Dear University,

I need a great job asap.  That is all.

Thank you.

Things My Husband Says, #3

Me: "I've grown accustomed to your face."
D.H.: What's that from?
Me: My Fair Lady
D.H.: Oh, right....doesn't she get raped in that one?
Me: What??  No!  Things like that don't happen in musicals!

Recent Favorites

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.  There are fans.  "ahAAHHHaaaa!"

How much bigger the house looks when it's clean and uncluttered.

Cafe Rio pork salads - I'll miss you the most!

My new pot rack, and the space it freed up in the cupboard

Things Are Happening!

D.H. and I are moving back East!!!

(How's that for subtlety?)

My darling hubby was offered a job in southwestern Pennsylvania, he accepted (after much deliberation and sleepless nights), and now everything is in motion for us to move across the country.

It's all happening very fast, and I'm SO excited!  I will miss my family and friends, and Cafe Rio, and our cute little house....and that is about it.  :)  D.H. and I both work until the end of next week, and then we're packing up and taking off, so when everything goes smoothly we'll be in PA by Labor Day.  Whew! 


For those who are here, we will miss you!  And for those of you back East, we're coming home!!

Recent Favorites

Homemade dulce de leche ice cream sandwiches...divine.

Photo from SmittenKitchen.com

Zapp Brannigan and Kif

Putting in my notice at work!!  Yessss!


Happy Monday, everyone!  Mwah!

Easy-Peasy Chicken Noodle Soup

And no, I'm not talking about from a can.  Easy-peasy homemade chicken noodle soup.  I know - you're swooning right now.  I'll give you a minute...

This soup is so super simple, it's even good to make on a weeknight when you're feeling that craving for homestyle comfort-food goodness.  

My darling husband shredded the chicken for me.  What a trooper.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Serves 4-8, depending on appetite :)

3-4 chicken thighs, cooked, meat shredded

1 tbsp olive oil

3-4 medium carrots, sliced

4 ribs celery, sliced

1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped

3 tbsp flour

6-8 cups chicken stock or chicken broth (start with 6, then adjust according to your preference for slurpiness)

1/4 tsp dried thyme leaves, crushed

1/4 tsp dried rosemary leaves, crushed

salt and pepper to taste

1 bag Kluski noodles (or egg noodles, if you prefer)

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add carrots, celery, and onion and cook until vegetables are tender and browned, about 6 minutes.  Sprinkle flour over vegetables and cook another minute.  Add 1 cup chicken stock and stir until flour is dissolved and mixture thickens, 2-3 minutes.  Transfer everything to a large soup pot.

Add the chicken, chicken stock or broth, thyme, and rosemary to the vegetable mixture and stir to combine.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 25-30 minutes.  Add noodles and simmer until noodles are just tender.  Remove from heat and add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve immediately.  

Chicken Stock

makes 6-8 cups

I had a little extra time, so I made my own chicken stock, which is also SO easy.  You just throw everything in a pot and let it simmer for a couple of hours.  Yum.

3-4 chicken thighs (with or without skins, bone-in is good)

1 onion, cut into chunks

3 carrots, cut into chunks

4 celery ribs (including leaves), cut into chunks

6-8 cups of water

1 bay leaf (if desired)

Combine everything in a large, heavy pot and simmer, covered, for 2-3 hours.  Remove chicken and save for another recipe, strain the stock and discard everything else.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Cherry Brown Butter Bars

I've made these bars twice now, and they are DEEEE-licious.  Not too sweet, surprisingly light (at least for me..the butter makes them taste a little rich but the texture is still light), and incredibly yummy, these bars are perfect for those overcast summer days when it's not too hot to turn your oven on.  Especially since they come together so quickly, and you really only have to dirty one bowl!

Cherry Brown Butter Bars

recipe from Smitten Kitchen

Makes 16 2-inch square bars or 32 2×1-inch bars

Crust:
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
Pinch of salt

Filling:
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, diced
12 oz sweet cherries, pitted

Make crust: Preheat over to 375°F. Cut two 12-inch lengths of parchment paper and trim each to fit the 8-inch width of an 8×8-inch square baking pan. Press it into the bottom and sides of your pan in one direction, then use the second sheet to line the rest of the pan, perpendicular to the first sheet.  (I didn't do this, but I think it would make the remove-the-bars-from-the-pan process a bit easier.)

Mix melted butter, sugar, and vanilla in medium bowl.  Add flour and salt and stir until incorporated. Transfer dough to your prepared pan, and use your fingertips to press the dough evenly across the bottom of the pan. Bake the crust until golden, about 18 minutes (it will puff slightly while baking). Transfer crust to rack and cool in pan. Maintain oven temperature.

Make the filling: Cook butter in heavy small saucepan (a lighter-colored one will make it easier to see the color changing, which happens quickly) over medium heat until deep nutty brown (do not burn), stirring often and watching carefully, about six minutes. Immediately pour browned butter into glass measuring cup to cool slightly.

Whisk sugar, eggs, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Add flour and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Gradually whisk browned butter into sugar-egg mixture; whisk until well blended.

Arrange pitted cherries, or the berries of your choice, in bottom of cooled crust. I was a bit of a cherry glutton and used more than called for - not a great choice, since the bars turned out way too moist with the extra fruit.  If you have extra cherries, feel free to invite me over to eat them as is.  Carefully pour the browned butter mixture evenly over the fruit. Bake bars until filling is puffed and golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.  (The original recipe said 40 minutes, mine cooked in about 25, so I split the difference.  Make sure to pay close attention.)   Cool bars completely in pan on rack.

Use the parchment paper overhang to carefully remove cooled bars from pan and place them on a cutting board and cut them into squares with a very sharp knife.

Cutting tip from Deb: "The cherries, if they fall over your slicing lines, will want to give you trouble but if you saw a sharp knife into them slowly before pressing down, they’ll cut neatly and with minimum carnage."

Recent Favorites

Some of the things that are making me happy lately:

Sweet, fresh peaches in cream.  Best. Breakfast. Ever.

Hilarious.  I've watched this 50 times, and it makes me laugh EVERY time.

These shoes, which are currently on their way to me.  :D

I heart Jewel.  In my eyes she can do no wrong, and this album is great - especially the deluxe edition, which has all 10 of the album songs in acoustic version as well.

Things My Husband Says, #2

while sitting in the lime green version of this chair
D.H.: It's as comfortable as it is stylish!