If this is Global Warming, Where is my Hot Cocoa?

I am fairly earth friendly but also a little skeptical. Having been around a little too long, I lived through doom and gloom weather theories in the '70's that said we were entering a mini ice age. Well, that didn't happen and now we are supposed to be facing imminent destruction from man made global warming. So if global warming is here, why is it 10 degrees in Atlanta lately? And for a whole week!!! Winter for a week in Atlanta is unheard of. Too cold to go outside....and snow? So what are we to do? Make soup - cheap and warming. Everyone can make an easy chicken soup like the one below. Add other kinds of vegetables (zucchini, peas, spinach, even cabbage) or use rice instead of noodles to mix it up. You can even make it with tofu and vegetable broth for a vegetarian version.

Chicken Soup to Warm Your Soul
A couple of chicken breasts (or other chicken parts)
Chopped Onion
Chopped Celery leaves
4 cups of chicken broth (homemade is best but not necessary)
1 cup of chopped carrots (can use the pre-cut slices or matchsticks)
1/2 cup of chopped celery
1/2 package of any kind of pasta - egg noodles, bow ties, stars
2-3 TBSP chopped fresh parsley

Cook the chicken in the broth with the chopped onion and celery leaves/tops until done. Remove the chicken until cool enough to cube. Add carrots and celery to the broth and cook until just tender. Add the pasta and cook according to directions until done. Season to taste. A little fresh ground pepper adds zip. Add the chopped chicken and parsley and serve. This takes less than one hour from start to finish. It can be done in a crock pot but I prefer the quick stove top method leaving the vegetables a little crisp.

The Penny Coupon Disaster

As everyone knows who follows this blog, the highlight of my week is going to Publix on Sunday with the penny coupon to see what surprise I can get for almost nothing. Well....disastrous news! They have changed the penny coupon to Thursday. You have to search through the Thursday paper like hunting for easter eggs and then you have to use it that day! Who buys $25 worth of groceries on Thursdays? Who even shops on Thursdays unless they have run out of milk or toilet paper? Now I have no BDO (big day out) to look forward to....Why do I even want the weekend to roll around now? My solution is that Jeff will need to take me out to dinner on the weekends now for my BDO. Jeff says he is calling corporate Publix to reinstate the penny coupon on Sunday as my solution won't fly.

Roast Chicken, Julie Style

So Alli, my sous chef, and I decided to tackle another recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Because Publix had whole chickens on sale for 69 cents a lb it was a no brainer that we would try and roast a whole chicken. I've done this by my own recipe which involves tossing the chicken in the oven until done. This time, we took the extra time to make it Julia's way which involved basting and rotating in a lot of butter making sure it was browned and juicy. We turned the drippings into a reduction of butter and chicken juice for a gravy. Finally, we threw together her risotta - more of an oven pilaf - which included mushrooms, onions, peas and herbs. We used fresh sage as the herb. Julia's recipes are always layered flavors which are distinctly different than my usual way of cooking. Some day I'll have a camera so I can show the results.

New Years at the Beach

This year we went to our cottage near the Florida gulf coast for New Year's. Rather than go out on New Year's Eve, we decided to eat in and watch "Dick Clark's Rockin New Years Eve". I bought two pounds of fresh shrimp fresh off the Destin boats and decided to try and barbecue them southern style. How easy! You melt two sticks of butter in a baking dish, add about 1/3 of a cup of good Worcestershire, toss in the shrimp and return to the oven. Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes, stirring once or twice, until pink and done. Take out and serve with a crusty bread to dip in the buttery drippings. A bit messy but delicious. Made up for the bad tv.