We definitely had a busy weekend! Saturday friends of ours had a pool party, one that they have every year. The last time we went to the party the kiddos were only 2 or 3 weeks old. It was their first official outing, I believe.
This year they spent almost the entire time in the pool. They had so much fun splashing around with everyone! Thanks again Kathy and Gary for hosting an amazing party!
Sunday was our anniversary so that night we went to EPCOT for dinner. Naturally, there was a tropical storm/depression on the move. Thankfully, it held off while we were outside.
We had dinner at Le Cellier in Canada. This is one of Scott's favorite restaurants on property. As always, it was super delicious.
Yesterday we just hung out at the house because it's pretty much been raining since Sunday night. I'm attempting to get Aaron potty trained before vacation, and he told me he will just stay home and wear his diapers. Fabulous.
I've been making this soup for a while now and it's one of those recipes that seems to get better and better each time I make it. I first had this soup at Le Cellier in EPCOT and have loved it since. I was so excited when I found it in the Delicious Disney Cookbook, and have since tweaked it to make it my own. This time I changed the stock and the beer that I used. Previously I was using Swanson Stock and Moosehead Beer. I swapped both of those out for Knorr's new concentrated homestyle chicken stock and Labatt Blue. I think changing these two items totally enhanced the flavors and made it hands down the best batch I've ever made. Between prepping your ingredients and cook time this recipe takes about an hour, and is so worth the wait!
Here are the ingredients that you need:
1/2 pound of bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces *Do not cheat on the bacon, it needs to be good bacon to get the right flavoring. Also, freeze it first so it's easier to slice.
1 medium red onion, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
3 celery ribs, cut into 1/4-inch pieces *Tip: Peel your celery, it adds so much flavor!
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups chicken stock *You need good stock for this recipe and hands down the Knorr concentrated chicken stock has been the best I've used, more on that later.
4 cups milk
1 pound grated white cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Coarse salt, freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup warm beer *You can use any beer, but I recommend Labatt Blue
Chopped scallions or chives, for garnish
Preparations
In a 4- or 5-quart Dutch oven, cook the bacon, stirring, over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Do not drain the fat.
While your bacon is cooking bring 3 1/2 cups of water to a boil and then add your Knorr concentrated chicken stock. Stir until dissolved and remove from heat.
Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 4 minutes over medium heat.
Whisk in the chicken stock and bring to a boil for 1 minute. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the milk and continue to simmer for 15 minutes. Do not boil after you add the milk.
Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese...
Then stir in Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper until the cheese is melted and the soup is smooth. Taste the soup and then re-season if necessary. I usually add a dash more of Tabasco and a pinch more of salt, but you should season to your taste.
Stir in warm beer. If the soup is too thick, thin with some warm milk.
Serve the soup hot, garnished with chopped scallions or chives (optional).
I usually let this simmer for an additional 30 minutes to really let it soak in the flavor, but I've also had it right after it was ready. This is definitely one of those soups that is even better the next day.
I know a hot soup in the summer is not something you instantly think of, but on a stormy night, it's so good. Thank you again to BlogHer for introducing me to Knorr Chicken Stock, I'm fairly certain I will not be going back to any other stock after using this.
I promise I have not fallen off the Earth or anything, we've just been super busy!
On the kids birthday we went to EPCOT with my parents and had an amazing lunch at Le Cellier. They're where I got the recipe for the cheddar cheese soup. Naturally, theirs is better. The weather was pretty muggy again so we called it quits after a little while and went back to the hotel to meet up with Scott and have some dinner. Dzia Dzio gave the kids cookies though before dinner. I mean it is their birthday after all ;)
Thursday we went back to EPCOT to have dinner at Coral Reef in The Seas. I always forget this restaurant is there, even though we had our rehearsal dinner in the VIP room above the restaurant. The food was amazing, even though it's a little morbid to be eating fish while watching fish swim around in a tank. The kids ate really well too, mainly bread, but a lot of it.
It rained while we were at dinner so the park had started to clear out and we were able to walk right on Journey into Imagination and then let the kids play afterward without it being crazy.
