Semi Home Made Chicken Soup

After spending half of the night awake with Eric and the morning getting my finial holiday cleaning done, I was just too tired to make dinner. The holiday cleaning today involved cleaning out crevices of the stove with a tooth pick. I also cleaned the drip pans and under the drip pans till they did not look almost 30 years old. I could not do anything with the enamel that had been scoured off over the years. Picking up and tossing, scrubbing and cleaning the rest of the house and the never ending pile of laundry. Somehow I am pretty sure our ancestors did not go through this in the Exodus from Egypt.


So this is where my semi homemade chicken soup comes into play.

I made the recipe for Matzo Balls from the Manischewitz Matzo Meal can. I have not asked permission to include the recipe, so if they decide they want me to take the recipe down I will remove it from my blog. But really this is the absolutely best Matzo Ball recipe; we have been using it for at least 4 generations in my family(my daughter Teri just made this for the first time in her own house yesterday).

Manischewitz Matzo Balls

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

2 large eggs, slightly beaten

½ cup of Manischewitz Matzo Meal

1 teaspoon of salt if desired (I use salt if I use water instead of broth)

2 tablespoons of water

Blend the vegetable oil, eggs, water and salt together. Add the Manischewitz Matzo Meal and blend well. Here is where I change the directions a little. (They say place in the fridge for 15 minutes)Place in the refrigerator for a minimum of 6 hours, over night is better. They will come out fluffier.

Make as many 1 inch in diameter balls as you can. Place on a wet plate and keep your hands wet so that they do not stick. Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Drop the balls in the pot and simmer on a lower temperature for 30 to 40 minutes. When the Matzo Balls are all floating they are done.

For the Semi Homemade Chicken Soup

14.5 ounce package of Trader Joes Mirepoix mix

12 ounces of Trader Joes Just Chicken Strips

32 ounces of Trader Joes Free Range Chicken Broth

In your soup pot place Mirepoix mix and heat at a medium temperature till the onions are translucent.

Cut the chicken in to bite size pieces. Add the chicken and broth. Heat the soup for at least 30 minutes, to blend the flavors. Add the Matzo Balls and serve.

For the holidays serve with matzo and enjoy your evening with your loved ones.

Please note that I have not been paid or given coupons or product for any of the above items. All the items came out of my grocery budget. All the opinions are my own.

Charosis - A Passover Recipe

The holidays are fast approaching and my daughter Teri has requested a family favorite. Charosis is part of the sedar plate for the Passover service we have at home. Since Passover is a difficult holiday if you don’t use eggs, we also use this for breakfast, thus the larger than normal qualities. I also make mine nut free which is different from most recipes you will see.




Charosis

¼ cup honey

1 pound of chopped dates - grated

1 to 2 pounds of apples – grated (use very firm apples)

¼ cup of grape juice

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Sugar to taste, some people like their Charosis on the very sweet side, but unless the apples are very tart I tend to skip the extra sugar.

Finely grate or chop the apples and the dates. I use the medium grating attachment of my Kitchen Aide Mixer. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Please feel free to adjust the seasonings to taste. Place the covered bowl in the fridge overnight.

For breakfast I usually use ½ cup of Charosis on 1 matzo.

This is not a paid advertisement for Kitchen Aide. I have had my Kitchen Aide K-5 Mixer since about 1978 and it still one of my favorite kitchen workhorses. Way back then I invested 2 paychecks to buy it and it has been one of my best and longest lasting kitchen appliances.

Have a great evening and enjoy your families.

I will take any holiday recipe request you my dear reader ask for.

Remaking of a quilt

Well this is the queen size quilt that I started before Teri was born and was going to hand quilt. Once Eric came into our lives this just did not happen. When we needed a new quilt for our bed John in his wisdom suggested that I revamp this quilt. So I went on a fabric hunt and found some fabric that would go with the material I bought 25 years ago. It is not an exact match, but close enough to make a pretty addition to the quilt.


I will start the ripping out of the hand quilting right after I finish spring cleaning, which will be next week sometime. Just in case you are wondering I will not be hand assembling or hand quilting this quilt. This also means that Teri will not have to deal with a half finished quilt some day.

Have a great evening and enjoy your families.

Check out this food label

My nomination for the worst ingredient label I have encountered in a long time


The Product is called Honey Sauce and I will not name the company that distributes it.

The ingredients in order are: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sugar, Honey, Corn Syrup, Natural Flavor and Carmel Color.

My question is why not use plain old fashion honey?

And no I did not use it, I used old fashioned honey.

Have a great day and enjoy your families

Summer Slaw

It has been a while since I posted last. I have been very busy and getting a lot of things done. I have made a lot of stitch markers, a few earrings and key chains for the shows I have schduled and a lot of spring cleaning. Speaking of spring,here is one of my families favorite summer recipies.

Summer Slaw

Prep time less than 5 minutes. Make at least 1 hour before serving to chill.

2 pounds of Dole Coleslaw Mix with carrots
1/2 cup of  Sun Maids Goldens and Cherries
1/2 cup od Marie's Coleslaw Dressing

Take the coleslaw mix. Rinse and drain well. Add the Goldens and Cherries along with the Coleslaw dressing. Toss in the dressing, cover and place in the fridge till serving time.

For my family this makes 4 servings, but then again we always cover half of our plates with vegies. So at the standard 1/2 cup of vegies per serving this should make a lot more.

*My disclaimer: I have not been paid or given coupons for any items in the above recipe. This has been a family favorite for years. So please enjoy it too.

Have a great day and enjoy your families.

We Are OK

It has been a while sine I last posted. everything is ok here. just more of the sameold,sameold going on. Lots of knitting, late nights, laundry and making stitch markers.

I will list more of the stitch markers once my 2 shows in 2 weeks are over.

Catch me at Kathy's Spring Shearing Festival, the details are in my last blog.

A Must go to Event for Arizona Fiber People

I just love this event. If you have not been to Kathy's ranch it is a real treat. Since it is spring there are sure to be an awful lot of cute babies around. There will be fibre artists who will have very lovely yarn and fibre that you can spin for yourself. Be sure to save some money for Kathy's hand spun lovely yarn, fibre ready for spinning. Kathy also has some Unique one of a kind items in her shop. Did I mention that she is also a weaver, felter, knitter, critter mama and care taker and all around wonder woman. I really admire Kathy and urge you to come and see all the lovelies if you can.

The Tucson Spring Shearing Festival will be the Saturday, March 27, 2010, from 9-3. Danny Smith will be here from Missouri to shear the alpacas, llamas, angora goats, and sheep. Vendors and demonstrators will be here to share their fiber art with you. This is also baby season, so there will be lambs and maybe kids to see and pet. If you are reading my blog, you will see that I have already been posting baby photos. Four more lambs more have been born since the last posting.




A nuno felted scarf will be raffled with the proceeds going to the Casa Maria kitchen.



Upcoming events: The 4th Avenue Street Fair is March 19-21, 2010, so the shop will be closed. I will be in booth number 331 - the southwest side near where I have been the last few times.



The Tucson Wool Festival (Fall shearing here at the ranch) will be November 6, 2010.



I have started an eshop where I am listing some of my nicest yarns. I still have my etsy shop.



My links are:

www.uniquedesignsbykathy.com

www.uniquedesignsbykathy.blogspot.com

www.uniquedesignsbykathyeshop.com

www.uniquedesignsbykathy.etsy.com

jmarckathy@aol.com

520-572-3758



I do hope that you can make it.



Kathy Withers