Yummo Potato Soup

For the past week or so, I have been in the mood for eating soups. I've had a few soups for lunch at work. And I've been wanting to make homemade chili and potato soup for dinner as well. Because the weather has suddenly turned so cool, I took that as a sign to get cooking!

This afternoon, Carlton actually accompanied me to the grocery store (GASP! That NEVER happens!). Because I had a strict list of aisle-to-aisle ingredients needed to make my potato soup and chili (no time wasted by skipping back and forth between aisles, we gotta be efficient!), Carlton agreed to tag along for moral support and general lighthearted company. (It's always nice to browse the aisles with a goofy buggy pusher alongside or behind you.)

Tonight was potato soup night. I think it turned out pretty tasty, and Carlton agreed enthusiastically. The only other potato soup I ever made from scratch was last year, and it turned out really salty, thick, and super rich... nice for a sinful taste, but very hard to eat as a meal. I was wary about making this recipe because it was derived from a few different recipes I found online and combined, and who really knows how that might turn out? I'm calling it Yummo Potato Soup because I was watching Rachel Ray on TV while I made my shopping list, and her vocabulary could inspire anyone to cook a yummo meal in 30 minutes.

Yummo Potato Soup

- Lots of potatoes (I used a whole bag of medium red potatoes and left on the skins after I scrubbed them really well)

- 4 tablespoons butter

- 1/2 cup chopped sweet onion

- 1/4 cup chopped celery

- 1/2 shallot, diced

- 1/2 teaspoon thyme (I had Herbs de Provence so I used that instead)

- 1/4 teaspoon salt

- 1/4 teaspoon pepper

- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

- 1 cup half-and-half

- 2 cups chicken stock

- 1 cup milk

- 1/4 cup sour cream

- 2 cups shredded cheese

- 8 slices bacon, save drippings for seasoning

(Because I bought turkey bacon, turned the stove on to cook it, and pretty-much-instantaneously burned it because it was mostly fat free, we didn't have the bacon or its drippings for the soup. Word of advise: use regular bacon because it's real bacon and not some nasty turkey wannabe substitute. Did you know turkey bacon comes pre-cut with a scalloped edge so that when it cooks and shrinks up, it curls like real bacon? Yuk!)

Scrub potatoes and chop into bite-size pieces. Put into a deep pot of boiling water at let boil until the largest pieces are fully cooked. Mine were about the size of a nickel, and about 1/4" thick, so they cooked to be soft all the way through in about 10-15 minutes. Once cooked, drain potatoes and set aside until later.

In a very large cooking pot, start by melting 2 tablespoons butter and tossing in the chopped onion, celery, and shallot. Let this cook on low-medium heat until it becomes transparent but not brown. Add in herbs, salt, and pepper, stir well, then move all veggies to the side of your pot.

Toss in your other two tablespoons of butter. You'll make a rue by melting the butter on one side of the pot by itself and adding in the two tablespoons of flour. Stir these together until they create a paste (this is your rue, see photos below), and then mix them in with the rest of your veggies/butter mix. That will make your soup nice and soupy-thick like potato soup should be.

Stir in your chicken stock first to de-glaze the cooking surface of any buttery-veggie-goodness, then add the milk and half-and-half, and then work in your sour cream. At this point, you would also add in your bacon drippings and most broken bacon pieces (saving some for toppings). Turn the heat up to medium-high and let the creamy soup thicken for a few minutes at a simmer. Stir constantly to be sure it doesn't burn to the bottom of your cooking pot.

Slowly add in your 2 cups of shredded cheese, stirring constantly as you add it in. I used Velveeta because I wanted to be sure it would melt in easily and not clump up or be stringy, and it turned out great... plus, Velveeta now comes already shredded!

Once the cheese is melted in evenly, add your potatoes into the soup mixture and turn heat down to low. Cover and let stew for as long as you can stand it... which won't be long, because this stuff smells awesome!

I shredded some sharp cheddar and chopped some green onions to sprinkle over the top, and coated mine in a healthy, fresh cracking of black pepper. (It would have been more amazing with the bacon in the soup as well as some sprinkled on top, but with burned turkey bacon in the trashcan, what can a girl do?) With a little dipping action courtesy of Sister Schubert (freezer section yeast roll goodness wrapped up in a pie dish), this meal couldn't possibly go wrong!

