Chitter Chatter Fall-Winter (2023)

[Ryrin]

[Ryrin]

How is everyone doing? 

[LadyWordsmith]

Pretty good! Things are going well, just a bit hectic. SCA-wise in particular as I'm currently the head of our College of Scribes, and we have our first Queen-Only reign in our kingdom's history, which requires a lot of new calligraphy and artwork as most of our pre-existing work for commonly given accolades say 'King and Queen' on them. So I've been doing a lot of artisan wrangling and coordinating. 

Though the Eclipse was during our Royal Coronation event and we were in San Angelo, Texas so the ring of fire happened right overhead! 

My son is doing very well and has survived the first half of his first college semester, so that's a relief as he's settled into the routine and figured things out. 

Today is nice because it's pouring rain for the first time in weeks, and it's just RAIN. No hail. No floods (yet, might happen), No big winds, no tornadoes just.... a good autumn downpour. 

How're you? 

[Ryrin]

I love news! 
 

I’ve been hitting the gym pretty hard (for an elder.) It’s just gotten cool here, so very nice! My husband is retiring 11/15 so we will be able to do things during the week when it isn’t so crowded. 

I should be getting back on my bike soon. I’m confident.
 

My book club is meeting tomorrow. My former one fell apart during the pandemic so I started another one and we just got a new member! I think I might join the one at my library too. 
 

Are you reading anything? Any time? 

 

We need to get active in the SCA again. So much to do and learn. 
 

 

 

 

[LilyElizabeth]

It sounds like you both are living fun, busy lives. 

 

I'm making plans to move into my fiance's condo at the end of March. I want to stay here through the kiddos' birthdays. We are still waiting for marriage, and he has two bedrooms. I'm worried about his health and don't like him being alone so much. He had a small stroke a few weeks ago. They don't expect another one or anything, but you never know. I really want to spend more time together than we are able to now. 

 

Today at work, I had a mother call and ask me to close her daughter's chart. As I was writing the note into her chart, I caught myself singing "Another one bites the dust". I realized that was a tad unprofessional, so I stopped. Next thing I know, I was singing it again. It's time to take some more PTO! Even my supervisor, who found it hilarious, agreed that I need some time off. I'm taking a three-day weekend a couple of weeks from now and leaving early this Friday. That's the best I can do, so it will be enough. 

 

[Ryrin]

Lily, was it a TIA? I’ve had those. 
 

Lol, I remember moving some clients along if I could. Lol. I’m glad you are getting sometime off. 
 

 

Does anyone have any good soup or casserole recipes? 

[LilyElizabeth]

No, it was not a TIA. The docs called it a small stroke.

 

I have several good soup recipes. I'll pass them along when I'm on during the day. 

[LilyElizabeth]

This is my favorite soup recipe. I double the batch.

 

 

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 celery ribs with leaves, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon each dried thyme, savory and parsley flakes
• 1-1/2 cups milk
• 4 cups cubed cooked turkey
• 5 medium carrots, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1 to 2 cups turkey or chicken broth
• 1 package (10 ounces) frozen peas

Directions

1. In a large kettle, saute onion and celery in butter until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in flour and seasonings; gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add turkey and carrots. Add enough broth until soup is desired consistency. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Add peas; cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Nutrition Facts

1 cup: 300 calories, 14g fat (7g saturated fat), 82mg cholesterol, 636mg sodium, 18g carbohydrate (8g sugars, 4g fiber), 26g protein.

 

 

[LadyWordsmith]

That soup looks delicious! I'll have to dig up a few of my recipes. 

Glad everyone is doing well! 

Well after I finished my Wheel of Time re-read I jumped in and read the first three Mistborn Novels (since Sanderson deserved a read after all this time. Found them quite delightful. 🙂 ). Also read Gryphon in Light (Mercedes Lackey) and, because my son and I still enjoy them, I picked up the new Percy Jackson novel and giggled through that because I just needed a light fun read, and the idea of needing divine college recommendation letters appeals to me as a teacher of high school seniors. 😉 Planning to finish off the Mistborn books in the near future and I need to read The Ruin of Kings (and the rest of that series) by Jenn Lyons. It's been on my list for a couple of years. But I usually manage to read maybe 2-3 chapters in an evening before bed most nights, so I am just enjoying reading through things at a slow pace. 

 

 

[Ryrin]

I’ve been reading a series by John Connelly. The Charle Parker series. Crime, mystery, thriller and paranormal thrown in. John will have a new book next year. Right now, I’m going to read the two most recent books by Daniel Silva in the Gabriel Allon series. 

[Ryrin]

The soup looks fabulous. Today I made this simple dessert to take to synagogue tonight and it was a hit.

 

After it cools, I heated some cream cheese frosting and drizzled it over the top. 

[LilyElizabeth]

That sounds yummy!

[Ryrin]

7 minutes ago, LilyElizabeth said:

That sounds yummy!

It was so good and easy! 

[Cross]

i may need to make sister make that

[Ryrin]

1 hour ago, Cross said:

i may need to make sister make that

Cross, it was so easy. After it cools down microwave some of the cream cheese frosting and take a fork and drizzle it over the top, Everybody loved it.0

[LilyElizabeth]

  I posted this in the Browns, too.

 

 

9 minutes ago, LilyElizabeth said:

This one isn't a soup. It's a stew, but it's one of my favorites:

 

Southwestern Stew

 

TOTAL TIME: Prep: 20 min. Cook: 1 hour 35 min. YIELD: 8 servings.

