Cheddar Potato Slices

Made 3 batches of this molten lava potato recipe in December. I make this when scalloped potatoes are called for. I just find scalloped potatoes to be so bland and uninteresting. This recipe from Campbell's soup is flavorful, cheesy and easy to make. It's never been bumped up against a pan of scalloped potatoes until my machine knitting December luncheon. 2 people were asked to bring "Scalloped Potatoes." I volunteered knowing I'd bring "Cheddar Potato Slices" disguised as "Scalloped Potatoes." When I went to get my pan to clean it up and bring home any leftovers mine was practically licked clean. The pan of Scalloped Potatoes was about 75% full. I rest my case.

Cheddar Potato Slices
Recipe from: Campbell's Soup

Servings: 4
10 ¾ ounces mushroom soup

½ teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon pepper

4 medium baking potatoes, (about 2 pounds), cut ¼ inch thick

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Combine soup, paprika, and pepper in small bowl.

In greased 2-quart oblong casserole, arrange potatoes in overlapping rows. Sprinkle with cheese. Spoon soup mixture over. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 minutes more or until potatoes are fork tender.

He's Todd-tastic!

That's what my son says when I ask him "How was your guitar lesson today?" He's say's, "It was Todd-tastic!" The guitar instructor's name is Todd in case you haven't guessed. It's been 1 1/2 years since the kids started guitar lessons. Erik on the bass guitar and Allison on the guitar. Both kids are still enjoying their lessons with Todd. All I ask is that they play 3 Christmas songs for me for my present. This year I qualified it with "and play cheerfully and cooperatively." Todd has nothing to do with that. He teaches them separately. Like typical young siblings they don't always do things cooperatively and without argument. This year they did pretty well considering they didn't practice one time together on the Christmas songs. By the 3 third song they were playing very well. I enjoyed it. I hope they continue to enjoy their lessons with Todd.

Hand Knitted Scarves an Adiction

I learned to crochet when I was in 3rd grade. My mom taught me and gave me my own yarn and needle, which I took to school. When I'd think about it and had a few minutes I would crochet. Still being a novice I would crochet little triangles. I didn't know about chaining at each end yet to keep the rows even. I didn't notice anything was unusual I was just having fun crocheting.

I crocheted into my 20's when I finally stopped because the only yarn I really knew about was Red Heart and anything made with it was scratchy and made one itch. I lost interest and went on to other crafts.

I did try in my teens a brief lesson in knitting from a friend and I didn't like it.
A few years ago my cousin taught me to knit. I wasn't terribly interested as I prefer to crochet and again wasn't interested in scratchy Red Heart yarn. Well, it was the only craft she did and she wanted to teach me. So, I really couldn't say no to her or learning a new craft. She told me about large knitting needles and all the beautiful yarns there are now. I hadn't really done any yarn projects in about 20 years. We went to JoAnn's got me some size 19 knitting needles and she showed me which yarns she likes to pair. We paired an eyelash yarn with some homespun in colors I liked. Went back to her house and we knitted. It was really very easy on such large needles. That's when my addiction started. When I saw all the new affordable fun yarns I became crazed at finding new combinations. I finally got to where I could knit a scarf in 4 hours. That's all I knew how to do was knit a large rectangle. Still to this day I don't know how to knit any other stitches. I may have to take a lesson. I'd like to learn ribbing.

My favorite pairings of yarns is when the 2 are completely different colors. Like red fun fur with black homespun or lime green fun fur with black homespun.

My absolute favorite combination was white homespun with ribbon yarn. I just loved the look. I've made probably over 20 or so scarves over the past few years. Many I've given away as gifts, but my favorites I would put in a plastic crate in my bedroom thinking some day I'll sell them. Well the day came. A friend of mine has opened a fiber arts store and she took my scarves on consignment. Part of me didn't want to give up my treasured scarves the other part knew it was time to make money for more yarn!

Snowed here last night!

It snows here about once every 10 years. It snowed the first year we bought the house 1990. Snow melted right away as it always does, but froze for about 4 days straight. Killing all our new landscape plants that came with the house.

The next time it snowed the kids were in elementary school. It snowed for a couple minutes during the middle of the day. The teachers according to my kids let them all out for a few minutes to enjoy it. Then it started raining driving them all back into class.

Now December 2009 when we have family visiting from Oklahoma staying the night we get snow. I guess they get snow every year that sticks, but they were surprised that we got snow before they did.