(As a sidenote, I didn't use full-fat, full-sodium products. And as one result of that, we didn't have bacon in the soup, but hey, I could'a saved us from a heart attack for that one. ;) I used reduced fat sour cream no fat half-and-half, no fat low sodium chicken stock, and skim milk as substitutes for the real stuff. The soup was probably a little thinner than it would have been otherwise. I also chickened out of using the real stuff because that's what I did with the recipe I used when I made potato soup last year, and that was the soup we didn't eat because it was too rich and salty in the end I am glad I took the healthier route.)

Ode To A Toilet Paper Holder

Ode To A Toilet Paper Holder

Oh, Toilet Paper Holder, with your handsome brushed nickel finish in your original packaging,
How I ponder where to hang you in our slightly green bathroom.
The previous owners obviously liked you enough to save you from the grimy shelves of WalMart
only to lose decorating inspiration when you wouldn't really fit anywhere convenient.
They left you under the sink in the cabinet instead, alone in a dark and unfamiliar place.
I sit where I should sit for Toilet Paper Holder placement inspiration,
imagining you on the wall in front of me.


But that's right next to the shower and you'd only bruise my knees when I step out all clean.
(Plus, the poor TP would get soaked all the time.)
I turn to my left and spot the side of the sink cabinet.
But reaching that far to the side is like reaching too far back, and it's just plain difficult.


Should I open the cabinet door and hang you on the inside, away from plain sight?
Nah, that would hide your handsomeness. Plus, your screws would go through the door.


I can't just ignore you and leave the toilet paper perched on the lid of the toilet tank.
That would be a travesty for goodness sake!

Decisions, decisions.

Our inherited bounty

Top Finds When Moving Into A House That's New... To You:

(Some of these TOP FINDS are positive and exciting while others are depressing, funny, or gross. But it's all a part of moving in after someone else has just moved out!)

1.) Knife sharpener for both straight edge and serrated edge knives. Since we got a fairly nice set of stainless steel knives as a wedding gift over two years ago, I have used our knives just about every day and haven't sharpened them once. This summer, they didn't even really want to slice through tomato skins, so I knew I needed to hunker down and whip out that long scary pole sharpener that came with the knife set. But, eureka! Upon moving into the new-to-us home, I discovered a fancy knife sharpener in an unemptied junk drawer in the kitchen.

2.) Fleas in the front and back yards. Yup, you read that right... fleas! Poor Little Vespa with her fair pink skin and champagne fur has revealed countless little scampering fleas on her warm little undercarriage. What blood sucking insect wouldn't want to cozy on up on a belly like that? It's a good thing she's on her regular flea/tick/heartworm medication, or I would be even more worried. For now, Hubby is playing his part and spraying the yard with some serious stuff and that should hold down the fort for about 3 months....

3.) Light switches that make absolutely no sense. What. So. Ever. We have a light switch in the house that controls whether or not two other light switches actually work! I swear, it makes absolutely no sense. At all! We flip the switch ON and neither the dining room chandelier or the kitchen overhead lights will turn on. We flip the switch OFF and both dining room and kitchen lights are good to go. See? No sense at all! And what kills me is, the switch is in the living room. Yes, seriously.

4.) A lonely Lurch-like old man next door neighbor who yells at the neighborhood dogs all day. I actually watched our next door neighbor man this morning tromp across the street, shaking his fist the whole way... the way Tim Gunn shakes his fist, or like the President points... with his thumb facing forward. This neighbor man, he marched right up to the fence in the back yard of the house across the street from his and shook his fist and hollered at the dogs to stop barking. They would eventually stop. And then start again once he want back to his house. And the vicious cycle would repeat. While this may seem comical at first glance, I better NEVER catch him in our yard yelling at yippy littly Puppa, no matter what!

5.) An unexpected microwave. I was so excited with hopes that the previous owners would leave behind some of their cute furniture that I actually had a dream a couple weeks ago that they left all of it! Now, that didn't actually happen, but we did turn the key to our new home to discover a rather nice looking microwave sitting on the kitchen counter. Woohoo! That's one more appliance we don't need to buy.

