Friday, April 26, 2013

Favorite Friday Recipe: Cauliflower soup


This delicious soup comes via the Pioneer Woman.  I love cauliflower and this soup was perfect for one of our surprisingly chilly April evenings.   I cut out a lot of the butter and dairy from the original recipe and added more vegetables, but if you're looking for a good time, the original recipe is here.

Cauliflower soup (with slight modifications)

Ingredients:
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 whole Onion, Finely Diced
  • Half a bag of baby carrots, Finely Diced
  • 3 stalks Celery, Finely Diced
  • 1 whole Cauliflower Head (roughly Chopped)
  • 2 Tablespoons Fresh Parsley, Chopped
  • 2 quarts Low-sodium Chicken Broth Or Stock
  • 4 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour
  • 1.5-2 cups 2% Milk
  • 2 teaspoons To 4 Teaspoons Salt, To Taste
  • 1/2 cup (heaping) Sour Cream, Room Temperature (optional)
Directions:

  • In a large soup pot or dutch oven, melt 2 tablespoons butter 
  • Add the onion and cook for a few minutes, or until it starts to turn brown
  • Add the carrots and celery and cook an additional couple of minutes
  • Add cauliflower and parsley and stir to combine
  • Cover and cook over very low heat for 15 minutes
  • After 15 minutes, pour in chicken stock or broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer
  • In a medium saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter 
  •  Mix the flour with the milk and whisk to combine
  • Add flour-milk mixture slowly to the butter, whisking constantly
  • Add mixture to the simmering soup
  • Allow to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes
  • Check seasoning and add more salt or pepper if necessary
  • Just before serving, place the sour cream in bottom of bowls and stir into soup (this is optional--it tasted great with or without it) 
  • Serve immediately.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Bearded Irises


I think these bearded irises were really popular 30-40 years ago because each spring, you can spot these welcome visitors in the yards of almost every house on our street.


Monday, April 22, 2013

Vintage Monday: Pyrex hostess casserole dish with lid


I love this cheery yellow casserole dish.  I've been unknowingly collecting the large and small bowls in yellow and red thinking they were chip bowls.  When I saw this one with the lid I totally flipped (haha get it?) and snapped it up.  More about these bowls here on Pyrex Love



Thursday, April 18, 2013

April vegetable garden update


We've harvested some delicious swiss chard and tomatoes and used the herbs for some soup (recipe tomorrow) already!  Can't wait for the tomatoes and cucumbers to grown!

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Ranunculus


One of my favorite spring time flowers in a vintage blue vase!

Friday, April 12, 2013

Strawberry cage



After last year's strawberry heist led by the neighborhood squirrels, BK decided to take matters into his own hands and built this awesome cage to put over our strawberry patch.  So far it's done a pretty good job and we'll hopefully have more strawberries to pick soon!

Monday, April 8, 2013

New flowers


Every year we succumb to buying these gorgeous hydrangeas and every year they are unsuccessful!  Any tips?  Are these just doomed in the hot Texas weather?

Friday, April 5, 2013

So this happened...


Some honey bees decided to build a hive in the wall of our house!  We had a great beekeeper come and vacuum up all the bees, take the honeycomb out and relocate everything and everyone to a nearby bee farm.  Here's a view from the window while we watched the whole fascinating process!

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Spring 2013 DIY: Vegetable garden

It's that time of the year again!  This year, BK added more fertilizer to the existing soil in our garden bed and we started planting!

On the menu: swiss chard and spinach (for smoothies), tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, parsley and mint



Link inspects our final work

Monday, April 1, 2013

Vintage Monday: Heart Pyrex


Another estate sale score.  At most sales, I usually take a turn at the jewelry and kitchen first before heading to the other rooms.  This time, I was in the midst of rummaging through a closet when BK came in and said: "so you didn't want the heart pyrex?"   I high tailed it out of there and snagged this dish just in time.  Nice job, eagle eye!