I dwell in possibility. : This 'n That

1. Normally I don't miss not having DirectTV or satellite. I'm just not a TV person, but right now, I'm missing the Olympics and I really love the Winter Games. I did get to watch the men's figure skating long program last night where US skater Evan Lysacek won Gold. It's the first time an American skater has won gold since Brian Boitano in Calgary in 1988. It's nice to see a US skater win, but since the 2002 Salt Lake Games where the French judge cheated, the sport has become largely unrecognizable to me. I have a really hard time with the new scoring system and because of the new scoring system, figure skating has lost a lot of its beauty. It's all jumps and weird kicks. Okay, I know, too much about figure skating. I'm just saying. I do hope the scoring system has deductions for ugly costumes because I would have taken a deduction for the glittery snake on Evan Lysacek's costume.

2. I've made a couple of soups recently that are pretty good and I thought I'd post the recipes here:

Chicken Tortellini Soup

(I adapted this recipe from the New England Soup Factory CookBook.)

ingredients:

1 pound cheese tortellini (cook according to package directions) (place in a bowl and toss with the olive oil)
2 tsp olive oil
8 C chicken stock or broth
1 C chopped cooked chicken ( I used more.)
2 C baby spinach
1/2 bunch chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 C freshly grated Parmesan Cheese, plus additional for garnish (I used WAY more.)
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

In a stockpot or Dutch Oven, bring the broth or stock to a boil over med-high heat. Add the Chicken and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the cooked tortellini, baby spinach, basil, cheese and red pepper flakes. Stir well and season with salt and pepper. Garnish, with extra grated Parmesan cheese.

Okay, this looked good, but I felt that it was lacking veggies. So, what I did instead, was heat a couple of TB of olive oil in the dutch oven and I sauteed a small chopped onion, a cup or so of chopped carrots and a cup or so of chopped celery and added a couple of garlic cloves. When the onions were transluscent and the veggies were soft, I followed the normal directions. I also chopped up the spinach because the kids can't pick out the spinach and they tend to eat it when it's all choppped up. Oh, and 1/4 C of Parmesan isn't enough. It's so yummy with more!

Creamy Broccoli Soup

(This is my friend Jen's recipe, but I might have modified a few things on this recipe too. I don't think she thickens her with flour since she's gluten-free. I'm going to have to check on what she does to keep this recipe GF.)

ingredients:

6-8 C Chicken Stock
6 red potatoes (sometimes, I use whatever potato I happen to have like russets)
1/2 onion, chopped
5 stalks broccoli
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 C heavy crean
1 C freshly grated Parmesan
2 cloves garlic
3 TB flour
3 TB olive oil

1. chop veggies.
2. add 3 TB of olive oil in bottom of dutch oven on medium heat.
3. add flour to olive oil.
4. add minced or pressed garlic.
5. add onion.
6. saute onion, garlic, olive oil and flour.
7. add potatoes and broccoli and chicken stock/broth and simmer all ingredients except cream and cheese (about 15 minutes on low-medium heat).
8. add cream and cheese.
9. hand blend (optional)

I think this soup is really good blended. It gets so thick and hearty. I don't always blend it, but I prefer it blended.

3. I finished another pair of socks last night while watching the men's figure skating long program. These socks went super-fast on US 4 DPNs and worsted weight yarn. They are comfy! Now, I need to get back to my Ravelympics projects!

4. I've been meaning to take a picture of Tessie with her doll that my mom made for her, but now that she's walking so much, I can't really get her to sit still long enough for me to get a decent photo. So, here's her doll all by herself.

Here's Tess already on the move. See? I can't get a nice photo.