6.) Drippy toilets. Two of them. And that's all the toilets our house has! While my parents were in town, my dad quick-fixed the simple issue with the hallway toilet and it immediately quit running. But he didn't get a chance to check out the toilet in the master bathroom, which is the reason that thing trickled and tinkled and kept me awake for two nights before Carlton and I decided to cut the water to it. My dad's quick fix to the hallway bathroom didn't work on the bedroom bathroom, but in my early afternoon frustrations yesterday I discovered the source! The half-shell shaped clapper plug isn't sealing completely, causing water to trickle constantly. Off to Home Depot we go!

7.) A fancy stainless grill with built-in thermometer and smoking chamber. That's right, guys, they just left it here. It's a good looking little grill, with a retro shape to it, and our grill was one thing we sold before we left Arizona, so this was a great surprise!

8.) Congratulatory wedding gifts left of the doorstep. The couple who lived here before us got married the weekend before the closing of the house. Their online wedding registries weren't updated with their new address until this week. I mean, how tempting was THAT! I had to call them and let them know that a gigantic package addressed to Mrs. Erin & Mr. Ted had arrived on our new doorstep. That Bed Bath & Beyond was calling my name, but I have a feeling those sheets would have been tainted if I had kept them for my greedy little self.

9.) No internet. None until the 14th of October. Carlton is going out of his computer lover's brain, just trying to hold onto that stolen single point of internet from a faraway neighbor's password-not-protected wireless router. Off to the Red Box for another $1/night movie rental!

10.) Unpacking our own wedding gifts after two years of waiting to enjoy them. We've gotten tons of use out of our casserole dishes, everyday china, and other kitchen necessary items. But I have been waiting for the day when we would be finished moving across town and across the country to open all the breakable, expensive, and extra special goodies. They've all awaited their grand opening in my bedroom at my parents' house for over 2 years, and we have had SO MUCH FUN in the rediscovery of all the beautiful (and some incredibly ugly and useless) gifts that were given to us!

11.) Surprise! A washer and dryer! That's right kids, the previous owners left behind a perfectly good washer and dryer. If we didn't have our very own HE front load washer and dryer that I love, we would be even more excited about this handsome somewhat-new set of appliances. This is a great set to sell at our next yard sale, and we didn't have to do anything but wheel them out of the kitchen!

12.) Our first real mail at our first real home. It couldn't have been better: Katie Anne sent us some precious school pictures! This was the perfect first mail to get at our new home! I opened the rusty little mailbox door and one lonely little yellow envelope smiled at me from inside. No bills, no junk mail, no wedding gift cards that would need to be turned over to the previous owner. Just a sweet, happy little yellow envelope with pretty little pictures inside. :)

Thanks, thanks, and more thanks to my fam for helping out so much! How much do we owe you?

Crafts from the past!

Today I went into work from 9:00 until about 4:45. Suzanne needed a full staff today because the shop was holding a customer appreciation auction at 2:00 in the afternoon, and many guests were expected to be in attendance. I acted as Camera Girl throughout the event. As soon as I retrieve my pictures and short video from Suzanne's store camera, I'll let you in on the eventful occasion.

The reason behind this blog entry is exciting! It was so unexpected that Suzanne called all of us girls into the back office around noon, before many patrons started flooding in. She had two gigantic boxes filled to the brim with magazines, books, patterns, and other printed materials that she had inherited from a long-ago customer's stash overflow. Hardback and paperback books on crocheting, knitting, embroidery, cross stitch, quilting, and more crafts were overflowing from the boxes. Suzanne invited us to rummage through the boxes, claiming that she hadn't been able to get rid of their contents in many, many years. Her plan was to have us rummage through and take what we pleased, and auction the rest of the goodies at the event later in the afternoon.

Well, oh well, did I come away with some great reference materials! I got lots of vintage inspiration from the 60's, 70's, and 80's. I found a few good books on knitting, and I also took some cross stitch and other great sources just because they interested me, or because I liked how the book looked. Thanks, Suzanne, for all of the great books!

This super-vintage book (printed in the 40's!) on making lace really makes me want to learn the craft, and soon!

