Roquefort Cheese Soup

Sigh.  As many old recipes are, this one is lacking on the instructional input.  It comes from my great grandma, Elizabeth Wheadon Wetherbee of Alexandria, LA.  I'm learning a little about her and my family's former generations.  Her grandpa, T. C. Wheadon, opened the Alexandria Hotel at the start of 1900, only to be trumped by the historic Hotel Bentley a few years later.  Who knows, maybe this soup was served in the hotel's restaurant.

Ingredients
2 quarts Chicken broth
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped fine
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 pint coffee cream
1 pkg. Roquefort Cheese
1 Tbsp. Parsley, chopped
4 slices crisped bacon, crumbled

Directions
Serve immediately with toasted croutons.

Well, I began this one like I do many soups.  I snipped my bacon into little pieces and fried them up, transferring the bacon bits to a paper towel-lined plate when done.  I chopped my veggies and sauteed them in the bacon fat.  Use olive oil or butter if you want to skip the bacon.  When the vegetables had gone soft, I added my chicken stock and cream.  I added the cheese at the end, along with the parsley, and then I adjusted with seasoning.  Salt, pepper, creole spice, and the like.  I topped the bowls with the crumbled bacon.

I wasn't totally in love with the soup; I'll be honest.  Something seemed to be lacking.  So here's a similar recipe from Emeril Legasse.  Maybe between the two, I can find a happy combination and make it all my own.  Let me know if you've experimented with a similar recipe for Roquefort soup and how it turned out for you.  I'd love any tips.

Christmas Dinner

Christmas day was particularly delightful.  Bebe played with her new kitchen from eight in the morning until bed time.  Big Sissy experimented with her flat iron, dad watched sports (and helped from time to time in the kitchen-he'd be cross if I didn't mention), and I whipped up the lunch.  

~Breakfast~

Pumpkin Sweet Potato Bread

Community Coffee

~Lunch~

Spinach Salad with Candied Pecans, Pears, & Raspberry Vinaigrette

English Pea Salad

Sauteed Green Beans in Garlic, Onion, and Bacon

Rum Infused Sweet Potato Casserole

Honey Glazed Ham

Cranberry Sauce

Yeast Rolls

Assorted Olives

Cherry Pie, Orange Fluff, Molasses Cookies

Sweet Plantation Mint Tea, Wine

Merry Christmas

Christmas Crafting

At Thanksgiving, I collected bags full of pine cones from the yard of an abandoned house with the intentions of creating a pine cone wreath/  Then I saw a craft idea on Disney's Family Fun webpage and I thought I'd give it a try, too.

Today I finally got around to creating those crafts.

Here are the results...

I've got some adjustments to make to the wreath, but I like the overall results.

Here's my little pine cone carolers...

Christmas Comes but Once a Year

Shhh.  Mommy bought herself and early Christmas present this year.  Unwrapping all that bubble wrap had me more excited than the dad with the leg lamp in "A Christmas Story."

 I bid on a 45 piece set of Oneida Silver Plate Dinnerware on the Goodwill Website.  The set was only $48 and after learning about the pattern I upped the bid by $1.50, AND I WON.

From what I've seen on the web, the pattern is Mary Stuart circa 1927 (the year my late Grandma was born so it holds a special sentiment).

As I unwrapped it all, I realize that there are actually 5 serving spoons (instead of 4) and 16 teaspoons (instead of 12) so my 45-piece set grew substantially.  The more the Merrier...Christmas!  All seems to be in good shape, too.

On silverpattern.com, this pattern goes for $8-$12 for some pieces and up to $34 for a sauce ladle which my set includes.  I'd say I got a bargain at $1.09 a piece.  Yea for my score of the year!

Chocolate Peppermint Torte

When I was a little girl, my mom bought me a Hershey's Chocolate Lover's Cookbook.  My eyes danced across the pages as quickly as my fingers could turn them.  I drooled over the images and was excited to try out the recipes.  I've never made it all the way through the book, but the pictures still look tempting so maybe I'll bake my way through it, yet.  Big Sissy and I had the idea to try out this recipe for her birthday cake.  It seems festive, appropriate for a December baby.

Here's what you'll need:
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup boiling water
Peppermint filling
Cocoa glaze

Peppermint Filling
1-1/2 cups cold whipping cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2/3 cup finely crushed hard peppermint candy OR 1/2 tsp. mint extract
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
several drops of red food coloring

Cocoa Glaze
2 tbsp. unsalted butter or margarine
2 tbsp. Cocoa powder
2 tbsp. water
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease and flour three 9-inch round baking pans.  In a large mixing bowl, stir together dry ingredients.  Add eggs, milk,oil, and vanilla; beat on medium speed of electric mixer 2 minutes.  Stir in boiling water, batter will be thin (I almost forgot this step and began to pour batter in prepared pans...eek).

Bake 20-25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean  (my oven always takes longer so this was between 30-35 minutes for me).  Cool for 10 minutes; remove pans to wire racks to cool completely.  This is important because warm cakes would surely melt the whipped cream.

Spread peppermint filling between the layers (The book made three, I didn't have 9-in pans so only made two), reserving 1/2 cup for garnish.  I didn't do the garnish, but had plenty of filling left over.  Instead I sprinkled some crushed up peppermint on top of the cocoa glaze. which is spread over the top of the torte.  Refrigerate (and refrigerate your leftovers...whipping cream).

For the filling- In a small mixing bowl, beat whipped cream and powdered sugar until stiff.  Fold in peppermint candy and/or extract, vanilla, and red food color until evenly blended.

For the glaze:  In a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter; add cocoa and water, stirring constantly until slightly thickened.  Remove from heat and gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla, beating with a wire whisk until smooth and of spreading consistency.  Add an additional water 1/2 tsp at a time if too thick.

**I'm thinking the next time I make this cake, I'll make some sort of thicker filling.  Even though the whipping cream was beaten stiff, it still smushed out the sides when the top layer was placed on.  Maybe a peppermint flavored butter cream would prove thick enough,  Thoughts?

Sharing @

 & 

These are a few of my favorite things...

1.) Jesus is the reason for the season.

2.) Making goodies to give

                                                                              3. ) and receiving goodies from others

These are traditional Mexican Christmas cookies, Pan de Polvo.  My eighty-something year old neighbor makes hundreds of these little melt-in-your-mouth treats, AND she makes dozens of tamales.YUM!
4.) Gathering with friends and family to play fun games...

I've got more to list, but this is a good start. : )