In August we went to Oregon and Washington to visit DH kids and grand kids. While we were there, I traced everyone's hand and shoe prints with an idea for a Christmas project for each family.
Here they are:
Each one is about 24 inches by 34 inches. If you look close, you can see the difference in hand and shoe sizes, hands make the antlers and shoes, the faces. I glued googlie eyes and pom-poms noses to each reindeer. I think the little ones will get a kick out of the reindeer made for them. They will always be able to look back and see how small their hands and shoes were in 2013. Each one can be hung on the wall or used as a table mat. I think they turned out really cute, hope they do, too. When the rest of the kids have little ones, I will make some for them, too.
We had the last of winter storms come through NM over the weekend. We woke up to 2 inches of snow on the ground today. The last several days it has been gray and rainy.
Here is proof we do get snow here. Tomorrow it is suppose to be in the low 40's and Thanksgiving day low 50's are in the forecast. I am looking forward to sunshine again!
With the cold wet weather I found a great soup recipe to share. We sometimes go out to Mimi's Café for lunch with friends. My favorite there is the corn chowder. I googled for a recipe that might come close to theirs and found they have the recipe on the Mimi's web site. It is so good, I just have to share it with you:
Cafe Corn Chowder
Serves: 6
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 1 - 1.5 hours
Ingredients
¼-cup butter, (½-stick)
6 tablespoons chopped onion
¾-cup diced celery
2-½ cups water
2 cups cubed peeled red or russet potatoes, (½-inch)
2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed (I think next time, I will add an extra 1/4 to 1/2 cup corn)
1 can creamed corn (14 oz)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 dash of white pepper (Regular pepper works fine)
3 tablespoons flour
3 cups half and half cream (I used a pint, 2 cups, of heavy cream and 1 cup of 1% milk)
Instructions
1. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add in the flour and whisk until smooth and a roux forms (2 minutes).
3. Add onions and celery and saute 5 minutes until soft but not brown.
4. Add water, potatoes, corn kernels, creamed corn, sugar, salt and pepper. Using a wire whisk, whisk until smooth. (I just used a wooden spoon in my non-stick pan)
5. Cover and simmer until potatoes are barely tender, about 30 minutes.
6. Add half and half and simmer uncovered until soup has thickened to a creamy
consistency, about 15 minutes.
7. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper if needed
This is a great recipe if you enjoy creamy soups. I had mine with a little bacon crumbled on top. I think it would be great with ham or maybe even shrimp added. DH is not a big fan of cream soups, but he added some green chilies and chicken to his. It is a great base for almost anything you think sounds good added to it. By itself, it is great, too.
Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
