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Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Chicken Corn Soup
Just for the record, this is not my picture, I'm just borrowing it.
My father's parent's owned a small farm. You know the small farms that raise a few crops, some cows, a roost of chickens, and one very mean goose. From what I was told, when my father was growing up, my grandparent's farm provided most of the food for the family. Grandmother would can, pickle, brine, and freeze everything she could. But life on the farm wasn't all work.
During the late summer, my aunt and uncle from Florida would come up to visit. I guess the humidity of Pennsylvania was better than the humidity, bugs, and hurricane's of Florida. They'd drive up in this big ole RV that had a hitch on the back so they could tow their car up also. When the RV would park on the farm, it was time for the family to gather for social time and chicken corn soup. My uncle and Grandpa would set up picnic tables in the yard and the big cast iron cauldron was placed on it's tripod over a fire. Grandma would go into cooking mode. Corn was harvested, chickens plucked, and eggs boiled. Everything went into the cauldron and the family would gather, potluck dishes in hand, for a all you can eat chicken corn soup gathering.
Chicken corn soup played an important role in many summer gatherings of my childhood. My parents loved to go to church dinners where they would sell chicken corn soup with the fixings and have a local country band play. I remember eating lots of corn soup and playing in a lot of church playgrounds as a child. They were often cheap dinners and a chance for my parents to socialize with people they new. Now the local churches seem to have switched to drive through chicken bbq's instead of the chicken corn soup picnics.
I've raised a family of soup eaters. In fact, as soon as she sees corn at market, my daughter starts bugging for me to make chicken corn soup. It's healthy comfort food. My recipe is basically the same and my Grandma M's and my Mother's recipe.
Chicken Corn Soup
This recipe can be doubled easily. Soup reheats well and freezes well.
1 chicken or 6 boneless breasts
1 medium onion, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped (optional)
2 medium potatoes, chopped (optional)
6+ cups of cooked corn
6 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1 1/2 cups egg noodles, crushed slightly
water
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon dried parsley (or 1/4 cup fresh)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon paprika
Boil chicken, onion, and celery in water until the chicken is cooked. Remove chicken to cool. Skim any fat off the broth. Bring broth to boil and add carrot, potatoes, and corn. Shred the cooked chicken and add to soup. Add seasonings and egg noodles. Once potatoes are soft, add eggs. Simmer for 30 minutes. Serve.

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posted by Angel at 7/31/2007 11:52:00 PM ¤ Permalink ¤ 1 comments
Friday, July 27, 2007
Catching up


Or at least attempting to catch up. Life just goes by too quickly. I love the above picture and quote. It's by French writer Collette. She was an interesting personality.


In other news, I got my invite to Ravelry. If you knit or crochet, this is a cool place to be. It's in beta test right now, so you have to sign up and wait for an invitation. It's an organizational tool, a social forum, a place to find patterns and inspiration. I'm in the process of listing my current projects (I wonder what the max # of current projects is).


I've been gardening a little. Hubby and I are trying to tame the jungle that is our yard. We filled two larn and leaf bags with yard waste last night in less than an hour. I would compost more yard waste, but until we get the poisin ivy under control, I feel it's best to dispose of the waste. The good news is any roots we missed last night, will be dead in a day or two due to the lack of rain. The bad news is I got three blisters on the fingers of my right hand (oh, the pain).


I'm also dedicating myself to a little project. I'm trying to come up with meals that are cheap and healthy. Can you eat on a budget and still eat very healthy? I'm going to find out. I"ll share recipes with you when I come up with them.

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posted by Angel at 7/27/2007 12:09:00 AM ¤ Permalink ¤ 3 comments
Saturday, July 14, 2007
I'm feeling corny
What a wonderful day to be at Market! If you didn't make it in today you missed beautiful flowers, juicy peaches, sweet tomatoes, and the smell of basil. It's Summer and the produce is abundant. The above corn was locally grown and for sale at Kenmar Farms stand. I love Summer produce.

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posted by Angel at 7/14/2007 11:46:00 PM ¤ Permalink ¤ 1 comments
Friday, July 13, 2007
Sunshine in my Life
Taken last Saturday at the York Central Market. Sunflowers from Tagliari Farms. Don't they just look so joyful?

Picture by and copyrighted by Melissa Wittmann.

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posted by Angel at 7/13/2007 10:49:00 PM ¤ Permalink ¤ 1 comments
Friday, July 06, 2007
Fireworks in the Rain
We had a wonderful American Independence Day here. We hosted a simple cookout/picnic before we went to see the fireworks. It started to do these short downpours in the late afternoon, but when we left for the fireworks it looked like the sky was clearing. Silly us! We didn't more than get into our seats on the bleachers at the expo center and another downpour started. We grabbed everything and found seats in the Grandstand where there is a roof. While waiting for the concert to start it dour poured again. (The above picture is of the pre-concert downpour.) But things finally cleared and the concert began. I liked the concert, except for the lady who was vocal soloist, she was just a little too operatic for my taste. I did get about 2 hours of crochet time on my shawl while waiting for the fireworks.

So the concert ends, the orchestra leaves the stage, the curtains are lowered, and the lights go out. Just as the lights go out, we hear this screaming and commotion coming from the uncovered bleachers. My first thought was "Oh God, something went wrong!" Some of the lights were relight and then you could see the downpour. In a few minutes, the rain stopped and the fireworks went off. The show was great. Despite the rain, the fireworks were well worth the wait.



Fireworks pictures taken at the York Expo Center on 4 July 2007.

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posted by Angel at 7/06/2007 12:08:00 AM ¤ Permalink ¤ 0 comments
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Have a Safe 4th of July.

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posted by Angel at 7/04/2007 02:48:00 PM ¤ Permalink ¤ 1 comments