Separating Eggs

A good friend just sent me this video. I have GOT to try it!

THIS would make a huge difference when I'm making meringues.

Very cool way to separate egg yolk - YouTube

 

http://www.youtube.com/embed/iAp8pEaWB1Y

Let me know how it works for you!!!

Easy Creamy Potato Soup

We are quite fond of the creamy potato soup to be found in restaurants. Panera Bread has one that we particularly enjoy.

I have a recipe that uses a nice roux, but one child is not so fond of it.

So...we did some internet searching. We tried one that tasted more like carrots than potatoes. Then we saw three that might be almost what we were looking for.

An hour later we had combined recipes and tweaked ingredients and came up with our own truly yummy Easy Creamy Potato Soup. Maybe you'll like it, too.

Easy Creamy Potato Soup

1 tbl olive oil
1 tbl butter
1/2 cup diced onions
8 cups chicken broth
8 cups peeled and diced raw potatoes
1 tbl minced garlic
8 ounces cream cheese, in chunks
salt, pepper, spices to taste (we use about 1-2 tsps Montreal Steak Seasoning)

Crispy bacon bits, shredded cheese, sour cream (optional but tastes great as a toppings)

In a medium pot boil the potatoes, garlic and your choice of seasoning in the chicken broth
In a small pan saute onion in oil and butter until the onion is slightly browned
Add sauteed onions to the cooking potatoes
Continue cooking until the potatoes are tender.
We opted to put about 2/3 of the potatoes through the food processor, then added them back to the pot.
If you want it chunkier, just smash the potatoes with a potato masher instead of pureeing them.

Turn the heat down to low and add the chunks of cream cheese and whisk to combine. DO NOT BOIL as it makes the cream cheese separate and it's not good.

Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Dish up and garnish with crispy bacon bits and shredded cheese. A dollop of sour cream can be nice, too.

This is very similar to what we've eaten in restaurants. And it was really so easy.

Hubs called it "white gold" when he tasted it.

This gets a FIVE FAMILY RATING for sure.

Another recipe from the White River. Doug's mom used to make these and Myra passed the recipe along to me when I was wrangling horses for them.

Molasses Sugar Cookies

Doug Vaden on the White River

Cream Together:

1 1/2 Cup Shortening

2 cups sugar

1/2 Cup molasses

2 eggs

Sift together and add to above:

4      Cups flour

4      Teaspoons baking soda

2 Teaspoons cinnamon

1 Teaspoon ground cloves

1 Teaspoon ginger

1 Teaspoon salt

Mix well

Form into 1 inch balls and flatten with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar or roll out and use cookie cutters. 

Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes

Half recipe:

3/4 Cup Shortening

1 cup sugar

1/4 Cup molasses

1 egg

Sift together and add to above:

2   cups flour

2 Teaspoons baking soda

1 Teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 Teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 Teaspoon ginger

1/2 Teaspoon salt

We like to cut out bears and decorate them. We've also made house fronts and little houses with this dough and decorated them. We all love this cookie. One thing, when we do use cutters, we don't reuse the rolled dough. We just bake off the little bits and eat them. Too much flour added, like you need when you re-roll the dough, makes it tough and not quite as tasty.

This cookie will keep for ages in a zip-locked bag or airtight canister. They are really yummy dunked in coffee.