Homemade lentil soup and....

chocolate chip cookies.

We recently had a new gas stove installed and it

really makes me feel like a chef.

And as you know when DH returns from out of town

I like to cook dishes that can be eaten at any time.

Like soups.

And cookies.

So I decided that Alton Brown's Lentil soup recipe

was the way to go.

For the chocolate chip cookies - well you can't go

wrong with the back of the Nestle's semi-sweet package.

I have/had really stopped baking since even before WW but

every now and then I have decided a treat is good.

All things in moderation right?

Alton's recipe......................

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 pound lentils, picked and rinsed
• 1 cup peeled and chopped tomatoes
• 2 quarts chicken or vegetable broth
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground toasted cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground grains of paradise

Directions

Place the olive oil into a large 6-quart Dutch oven and set over medium heat. Once hot, add the onion, carrot, celery and salt and sweat until the onions are translucent, approximately 6 to 7 minutes. Add the lentils, tomatoes, broth, coriander, cumin and grains of paradise and stir to combine. Increase the heat to high and bring just to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook at a low simmer until the lentils are tender, approximately 35 to 40 minutes. Using a stick blender, puree to your preferred consistency. Serve immediately.

I diverged from the Chef's recipe as follows:

I added to 2 cloves of minced garlic

AND hot italian sausage removed from its casing and dopped into the soup in bits.

Anyway if you ever had the lentil and sausage soup at 

Carrababa's - my additions get it pretty darn close.

Since we had company - the soup was scarfed down and I gave the

cookies away so we wouldn't be too tempted.

Of course I didn't think to take pictures of it. My bad.

I do have a scrapbook page in progress. I picked up some new TH alcohol

mists at Michael's yesterday and liberally misted some white

cardstock. The rest appears to be coming together

S L O W L Y!!!! 

Shocking I know.

Now to come up with something for dinner tonight. sigh..

Have a great weekend.

Jillybean Soup

is perfect for Easter photos of the grandkidlets.

Caution Bunny Crossing pagepi is

the recipe challenge over at ScrapNChat

and was fun to do.

3-4 pattern papers, 2-3 pictures,

ribbon, ink, journal tag, title.

 These are 8x8 for mom and dad's album

so its up to them to do the journaling.

Homework for them!

Love the pix of Annie & Owen together and I adore these

papers. The papers help with the sweetness of the photo.

 I have more where they came from.

Keep bringing the pictures on.

I'm ready.

Finally! finding that ancestor that

that eluded me for years.

Please click on the link to read further.

One more piece of the genealogical puzzle.

My Mind's Eye, Recollections flower.

Keeping it simple to write a lot.

U2

This isn't the best technical picture of them together.

But I think its the best unposed one (that I got).

(Waiting.....on favorite SonILs)

I love they're sizing each other up and

getting to know each other,

as you know long distance grandparenting sucks

because you have to start over almost 

each and every encounter. 

(especially when they're so young).

So, I had been painting on white and kraft

and decided to give black a go.

So I pulled the 2 colors from the photo

and added blue. 

So Jillybean soup seemed to work.

Published two new hubs.....

Appreciate your support.

Please vote UP!

Eavesdropping on the train

911 Memorial

It is also Nat'l Scrapbook Weekend.

Which I shall celebrate by scrapping. Hopefully the mojo will flow.

Thus, whoever sends me the most pictures.

WINS!!

I do have a couple of packages to send out.

Probably Monday.

After the free-for-all.

Double Dawg Dare over

at ScrapNChat can't be passed by.

I decided that because it's Friday.

And I can do what I want.

Here's your DDD - a journaling block/square/round,

tag, heart and a timepiece of some sort.

And magic mesh. (very manly)

(bwahahaha no flowers involved).

This paper s Artist paper from the Somerset

Magazines. I think its manly for my

2 men here.

I also love those Jenni Bowlin journaling spots,

and timepieces makes me swoon.

Maddawg's Madcap....

on ScrapNChat the first of the month.

Lots of cool challenges going on.

Maddawg's Madcap Is about swinging both ways.

 Biscraptual. bwahahahaa.

Otherwise known as a hybrid.

Used grey cardstock, and the photo was placed

as a watermark. Messed with opacity and

wa-la. Blending.

Since the right side had room, that's where the journaling

was placed. Just straight typing. 

The title was done with Quickutz.

journaling: Capise. Comprende.Guacamole. These three words when said to my boys, they knew I meant business. I mean it and they better pay attention. The knew I was easy. I could be swayed I was so not tough. But when I said these words, I was in the moment. I meant what I said. I could not be swayed. I believe in right and wrong and I mean to convey that to them. Have I succeeded. Sadly, in some cases no. But life is such that sometimes lessons have to be learned the hard way. And as much as we want to pare our children that. We cannot. We had hard times. We worked our way through. Who are we to decide that they are not to have them as well. But as parents. AS a mom. We would love to not have them learn anything the hard way. But as *I* have learned the hard way sometimes removing the “hard way” from the path does more harm than good. Because they do not learn the lesson of the hard way, but learn the easy path, which can be more harmful, painful than if they had learned the hard way. Sadly, I have learned parenting the hard way.