Germ factory: (CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP)

My nose is so sore from blowing it that I've considered just letting it drip for a little while but that would be gross! I don't have much confidence in the Puffs tissues I bought either. I thought about twisting up some pieces of tissue and shoving them up each side of my nose but Kevin has a friend over and I don't want to look like I belong in the psych ward of the 12 monkeys. My nostrils sting! I guess I shouldn't be talking about such things around pictures of food but my nose feels like my soup looks. The soup was delicious though.

I looked for an official Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe and found many different variations. It could also be made vegetarian too but I think that would mess up the title wouldn't it? I like the fact that, eventually, I could embellish it with more ingredients like hominy or squash. I may try that in the future.

Chicken Tortilla Soup:

Ingredients:

1 24 oz. jar Thick and Chunky Southwest Salsa (I like it with corn bits and peppers)
1 7 oz. can diced green chili's, undrained
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
2-3 cups cooked shredded chicken
2 cups chicken broth
1 tbs. smoked chipotle tabasco sauce
1/2 cup shredded chedder cheese
crushed tortilla chips

Directions:

1. Place the shredded chicken in a large wide pot. Cover with the chicken broth (it takes more or less to cover).

2. Add the remaining ingredients, except cheese and chips, and simmer until reduced and thickened a bit (about 1-2 hours).

3. Add cheese and chips after spooning into serving bowls.

I like this recipe because it's relatively fast and easy. It's really a no-brainer and can be made in the afternoon and simmer unattended until the kiddies get home from school. And, when you have a clogged nose it's great for getting things moving.

My rosemary nights: (LEMON/ROSEMARY MARTINI)

Since I had some free time this evening I was going through some old drafts of previous recipe experiments. I thought this sounded pretty good and decided to post it now. Bob and I had a trip to the Outer Banks this past July and we found this great martini bar that served a lemon and rosemary martini, amongst many other delicious ones. This is my version of that drink. Since I have an enormous amount of rosemary in the garden I felt I could experiment with the rosemary sugar water for forever. It took me a while, and A LOT of taste tasting, before I think the drink is close to the original. It would be shame not to try it since I did go out on a limb and pretty much got wasted getting the right blend. (I STILL can't smell vodka right now!)

Lemon/Rosemary martini:

Rosemary sugar syrup:
Ingredients:
3/4 cup fresh rosemary leaves, tightly packed
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. Splenda
1 1/4 cups water

The Martini:
2 ozs. rosemary sugar syrup
4 ounces Grey Goose le citrus-infused vodka
2 ozs. lemon juice or lemon fruit nectar

Directions:

Rosemary sugar syrup: (This is listed first due to the chilling time)

1. In a food processor or blender combine rosemary and 2 tablespoons of the Splenda. Process for a 20-30 seconds to only bruise the rosemary (it’s OK if it isn’t chopped). Smell the wonderful aroma.

2. In a medium saucepan combine the remaining Splenda, water, and rosemary mixture. Heat just to boiling, stirring to dissolve the Splenda. Simmer on low for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 30 minutes. Strain once then strain again through a coffe filter, discard solids, and thoroughly chill the syrup (about an hour). It is not a thick syrup. It IS flavorful though.

The Martini:

1. Pour the vodka, rosemary sugar syrup and lemon juice into a shaker 3/4 full of ice. Shake well.
2. Retrieve your martini glass and strain. Get a little crazy and garnish with a rosemary sprig if you choose.

*I looked for "lemon nectar" in the grocery store. Aside from all the other nectars available, this one wasn't. I looked up the definition of nectar which states (Webster's New World Dictionary of Culinary Arts), refers to nectar in the United States as "undiluted fruit juice or a mixture of fruit juices," So I took two lemons, cut down the sides, removed the peel and the white pith, cut and separated the sections out, removed the seeds, and blended in the blender. I then strained (one time) the juice and waahlaah. Nectar. I'm assuming. It's worth the trouble. Make extra because the drink tastes better with nectar instead of just pure lemon juice.

The end of the season

This morning it was 38 degrees. There was frost covering everything and I felt a sudden panic that my basil was in terrible terrible danger (which it was). I had picked the vegetables in the picture a few days before and thought it was best to document the last of the garden bounty since Mr. Frost had decided to visit and was apt to come back again soon. I feel little pangs of guilt that I didn't do more with the garden this year, but to satisfy myself, I say I didn't do too bad either. I managed a batch of pesto and dried a TON of parsley before I ripped it up.

I have a shitty cold that continues to keep me from having a restful sleep. I'm definately a nose breather when comes to nestling down for the night and it's hard to keep one nostril open so I can zonk out. It switches sides too. I'll wake up at 3am and have to get the OTHER nostril unclogged so I can breathe. At least Bob doesn't have to suffer with me right now.

I tell myself I should have posted my chicken tortilla soup recipe but I didn't take a picture of it. It was the perfect solution for my crappy cold. Easy too. I have leftovers so I'll post it tomorrow.

I decided that I'm going to give Bread Baking Babes a whirl this month too. I saw a post on Lucullian Delights about Challah bread so I thought, why not. I've been eyeballing their posts for a little while now and think I can work up the courage to participate. There's no way I'm in the same league as these talented ladies but I'm going to give it a try! Tomorrow I'm popping over to Sara's page (she's the host this month) for the recipe and instructions. Anyone else game to try with me?

Strange visiter

I was going outside to light the grill and saw, what I thought was, a green leaf stuck to the side of the house. I almost flicked it until I noticed that it had white stripes, and eyeballs. Now we have the "usual" frogs around here and I have never seen anything like this unless I was watching The National Geographic Channel or Animal Planet. I'd like to pick it up but frankly it kinda creeps me out. It would be hard for me to not think that it's a poison tree frog and I only have minutes to live after touching it. Cute fella though. As long as it stays away from me.

Recycle Day: (APPLE BREAD FRENCH TOAST)

Desire: I wish I knew how to type so that my thoughts could keep up with my fingers.

Goal: I'm going to find a program, or something, so I can learn.

Ah. Now I feel better. I would like to be able to look at the screen as I'm typing. That would be great. I'm VERY anal retentive about certain things and miss-spelling is one of those things. I'll lose my train of thought if I see a miss-spelled word. I hate losing my train of thought. Onward to recycling my Apple Chunk Bread.

I couldn't put Kevin through one more grilled ham and cheese on Apple Chunk Bread. Even though I thought it was a fabulous idea I couldn't make him eat any more this week. I think he had three or four. My husband says that I can beat a dead horse until it's alive again (CPR) so no more beating horses. The bread was getting stale anyway so I thought making french toast was a good alternative.

I whisked 2 eggs and a healthy splash of milk with a fork in a shallow pasta bowl. I then sliced the already stale bread into 1 1/2 inch slices. I'm being a bit bass ackword here but I had a morning school bus to compete against for time and did things as I thought of them. Alton Brown (whom I LOVE) had a great episode on french toast, if you're interested, and you'd see why I feel bass ackword.

I dipped each side for a healthy, one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two, one-thousand-three, kind of timing. I grilled each side in a non-stick pan that had been preheated on medium heat and sprayed lightly with oil. Kevin tore them up along with his maple sausages. Success!