I liked the cover of this embroidery book so much I couldn't let any fellow employee grab it. I'm imagining a hooty sort of toss pillow....


One of the best discoveries was this box filled with patterns for knitting, crocheting, needlepoint, cross stitch, and other crafts... all in one!


This last one was just a loose page floating amongst the chaos. Knitting a sweater with only two skeins of yarn? Sure! If nothing else, she sure is fabulous enough to frame.

Baby Alpaca!

New plan on the yarn for this dream sweater I posted about earlier. All I would need is this one spool, and this yarn will save about $100. And I like it just as much as the high end linen yarn I originally listed. Plus, won't the sweater be pretty in this green color?

Something to know, and a word of advice

Something to know:
We have a fly catcher, also known as fly paper, also known as a fly ribbon, hanging in our tiny little laundry room here in the apartment. You know, those sticky things you hang from your ceiling. Flies are attracted to them, fly into them, get stuck in the sticky goo, and die there after a long, torturous, and fruitless struggle to break free. I think they're great tools to use against these annoying house pests. However, something to know, and something for a southerner to keep in mind, is that gnats are not attracted to this fly ribbon. So it's been hanging in our tiny laundry room, right by the door and in front of where I keep my Swiffer Wet Jet, broom, iron, and laundry detergent since we moved in. A naked and useless sticky ribbon I have ducked below and maneuvered around for months. Silliness, I know.


A word of advice:
Don't go reaching for your Swiffer Wet Jet and broom to do house work on a rainy Thursday afternoon with this playing through the computer speakers without watching where you're reaching first. I stuck my arm--from thumb to elbow--directly onto that useless, annoying, and empty fly ribbon. Like hot, wet gum from the asphalt to your shoe, this thing had tiny stringy stickies that stretched for about 3 inches before they broke! Anyone know what gets fly ribbon sticky off your skin? Well, I still don't. From thumb to elbow, my arm is still a bit tacky to the touch. And after plenty of time spent scrubbing at the bathroom sink with an old rag and nail polish remover, all I got was lint stuck in the stick, an irritated streak of skin, and a stinky arm!

A bit nutty

Fall crafts are about to begin! I just found my source for buying the acorns I need.


Can you believe they actually have a blog? There's actually an entry showing how to make cute crafts using their acorns, and they were really cute! How about this pint-size version of your favorite porch accessory for Halloween:


Or, maybe you're in the mood for something a little more subdued and subtle. Try a wreath or the frame of a mirror covered in acorn caps, like this one from Martha Stewart's crafts site... very posh:


Personally, the first thing I'm going to do after ordering (probably just a) pound of the Acorno acorns (aside from keeling over from the $10 shipping fee!) is zip myself over to Hobby Lobby to purchase as many felted fiber balls as I can find. Then, I'm splatting in the middle of the living room floor, hot glue gun in one hand and acorn caps/felt balls in the other. I'm making my long-hoped-for-and-dreamed-about felted acorns! Yippeeeeeeee!!!

Vespa's New Trick

Carlton and I have been clapping for Vespa lately when she rears up on her little bottom and waves at us with her front paws, which has added lots of encouragement for her make the adorable move more often. Yesterday afternoon on a whim I decided to associate a command with the move, and this smart little dog figured out what I meant within 2 commands! As soon as Carlton came home from work I had to show him. This afternoon, Carlton got a hold of my camera and we headed up onto the bed to get a video of Vespa in action. She's having so much fun, she has to roll around in celebration after every move!

Do you think she's showing off for the camera?

Just a little shopping around...

I've found myself shopping for decorations for a future house. And not really so much of that cute stuff over at Target or Target.com. I really like the idea of having lots of handmade things all over.

Remember the kick-butt program I found that would turn any picture you download into a "Paint By Numbers" image? I would love to get a few girls together one weekend, pick my range of paint colors to coordinate with the house decor, have a selection of images ready to go with canvases and brushes, and set those girls to decorating my new house with original artwork! Who's up for it?!?

I've been peeping around Etsy quite a bit, too. The daily report of Etsy Finds that comes to my email account is a great way to get my shopping spree headed in the right direction. Lately, I've been attracted to a lot of milk glass (milky white glass in lots of different shapes, mostly vases) and little love birds made out of tons of different materials.