DH BBQed a few days ago and left the BBQ out in the weather and vent open. I was none too happy about that, but sure made for a great picture of snow.
Picture of my son's and my cars. Mine being dark green shows the snow better.

Neighbor's house across the street looked so pretty with the snow and Christmas lights on.

I was in my jammies. This was around 6am and I didn't think to take a picture of my own house with snow. Guess I didn't want to walk up to the street in my jammies and slippers.

Poodle Alert

Do you find that everything you do your poodle is close by?

I'm taking pictures of some scarves in my inventory and some how a poodle nose snuck in.

Have My Teenagers Lost Their Friggin Minds?!

Years ago when the kids were small I stopped being so anal about a clean house. First off I was really the only one doing any house cleaning. I didn't have the time or the energy with 2 small children to keep my house spotless. So, I went for a more relaxed standard. Keep things clean, sanitary and kind of sort of picked up. When any company was coming enlist the whole family to do a big declutter and cleaning session. To this day if any house cleaning is done they ask, "Who's coming over?" I tell them through gritted teeth that sometimes a home needs to be cleaned, because it's dirty not because someone is coming over.

So, clutter laying around seldom bothers me unless it's on a chair I want to sit on. On a printer I want to print from. On something of mine and hiding it from my view making me think it's lost. You get the idea.

I come home from errands a few weeks ago and as I walk past the hall bathroom really known as the kids' bathroom. I see a hanger hanging from one of my favorite pictures and I think steam tooted out my ears! How disrespectful to ones home is what I thought. Dirty clothes on the floor no problem, but a hanger on my picture? One step too far!

Now, I won't let them leave dirty clothes on the floor. "Really," I said, "Are you 4 years old?! There is a hamper not 2 feet away. There will be no more clothes on the floor and if I see anything but my picture hanging on the wall there will be a really dirty nasty chore in your future." The hall bathroom has stayed pretty clean since then. Now to work on their bedrooms.

Cheeseburger Soup

Some sort of cold/flu bug is running through our family this month. First to succumb was my daughter and I made Chicken Noodle soup for her. Then I got sick. My son made Cranberry Orange muffins for me. Now my son is sick. I knew he wouldn't want any muffins and I know soup isn't his favorite, but soup is SO good when you're not feeling well. I had to ask anyways, "Would you like me to make you some soup?" Thinking he'd say no and the conversation would go to some sort of food I could comfort him with. He said slowly, "Cheeseburger soup?" We both chuckled at the idea. I told him, "You know what, I bet there is a recipe for Cheeseburger Soup on the internet." I did some surfing and sure enough there were several Cheeseburger Soup recipes. I chose the one I thought sounded the best and would appeal to my poor sick son.

Cheeseburger Soup

Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 30 Minutes
Ready In: 50 Minutes
Servings: 8

1/2 pound ground beef
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup shredded carrots
3/4 cup chopped celery
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried parsley
4 tablespoons butter
3 cups chicken broth
4 cups cubed potatoes
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups cubed Cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup sour cream

In a large pot, melt 1 tablespoon butter or margarine over medium heat: cook and stir vegetables and beef , until beef is brown.

Stir in basil and parsley. Add broth and potatoes. Bring to a boil, then simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10-12 minutes.

Melt the remainder of butter in a separate small pot and stir in flour. Add the milk, stirring until smooth.

Gradually add milk mixture to the soup, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer for a minute or 2. Remove from heat and stir in cheese. When cheese is melted, add sour cream. Put back on heat if you feel it needs to warm up a little. Do not boil.

Lynne's Notes: What I liked about the recipe was that I had all the ingredients right here at home. I like recipes that don't have fussy ingredients. I didn't add dried parsley. I think it's revolting compared to fresh parsley. Just my own personal problem there. I also didn't add the sour cream to the pot of soup. My husband abhors sour cream. So, the kids and I would stir a teaspoon full into our own bowls. We thought the sour cream really added a lot to the good flavor of the soup. It is a hearty soup. A real stick to your ribs during cold weather kind of soup. The basil doesn't over power the other ingredients and lets the tartness of the cheddar cheese and the sour cream shine threw in their creamy goodness.

After we all ate our soup we all agreed that it was good, but a few changes might be nice if we ever made it again. My son said it needed more meat, more cheese and that serving it in a bread bowl would be nice. I think if I served it in a bread bowl and maybe just sprinkle a little grated cheddar on top he'd love it.