 

 

 

Ingredients

• 2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 cups water
• 1-1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1 cup salsa
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
• 2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1-1/2 cups frozen cut green beans
• 1-1/2 cups frozen corn
• 1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chiles
• Hot pepper sauce, optional
• Hot cooked rice, optional

Directions

• 1. In a 4-qt. Dutch oven, brown meat in oil over medium heat; drain. Add the next 8 ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour. Add carrots; return to a boil.
• 2. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the tomatoes, beans, corn and chiles; return to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until beef and vegetables are tender. Season with hot pepper sauce if desired. Serve over rice if desired.

Lily's note:

I never use the chilies or the hot pepper sauce. I have always served it over rice, but now that I'm diabetic and rice is one of the worst foods for my blood sugar, I will probably try just a little bit of rice next time.

 

 

 

[LilyElizabeth]

Another stew, but a fun one!

 

 

 

[Ryrin]

Lily, I avoid rice and noodles and limit potatoes and bread for the same reason. 
 

I have a Libre 3 sensor in my arm and it reads my blood sugar ever 60 seconds (on my phone.) ozempic made me really sick so I have insulin usually with dinner only. 
 

The stew looks really good. I need to actually use my Dutch oven. 

[Ryrin]

Have you tried the pumpkin stew? 

[LilyElizabeth]

Yes. Once, and I loved it!

[Ryrin]

This is an easy soup that I’ve even made for guests. 
 

 

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 packet onion soup mix
• 1 ¾ cup mixed frozen vegetables
• 5 cups water
• 1 can diced tomatoes 28oz can
• 1 cup macaroni uncooked

Grab a large soup pot, and brown the ground beef. Drain off the fat after it’s cooked so your soup isn’t greasy.
 

 

Pour in the water, onion soup mix and tomatoes with their juices. Simmer for 1 hour on medium low heat. After the 1 hour mark, add in the uncooked macaroni noodles and frozen mixed vegetables. Cook for another 15 minutes on medium heat. The noodles and frozen veggies will cook until they are tender.

 

You don’t need to thaw the vegetables. Just throw them in right from the freezer. Serve it up hot! It makes about 6 servings and tastes even better the next day heated up. 
 

 

[EirikDaude]

If you people are still interested in more stew and soup recipes, I made one yesterday which I was really happy with. Maybe more of a curry, I'm not good at categorising one-pot meals.

 

Ingredients:

• 400 g sweet potato (diced)
• 1 onion (diced)
• 1 tbsp shredded ginger
• 1 chili (cayenne)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• 2 tomatoes (roughly chopped)
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 box of coconut cream (I think about 250 ml, but I can't quite recall)
• 1 box of chickpeas
• 1 bouillon cube (vegetable)
• 1 cauliflower
• Chopped cilantro
• Cashew nuts

 

Directions:

 

1. Fry the sweet potato and onion until it gets a bit of color, then add ginger, chili, garlic and the spices and fry for another minute
2. Add the chopped tomato and lime juice and let it reduce a little
3. Add the coconut cream, chickpeas, and stock cube and let it all simmer for 15 minutes
4. While the pot simmers, chop the cauliflower into bouquets and fry them a little in the pan. Do the same with the cashews.
5. Add the cauliflower to the stew, and serve with the roasted cashews and chopped cilantro as garnishes.
6. You can serve it with a bit of rice or bread if you don't feel the stew in itself is filling enough.

 

It's a bit of chopping and frying, but I was really happy with the result!

Edited November 1, 2023 by EirikDaude

[HeavyHalfMoonBlade]

21 minutes ago, EirikDaude said:

If you people are still interested in more stew and soup recipes, I made one yesterday which I was really happy with. Maybe more of a curry, I'm not good at categorising one-pot meals.

 

Ingredients:

• 400 g sweet potato (diced)
• 1 onion (diced)
• 1 tbsp shredded ginger
• 1 chili (cayenne)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• 2 tomatoes (roughly chopped)
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 box of coconut cream (I think about 250 ml, but I can't quite recall)
• 1 box of chickpeas
• 1 bouillon cube (vegetable)
• 1 cauliflower
• Chopped cilantro
• Cashew nuts

 

Directions:

 

1. Fry the sweet potato and onion until it gets a bit of color, then add ginger, chili, garlic and the spices and fry for another minute
2. Add the chopped tomato and lime juice and let it reduce a little
3. Add the coconut cream, chickpeas, and stock cube and let it all simmer for 15 minutes
4. While the pot simmers, chop the cauliflower into bouquets and fry them a little in the pan. Do the same with the cashews.
5. Add the cauliflower to the stew, and serve with the roasted cashews and chopped cilantro as garnishes.
6. You can serve it with a bit of rice or bread if you don't feel the stew in itself is filling enough.

 

It's a bit of chopping and frying, but I was really happy with the result!

That sounds delicious. Though I don't think this could be any more curry-like if the only ingredient was curry powder 🙂

 

I may have to try this one soon. Though is the cauliflower not pretty much raw? That could be very interesting. 

 

[EirikDaude]

Just now, HeavyHalfMoonBlade said:

That sounds delicious. Though I don't think this could be any more curry-like if the only ingredient was curry powder 🙂

 

I may have to try this one soon. Though is the cauliflower not pretty much raw? That could be very interesting. 

 

 

Well, you fry the cauliflower for however long you want - the point is getting a bit of a maillard reaction going on it, instead of just having it boiled. I guess it can be somewhat tricky to get it completely soft without burning it, but I like my veggies a bit crunchy anyway 😁

[LilyElizabeth]

That sounds yummy, Eirik.