Of course this caused all of us to work up an appetite and therefore we need to stop at the bakery in France for dessert. We got the kids palmiers (elephant ears, sounds so much better in French) and Jill ate almost the whole thing. Aaron was *gasp* too tired to eat.
Friday the kids had their 2 year appointment at the pediatrician. Aaron weighs 31 lbs and is 35 inches long. They estimate he will be around 5'11" when he is an adult. That puts him in the 75% percentile in both height and weight. Jillian weighs 28 lbs and is 34 3/4 inches long. They estimate that she will be between 5'8" and 5'9" when she is an adult. She is in the 75% percentile for height and 50% percentile for weight. Hopefully we don't have to go back until their birthday next year.
Today has been pretty chill so far. My parents are back at our house for the rest of the week, so we played outside for a little bit before the heat got out of control.
Jill almost fell asleep in her swing, poor kids are so tired!
Our garden is doing insanely well! We have 2 tomatoes that have popped through, a few strawberries and any day now we should have green peppers and zucchini!
Hope you're having a great weekend and Happy Mother's Day to all of you mama's out there!
Today was definitely a busy day in the kitchen! And luckily the kiddos were pretty ok with it (phew!).
I started the day by making an apple pie for tomorrow. I've made this one before and it's really yummy!
Then I went to make my French silk pie for tomorrow and realized I didn't have enough eggs, awesome. So after naps and after Scott got home I made the mad dash to Sweetbay. I really didn't want to go, people are nuts-o the day before Thanksgiving (think hurricane season on crack). When I got home I started making the pie. It's really simple, and looks yummy. I got the recipe from Pillsbury.com:
INGREDIENTS Crust 1 Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crust (from 15-oz box), softened as directed on box Filling 3 oz Hershey's® unsweetened chocolate, cut into pieces 1 cup LAND O LAKES® Butter, softened (do not use margarine) 1 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 4 pasteurized eggs or 1 cup fat-free cholesterol-free egg product Topping 1/2 cup sweetened whipped cream Chocolate curls, if desired DIRECTIONS 1. Heat oven to 450°F. Make pie crust as directed on box for One-Crust Baked Shell, using 9-inch glass pie plate. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. 2. In 1-quart saucepan, melt chocolate over low heat; cool. In small bowl with electric mixer, beat butter on medium speed until fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in cooled chocolate and vanilla until well blended. 3. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating on high speed 2 minutes after each addition; beat until mixture is smooth and fluffy. Pour into cooled baked shell. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. Garnish with whipped cream and chocolate curls. Cover and refrigerate any remaining pie.
Hopefully it's as good as it looks!
While I was doing this Scott and Aaron left to go on a super secret mission and returned right before dinner with this:
It's my favorite everyday fragrance and I have been out for...well....forever really :) Thank you Scott it really made my night!
After the pies were done I got started on making cinnamon rolls for Mimi to serve on Friday morning. I got the recipe from my Williams and Sonoma Baking cookbook. I'd love to put it up but gosh that would take forever! If you want it I can scan it and email it to you.
They look good, I cannot wait to hear how they turn out!
As if I wasn't doing enough cooking I decided to make Cheddar Cheese Soup for dinner. The recipe is from Le Cellier at EPCOT. Scott and I are HUGE fans of this soup and get it every time we eat there. I was pretty nervous about making it since it is such a favorite of ours. But it turned out fantastic! Here's the recipe:
1/2 pound of bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 1 medium red onion, cut into 1/4-inch pieces 3 celery ribs, cut into 1/4-inch pieces 4 tablespoons butter 1 cup all-purpose flour 3 cups chicken stock 4 cups milk 1 pound grated white cheddar cheese 1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce Coarse salt, freshly ground pepper to taste 1/2 cup warm beer Chopped scallions or chives, for garnish
I actually made a double batch because I'm crazy. I have plenty of soup for Scott to take to work for the week!
I'm totally pooped now! I think I'm going to cozy up on the couch with Scott, some Pinot Grigio and some Modern Family! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!
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