White Bean & Ham Soup

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As requested by Emily @ Yarn Miracle – our family favorite on a cold day.

When I buy a ham, I always make sure it has a bone so I can make this soup the next day.

White Bean and Ham Soup Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 lb of white beans – Canellini or Great Northern
  • 2 quarts of water
  • Ham hocks or Ham bone and left over chopped ham
  • 1 cup of diced onions
  • 1 cup chopped celery
  • 2/3 cup chopped carrots
  • 2 cloves garlic, diced
  • Salt and pepper

Method

1 Soak the beans in at least 2 quarts of cold water overnight. Drain the water.

2 Put ingredients in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until the ham meat easily pulls away from the bone and the beans are soft.  (This is a great meal to have simmering all afternoon – yummy!)

3 Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with biscuit or cornbread

Serves 8.

Update on Crispy Rice Cereal Treats

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So, remember a week or so ago when I was frustrated by cooking…or cooking instructions anyway?  You can read about it here.

Well, today I made the second batch of Crispy Rice cereal treats and I’m pleased to report that – even though I did count the marshmallows – a 1/2 a bag was still correct too! Got to love a company that gives you accurate directions.

And, yes I know – the treats will taste just as good if there is an extra marshmallow or two….but I’m happier when I can be accurate.

Yes, I might have a problem…but I’m ok with it! 😉

Homemade Fries

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Tonight we made homemade fries to compliment our grilled hamburgers – YUMM!  I cut our potatoes evenly – toss in a big zip lock back with some garlic salt and olive oil.  Shook to mix it up and poured out onto a cookie sheet.  Bake for 45 min in a 425 degree oven.

We are definitely making it again!

Soft Pretzels

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I used to make Pretzels about 3 kids ago 😉 and the kids loved them – especially warm, right out of the oven.  I decided to make some and a quick search online gave me this recipe from http://www.breadworld.com, the Fleischmann’s yeast site.

SOFT PRETZELS

(makes 14 pretzels)

  • 4-4.5 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 envelope Fleischmann’s RapidRise Yeast (uhoh, I bought the jar, guess I’d better figure out equivalent)
  • 1.5 teaspoons salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • Coarse salt or grated parmesan cheese

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, undissolved yeast and salt.  Heat milk, water, and oil until very warm (120-130 degrees F); stir into flour mixture.  Stir in enough remaining flour to make soft dough.  Knead on floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 4-6 minutes.  Cover; let rest on floured surface 10 min.

Divide into 14 equal pieces.  Roll each piece into 20 inch rope.  Cover; let rest 5-10 min until risen slightly.  Shape into pretzels (or alphabet letters if you have younger children). Place on greased baking sheet.

Brush with beaten eggs.  (I skip  – or use milk- on pretzels for DH – no difference) Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven; brush again with eggs. Sprinkle with salt, cheese or other toppings.

Return to oven and bake for 15 min or until done.  Remove pretzels from baking sheets; let cok on wire racks.

ENJOY!

Why I have trouble enjoying cooking

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There is a family joke/story that my sister loves to tell about the time we make rice crispy treats.  The recipe she had called for 40 marshmallows….so I started counting.  She laughed and laughed and dumped the whole bag in the bowl.  I argued that they wouldn’t say 40 marshmallows if they didn’t mean 40 marshmallows.

That was a few years ago.  I decided to make rice crispy treats today.  Yes, my children have been deprieved because I can’t get over the trauma! 😉

Anyway – I buy a whole bag of marshmallows and determine I will NOT count, I will just dump the whole bag in!  I won’t count!  I won’t estimate!  I will just dump a whole bag in and try not to twitch too much.

But I glance at the recipe on the bag to figure out if I have enough butter…and I see it:

Ingredients

36 marshmallows (about 1/2 package)

ARGH!!!!  This is why I hate this cooking stuff!!!

So, tell me….what would you do?

  1. Count out 36 marshmallows  (you are my kindred spirit!)
  2. Dump in 1/2 the package (I guess we can still be friends but I’ can’t cook with you)
  3. Dump in the whole bag (you, my friend, scare me! but I bet you are an awesome cook!)

Did you know it’s spelled marshmAllows and not marshmEllows?  Well, spell check says it’s true, so it much be – but I’m having trouble accepting it!