Homemade Mushroom Soup

We love mushrooms! I found this recipe via Pinterest and once I showed it to my husband he said we had to make it. It was actually pretty easy and delicious. The recipe is the perfect portion for 2 people. The second time we made the soup we added more mushrooms and left some of them whole for more texture. 

Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh mushrooms - cleaned and chopped finely

*(you can use a variety of mushrooms)

1 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic - chopped

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 cup chicken stock

1 tsp flour dissolved in 1 tbsp water

Salt to taste

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup milk

Dash of nutmeg

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Fresh parsley or thyme for garnish

Pumpernickel bread

Cheese or your choice

Directions:

Heat olive oil in sauce pan. Add butter and lightly saute garlic on medium heat. Add in mushrooms, thyme, bay leaf and Worcestershire sauce. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add in chicken broth. Stir occasionally until broth boils, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add diluted flour and stir constantly until mixture thickens. Season with salt and nutmeg. Finally, add milk and heavy cream, and bring to a boil. Turn heat off. Serve with freshly ground black pepper and garnish. We served the soup with Pumpernickel bread and asiago cheese on top. Enjoy!



January Happenings

I haven't blogged in a couple weeks because we have been so busy. Our 2012 is filling up fast and we are looking forward to all the events in the coming months. Lately, we have been attending baby showers, birthday dinners, and of course watching A LOT of football.
Here are some pics from our January!

Caroline's Baby Shower

Sam sent me flowers at work...I was completely surprised.

Gift Idea: Bottle of wine, kitchen towel, & earrings.

Celebrating Birthdays. Happy 27th Lee!

Crunchy Chicken Casserole

One day I was craving water chestnuts. I remembered my mother use to make a casserole with water chestnuts so I called her for the recipe. It was easy to make and just as delicious as I remember.

Crunchy Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:

2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded

1 cup diced celery

1 cup cooked rice (I used brown rice)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

3/4 cup light mayo

1 cup sliced water chestnuts

1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted

1 (2 ounce) jar diced pimentos

1/2 cup diced onion

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

2/3 cup shredded cheese (optional)

Paprika (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients except cheese and paprika until well blended. Place in 2 quart casserole dish and bake uncovered for 45 minutes. Garnish with cheese and/or paprika for the last 10 minutes of baking time. Enjoy!

Colorado Adventure

We were so lucky to be able to travel to Colorado for New Years Eve this year. Some of our best friends, Dr. and Mrs. Johnson moved to Denver to start his residency. When we landed it was snowing, so we hit the road to Breckenridge for a little ski action. We had such a good time on the mountain and enjoying the night life. The only downfall was that the ski resorts haven't had a lot of snow this year so most of the runs were closed, especially at the top. We headed back to Denver a couple days later to enjoy some local spots and to meet baby knight. We spent NYE watching the olive drop and fireworks at the Tavern Downtown Denver. We had such a great vacation and we can wait to visit again. Maybe this summer to do some Hiking!



Colorado Recommendations:

Mi Casa - http://www.micasamexicanrestaurant.com/

Daylight Donuts - http://daylightdonuts.com/

Snooze - http://snoozeameatery.com/

Sushi Den - http://sushiden.net/

Denver Biscuit Co. - http://www.denbisco.com/

One morning we made a Sausage Breakfast Casserole that was super easy to prepare and delicious...here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

6 eggs

1 cup shredded cheese

1 tsp. dry mustard

1 tsp. oregano

1 lb. pork sausage

1 cup Bisquick baking mix

2 cups milk

Directions:

Brown and drain sausage. Mix all ingredients and pour into greased 9X13 baking dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight (this is the key!). The next morning, bake the casserole at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Enjoy!

A Year in Review

Gosh has this been a busy 2011...tons of showers, weddings, babies, vacations and many more adventures.

Here are a few pictures from our year in review!

Moore-Lunsford Wedding

Vegas Bachelorette

Edwards-Price Wedding

Hutchins-Sims Wedding

Johns-Edwards Wedding

 

Our Wedding 5.21.2011



Honeymoon - St. Lucia

Beach Trip to Amelia Island

  

Brittni's 10 year party

Walking for a Cure - Remembering Kory Potts

Cheering on the Dawgs this football season

Bowen-Johnston Wedding

We also celebrated the Wood-Gary Wedding, the Whalen-Anderson Wedding and the Tidd-Sanders Wedding. We had showers, showers and more showers. We had friends that had babies and lots of celebrating this year. Whew! It was busy and it was a blast. Can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for Sam and I!