water

2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/4 teaspoons soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 packages Andes Mints

Crushed Peppermints or candy canes (optional)

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook sugar, butter and water, stirring occasionally until butter is melted.  Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate chips until melted. Let cool for about 10 minutes.

In your mixer, pour the chocolate batter.  Add and beat each egg one at a time.  Stir in flour, baking sod and salt.  Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

Roll dough into walnut sized balls and place two inches apart.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. 

DO NOT OVER BAKE.

Place one Andes Mint on top of each cookie, let sit for about a minute to let it get all melty.

Swirl with the back of a spoon.

Top with crushed peppermint if you desire.

Pecan Pie

Honestly?
I have never really cared for pecan pie.
Many may gasp, but I didn't grow up with it, and pecans were never my favorite.
Gimme peanuts and chocolate or ooooo...cashews...but pecans?
Not so much.

So when I took pie orders for Thanksgiving, I had to do a little research, and asked for Pecan Pie loving
TASTE TESTERS.
I had quite a few takers.

This pie got RAVE reviews.  I found it at a blog that I have always had wonderful luck with recipes
 "Gimme Some Oven" --  first off, what a clever name!  and when I read her post on this pie, it made my heart happy.  It was all about her grandma, this is her grandma's pie recipe.

I hope you enjoy it as much as the pecan pie lovers in my life did!

Pecan Pie

Gimme Some Oven

1 pie crust PRE-BAKED < --find how to here

1 cup sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 eggs beaten

1 stick of salted butter

2 cups pecans

Pre-bake your crust (click here for instructions)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees for pie.

In a medium bowl whisk together sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, salt and cinnamon.  Add eggs and whisk until smooth.

In a small saucepan, melt butter and heat for about 4-5 minutes, until butter becomes brown and fragrant.  Stir often.  Pour butter into the sugar mixture and whisk to combine.  Stir in pecan and pour into prepared crust.

Bake for 50-60 minute or until center is set.  If your crust edges begin to get too brown, you can remove pie and cover crust with foil.  I didn't have that problem with mine at all.

Cool pie on rack for 3-4 hours before slicing and serving.

Lemon Kiss

How about jazzing up your holiday toast with a little something new?  

Try this Lemon Kiss while toasting under that mistletoe or maybe at midnight on New Year's Eve?

It's easy to make...and you can even make your own Limoncello!!

Lemon Kiss

1 ounce chilled Limoncello

4 ounces chilled Prosecco

5 fresh blackberries

Place berries in the bottom of a champagne flute, top with Limoncello and Prosecco.

Have you ever made homemade Limoncello?  

Here's a recipe!