A wonderful soup

We just finished the last of our Christmas soup tonight; isn't it amazing how soup just gets better and better each time it is heated up? I made it on Christmas Eve and when we returned home from our movie on Christmas day all I had to do was heat it up. It was so easy and it was just the perfect thing to eat after a big dinner the night before, a big Christmas breakfast and all the cookies and candy we had been munching on for days. It was even more perfect because of the rainy weather - soup just works in the rain, doesn't it?

Becky Luigart-Stayner

I always wanted to have a Christmas soup tradition. My neighbor has made a clam chowder for their family Christmas dinner for at least 20 years now. I really like that. I tried to do something similar for our family once before; I made a wonderful crab bisque for a few years but I think I liked it more than anyone else. But this year's soup went over very well and it was unanimously decided that it could be continued! I like the idea of starting new traditions; ones that my girl's will carry on with their families one day.

Country Living

Don't judge this recipe by the ingredients - trust me it is fabulous. My Mexican son-in-law, whose mother is a wonderful cook even approved. It came from an old cookbook that belonged to my mother. I don't remember my mom ever making the soup but somehow I started making it many years ago. The cookbook is, "Elena's Secrets of Mexican Cooking," by Elena Zelayeta, Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1958. I have copied the recipe exactly as it is in the book.

Sopa de Albondigas

(Meat Ball Soup)

You don’t have to be Mexican to enjoy this soup. It’s a lusty-gusty one, and may be even more so if peas and sliced carrots are added to it along with the albondigas, or meat balls.

Broth

1 onion, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons oil

½ can tomato sauce

3 quarts beef stock

Albondigas

¾ pound ground beef

¾ pound ground pork

1/3 cup raw rice

1 ½ teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon pepper

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 tablespoon chopped mint leaves

Wilt onion and garlic in oil; add tomato sauce and beef stock. Heat to boiling point. Mix meat with rice, egg, mint, salt and pepper, and shape into little balls. Drop into boiling broth. Cover tightly and cook 30 minutes. Will freeze nicely. Serves 6 to 8.

My notes: I wasn't sure what size can of tomato sauce she meant; apparently in 1958 there was only one size, so I used a 15 oz. can (that is what I had on hand) and used about 2/3 of it). I also added sliced carrots (a must!) and next year I think I will add some peas as well. I was worried it might not be enough soup for us as we are a family of five and I wanted left-overs - but it was plenty! We have had it several times since Christmas day. The meatballs are very good - the mint is what makes them so special so don't leave that part out! My intention was to serve it with a nice salad (I never even made it!) but we did heat up tortillas and we had homemade tamales from my sister-in-law that we ate with it as well. Next year I think I will make it a day earlier - 2 days before Christmas - to give me more time on Christmas Eve and so that it is even better on Christmas day. I think that it would be a wonderful New Year's Day soup as well! Enjoy! 

Christmas candy

Today (Wednesday) was supposed to be my baking day. All day. I had intended to make dozens of cookies and at least several batches of my Christmas candy. I make these two things every year and give them out to friends and neighbors. I don't know what happened. I thought I could get the house straightened up a bit before I started the baking project. I did some laundry, cleaned up a bit, read some blogs (that could be part of the problem) and then had to go to the market to pick up nuts and chocolate and butter and more sugar. I went to three stores, ran a couple of other errands, got stuck in a huge downpour (it is STILL raining) and came home worn out. So I took a break. I worked on the Christmas cards for a while. Friends stopped by. And then it was time for dinner and going out for sushi sounded really good. You get the point, right? I didn't get the baking done. 

I did come to the conclusion that I do not have to stress over this. People love my candy. And they look forward to it. But it will be okay if they get it as a wonderful 'Happy New Year' gift instead of a Christmas gift. Right? So I took that off my list. I made one batch and called it a day. 

Sherri's Christmas Candy

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 & 1/2 cups blanched, slivered almonds

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips.

In a HEAVY skillet over medium to medium-high heat, mix butter and sugar. Add nuts. Continue cooking until golden brown and almonds start to pop, stirring constantly. 

Spread onto a cookie sheet and top with chocolate chips. 

After chocolate has melted, spread with a spatula. Refrigerate. Break into pieces.

I like to wrap the candy in cellophane and tie them with pretty ribbon, tags and little ornaments. Usually by this time each year I have about 20 of these waiting to be given out. I haven't made my tags yet either but this paper that I printed from the free MAEMAE PAPERIE download from Rue looks pretty great.

I also found this chocolate nut bark in Real Simple last year and clipped it to make this year. I thought it looked so pretty. It was super easy to make!  Just melt 12 ounces of semi sweet chocolate chips (I did it in a double boiler), spread the chocolate evenly on a parchment-lined 9-by-13-inch baking pan and sprinkle with 2 & 1/2 cups mixed nuts. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Break the bark into pieces and keep at room temperature for up to 1 week.

I like this because it is a beautiful and also because it is a healthier candy. It looks wonderful against the turquoise tissue paper in a chinese take-out box.

The cookies ... those are another story! I will start at the crack of dawn tomorrow and make as many as I can. How are you doing with your Christmas baking (shopping, wrapping, cleaning ...)? 

The welcome wagon & an easy apple crisp

We have a new neighbor. The house they are moving into was owned by a lovely couple who lived there while our kids were growing up but then they retired and moved away. It has been vacant for a very long time and the other day I heard that it had finally sold and that a new family was moving in.

I wanted to welcome them and introduce myself and I heard that they were moving in today. The day that we moved into our house my husband's aunt came over with a basket of goodies. She had put in the basket an old-fashioned glass jar that was filled with chicken salad. There were rolls plates and napkins and I can't remember what else but I have never forgotten how incredibly nice it was. I wanted to be thoughtful like that and so I decided to make an apple crisp for their move-in day. I could picture them working and unpacking and going in the kitchen for a treat of this great apple crisp and feeling blessed.

The recipe is super easy and needs just a few ingredients most of which I usually have on hand. The first thing you will need to do is peel and slice about 5 or 6 Granny Smith apples. About 4 cups of sliced apples. I vary the amount depending on the dish I am baking it in.

After you put the sliced apples in a cooking dish you need to make the topping. I am going to give you the actual recipe amounts but you have to know that when I bake, I change things up a bit and for this recipe, I always double the topping. Honestly, that is the best part and otherwise we always just have apples left because everyone eats the topping first.

This is all you will need for the topping:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup oatmeal
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup melted butter

Mix the dry ingredients together and then add to the mixture 1/3 cup of melted butter.

Put the topping on the apple slices and bake it in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes ... that is it!

Sometimes I serve it with vanilla ice cream (I heard Trader Joe's has an amazing vanilla ice cream).

After the apple crisp was finished baking and had cooled, I wrapped it up in cellophane and added a little tag that said, "welcome..." and took it over. When I was at the store picking up the apples I also bought an inexpensive pyrex pie dish so that they can keep the dish and not have to return it. I have done this before and I like to include the recipe with a note that tells them they can keep the dish for the next time they want to make one of their own ... but I was in a huge hurry today and I forgot to add the note or the recipe. Earlier in the day my daughter had seen the owner standing out in front and I wanted to make sure I caught her while she was still at the house. I imagined them going back and forth making trips from their old house and wasn't sure how long she would be there. So I was trying to hurry (picture me writing the card so fast that I had to start over and ended up cutting up the card and turning it into a tag) and then finally everything was ready and I rushed over, excited to share my gift only to find just workmen at the house.  As it turns out they are not moving in right away; there are renovations that need to be done first. You have to laugh, right?