Updated Photos and Give Away

Thanks everyone for the photos that were submitted.  I just got everything updated so go check out your photos!  And just to let you know even if your photos weren't chosen keep sending them in I'm using majority of them in the finished book!

We're going to kick off the month of May with a give away!  Please leave a comment on this post of one of your cooking/baking disasters!  We all have them even if we don't like to admit to it.  Mine consisted of trying to make cinnamon rolls when I was a teenager.  I thought I killed the yeast and proceeded to try to stuff the dough down the kitchen sink.  I got most it down in there when I was called away for a moment only to come back some time later with the dough rising out of the garbage disposal.  My mom was NOT happy!

Maryn will be my little judge and I will not share the names with her just the stories and she'll pick the one that she likes the best!  May the best story win.  The winner will get my favorite bags of chocolate to try.  Contest will close May 15th!

Deb

Butternut Squash Soup

Recipe found on allrecipes.com

I guess if I want to finish my goal of having 50 pages finished by the end of the year I better get going on getting some more recipes posted.  This recipe is loved by my family.  We're planting our garden this week and you can better believe we will have some butternut squash planted in there.  This is coming from a girl who is not all that big on squash but this I will make an exception for.  If you don't have chicken stock on hand chicken broth will do in a pinch.  This also stores pretty well in the freezer from my experience.

Butternut Squash Soup

Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 45 Minutes
Ready In: 1 Hour
Servings: 4

INGREDIENTS:

2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
2 medium potatoes, cubed
1 medium butternut squash - peeled,
seeded, and cubed
1 (32 fluid ounce) container chicken
stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper to
taste

DIRECTIONS:
1. Melt the butter in a large pot, and cook the onion, celery, carrot, potatoes, and squash 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Pour in enough of the chicken stock to cover vegetables. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer 40 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender.
2. Transfer the soup to a blender, and blend until smooth. Return to pot, and mix in any remaining stock to attain desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

Double-Crust Chicken Pot Pie

                                          Tami N.
                                                                   
Recipe found on cooks.com

This is the easy version of the chicken pot pie I was talking about.  The recipe is below but I'll tell you what I do.  Instead of the canned chicken I keep shredded chicken on hand.  Use about 1 or 2 chicken breasts.  You can either shred it or dice it.  Use frozen vegetables and thaw them in the microwave.  I omit the celery flakes and the poultry seasoning.  I use whatever  I have on hand either Mrs. Dash Garlic salt-free seasoning or 1/4 t. of chicken broth granules.  I like to have potatoes in my pot pies...I used to boil diced fresh potatoes but found if you get the diced hash browns from the frozen section it works great.  Be sure to thaw out the potatoes before you mix it in.


DOUBLE-CRUST CHICKEN POT PIE

Printed from COOKS.COM
2 (9 inch) refrigerated pie crusts
1 (6 3/4 oz.) can boneless chicken in broth, undrained & chopped
1 (16 oz.) can mixed vegetables, drained
1 (10 3/4 oz.) can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1/2 tsp. celery flakes
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. poultry seasoning
Fit 1 refrigerated pie crust into a 9 inch pie plate, according to package
directions (do not bake).
Combine chicken and remaining ingredients; spoon into pie crust. Moisten
edges of pastry with water; place remaining crust on top. Fold edges
under and flute. Cut slits in top. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes.
Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
Makes 1 (9 inch) pie