This super cute and whimsical wreath by artist Agnes Blum at her shop, KnockKnocking, is right up my alley, and I can absolutely picture it hanging inside the kitchen on the door leading out to the carport. The perfect place to make seasonal changes!

I think this small ceramic plaque by Sikiu would be adorable in any space... on a tiny stand on a side table in the living room, hanging in the bedroom next to the door, in the bathroom with other little bird artwork... the possibilities are endless!

This trio of wall hanging bud vases by Eikcam wasn't on the short list of milk glass or bird inspired art, but they are high up on my list of wants because they would pair perfectly with a set of original watercolor paintings I purchased many years ago in Florence, Italy and have yet to frame, hang, and adore:


(see the paintings and how perfectly they'd match up to the bud vases? forgive my pitiful camera phone image)


And then, some of the pretty milk glass I've found:

I'll let you know if I actually purchase any of these pretty things once all the papers for the house are signed! For now, I'm trying to stay as frugal as possible and just looking around.

Vespa's got a new 'do and new neck gear!

Today was a fun day for Vespa and me! While Vespa was waited on paw and foot at PetSmart Grooming Services, I got to go shopping at Target and Hobby Lobby as well as eat lunch at Moe's!

{{{ Side Story: If you haven't heard the tale before, I will go ahead now. Oh, the horror! Vespa went to a groomer here in Moultrie that was recommended to me my a co-worker. This co-worker (who will remain nameless) has a chihuahua and takes him regularly for baths and nail trims (keep in mind, this short-haired tiny dog doesn't require full grooming services like our Puppa's diva self). She likes that he always comes home with a hip new bandanna around his neck. So I made an appointment for the Thursday that I left for my sister's birthday weekend/Pampered Chef party at Katie's house (July 23rd). Because I left town after dropping Vespa off, Carlton picked her up during his lunch break. I got the report later that evening that Vespa's grooming experience was... well... sub par. I experienced this part when we dropped her off: the "groomer's office" was actually a lady's laundry room in her home. The rusty front-load washer and dryer were a base for the crusty bathtub where each dog was bathed. A table in another corner was equipped with the shears, buzzer (?), and other tools for grooming. And in between were walls of full dog kennels, stacked on top of each other. Just gross, very cramped, very noisy, very stressful, and depressing! What I didn't know when we dropped her off, and what Carlton told me later that night, was how Vespa's grooming appointment would turn out. She came home with one schnauzeresque eyebrow and the other one shaved even with the rest of her face. The hair in her ears hadn't been plucked (the insides of her ears get very hairy thanks to both poodle and yorkie breeds, so they get very hot, which is a breeding ground for germs that cause ear infections, or long-term effects, deafness). And to top it all off with a load of crap... what we call her "undercarriage" was, well, not groomed at all. Not around her bottom, not around her "area". Not even trimmed! Just totally ignored. So, even if the grooming hadn't been so negligent and pitiful work, Vespa would not have gone back to this groomer. The environment was crusty enough to make me want to wash my hands after "signing in" at the door (aka next to her freshly dried personal underwear basket on the shelf). To PetSmart we go! This means, Vespa gets groomed while I buy toiletries and such at Target. }}}

This morning Vespa was not at all prepared to leave for the groomer's. "We're not going to see Naomi? Then I'm not going and you can't make me!" Can you find her belly-up legs and tail hidden in the covers?


Once we arrived for her appointment, I told Sam (the girl who was grooming her) all of Vespa's specs which I memorized from Naomi's notes in Arizona. A short #7 all over, ears shaved and then sheared to the leather, a teddy bear head on the shorter side up top, angular trim around the paws, and a fan tail. Sam was impressed with my in-the-know lingo. I'm just glad I remembered everything, because Vespa turned out great! It's not as spot-on meticulously perfect as Naomi's scissor work, but Sam did a pretty darn good job and I am sooooo pleased... I couldn't be happier! Here she is, in all her glory, sitting in the apartment window sill and dreaming about the back yard she will soon be able to lay in the sun and guard 24/7:


Not only did Vespa's new groomer Sam please me, but so did PetSmart's new line of Pet Head soaps, leashes, collars, toys, clothes, and more. We're all familiar with the line of lazy people friendly hair products, Bed Head, and now they've got a posh new line for dogs! The clothes were like a combination of Harley Davidson and High School Musical... the shampoos, soaps, and other bathing treatments are bottled exactly like the human version--very cute. And, I just couldn't resist purchasing two new collars for Little Miss Prissy Pants. Here, she was so excited when I got them out of the bag (she knew they were for her), she brought Priscilla the Opossum up to see:


By far, one of her most favorite toys is her own collar! We allow "Naked Sunday" around here, which means Vespa gets to roam the apartment without her collar on (rest assured, we're clothed full-time!). Once we reach for that buckle, she freaks out, bouncing around and whimpering like crazy! After it's off, she picks the collar up with her mouth and off she goes to love on it and chew on it. She was ready to do that with her new collar as soon as I clipped it from its packaging!


Well, a few weeks ago I forgot I gave her one of my favorite collars of hers (lavender with glittery rhinestones all the way around, plus, it was on clearance--also at Pestmart--when I bought it so her sissy Shi got a matching one in mint green)! And this is what happened after I forgot she had it for 15 minutes:


Now that she was down to one last collar with a semi-chipped plastic clip closure, she was in need of a new neck accessory... and these were so perfect. The one she is modeling is black with black sequins stitched together with a very hot pink stitching. The other is a hot pink and black canvas argyle with purple detail stitching, complete with rhinestones and frayed edges at the ends... you know... for that hard core broken-in look. Below is the freshly groomed Vespa, excited enough about her new get-up to become a blur.

Early wishes

I know it's only August 31st. And, I know my birthday isn't until November 1st. But I've found something that I know I want for my birthday:


Or, at least, the materials to make it. I found this beautiful long cardigan, called the Mountain View Cardigan, by following my usual link-to-link-to-link clicking process. Who knows what I clicked on to get to her page, but I found it, and I like it. Just another knitter to follow, I suppose.

I even like the color of it. A grayish-taupe sort of color. Pretty with white, bright, or black underneath. Jeans or slacks, skirt or shorts. Winter or spring, anything goes for this one. I love the length she made it to--hitting right at the hips. And the extra extended cuffs add a great balance to the ribbed waistline. They would actually be really pretty as 3/4 sleeves too, I think.


(For future reference, for whomever finds the motivation or kindheartedness to coordinate a group-giving of the materials for happy birthdayness:

-Euroflax Sport Weight Linen (100% linen), 7 skeins, color 36 Natural
-US 4 (3.5 mm) double pointed needles (I already own enough of these)
-US 3 (3.25mm) double pointed needles, 3 pairs (I know they're ebony, which makes them expensive, and that's why they're on a wish list and not found at Hobby Lobby... "high end" is why I don't have ebony yet)
-Row Counter because it's hard to remember: was I on stitch 178 of row 213, or stitch 213 of row 178? Oh, now I've missed Tim encouraging all the designers to "Make it work!" because I was re-counting stitches for the 48th time... or, was it for the 84th time???
-Darning Needles, one set of three in that tidy green case)

It's going to be a rather expensive cardigan to knit. The ebony DPNs are on my wish list because they're a luxury and I will love them forever... but they're definitely not a "whim" sort of purchase. And on top of that, 7 skeins of yarn for $25/skein is pretty ridiculous! I did find a discount yarn provider here that offers the exact yarn--color and fiber--at $20/skein. I also found a site here that offers this yarn in 1/2 lb. cones at a discounted price. I'd need 3 of these cones vs 7 skeins. Getting the 3 cones would save you about $6, which is awesome if you ask me. I exhausted all other sites listed as discount yarn providers, so this was my best price. I've also considered other fibers that might be cheaper, but they're just not right for the sweater. So, I like the expensive stuff... what's new?

So now I have very greedily shared my way-ahead-of-time birthday wish list with you. Not that I'm expecting any of it, actually. This was, in fact, pretty much just fun to plan out. Plus, Carlton knows that this is pretty much a blatant hint slapping him in between the eyes... :)