Edna Mae's Noodle Soup & English Muffin Loaf

After a brief Indian Summer this week, Fall returned in force. Cool weather, rain and wind - the works.

Perfect weather for a dose of comfort food.

Using the recipe for Chicken Soup for the Pioneer Soul I spent my day last Sunday slaving over the stove making my first ever rendition of chicken broth. The house smelled wonderful and I couldn't wait to turn the broth into soup.

Later in the week, I called my Grandmother (affectionately know as G'ma) to make sure I had the "recipe" for her noodle soup. When asked for it she laughed and told me she really didn't have one.

Which I knew.

But she walked me through the steps she takes when making soup, and they are as follows:

Edna Mae's Chicken Noodle Soup (a faux recipe):

Ingredients:

Chicken broth

Chicken (breasts or whatever you have handy)

Celery

Carrots

Amish noodles (or homemade noodles if have the time and the talent)

Salt

Pepper

Garlic (if it meets your fancy)

Directions:

Boil noodles in water on a separate burner.

Add the chopped carrots and celery to the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Let boil for five to ten minutes then reduce heat to low.

Drain noodles and add them to "soup."

Check seasoning.

Simmer on low for a few minutes.

Spoon out into individual bowls.

There was some debate about what should be served with the soup. There was one request for some rolls from Missouri Baking Company. Given that we were already going to eat one of my G'ma recipes I decided we should have two. My grandmother makes many things that I love - but one of my favorite things is her "quick stand-by bread" also known as:

English Muffin Loaves (Makes 2 loaves)

Ingredients:

2 packages active dry yeast (we use Fleischmann's)

6 cups unsifted flour

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups milk

1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 cup water

Cornmeal

Directions:

Combine 3 cups four, yeast, sugar, salt and soda.

Heat liquids (milk & water) until very warm (120 - 130 F). Add to dry mixture; beat well.

Stir in rest of flour to make a stiff batter.

Spoon into two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch pan (I used an 11 x 4 inch pan and it worked just fine) pans that have been greased and sprinkled with cornmeal.

Sprinkle tops with cornmeal.

Cover; let rise in a warm place (I put the pan over a register and turned the heat on) for 45 minutes.

Bake at 400 F for 25 minutes.

Remove from pan(s) immediately and cool (or slice and serve warm).

Mosaic Me . . . Not

Does anyone else ever see something and go, "hey, I can do that."

I do.

All the freaking time.

And where does it lead me? Strange and interesting places. Far off lands ruled by Garden Gnomes (I can't be the only one that used to watch David the Gnome on Nick Jr. growing up, can I?). Nope. Not once. Not ever. Usually I find myself looking and piece of work and wondering what was going through my little mind when I started down that particular avenue.

I find myself at the place where frustration and consternation meet. This my friends is not a happy street corner to be on. There is nothing jolly about it (not a gnome in site - - what? Gnome is the word of the day, didn't you know? Okay not really, I just can't seem to get them off my mind).

Enter the mosaic.

Lovely, lyrical expressions that fascinate me to no end. I took a class taught by the very talented Sharra Frank with my Aunt (a wonderful mosaic artist in her own right) and thought it was fun and something to add to my artistic repertoire.

Boy was I wrong.

I have this tray that I have been working on for almost, gasp, two years (and I always promise myself I will have if finished for Halloween).

Apparently it takes patience to mosaic something.

First you have to break the glass into bits (this part I really do enjoy - but that might have everything to do with the fact that I get to wear my super cool goggles held over from the days when I was taking chemistry). Then, and this is the part that takes forever, gluing them down on the tray in a certain way that everything fits together and the design still shows up.

Like a puzzle. I like puzzles. They're fun. They say you should always start with the outside, the edge pieces. Huh, maybe this is my problem with mosaics - I started with the inside.

But I don't relate mosaics to puzzles, for some reason I relate mosaics to playing Chinese Checkers with my grandmother.

Yes you read correctly, I said checkers.

I think it's because I have the same sense of frustration that I did when I tried to play Chinese (or regular) Checkers against my grandmother. The sense of overwhelming doom that I would not win . . . that she wouldn't let me win.

It was a good lesson my grandmother taught me as a child.

You know what I learned?

That I don't like playing checkers because I can't anticipate where to put the marble or where my opponent is going to put theirs. I can't visualize the next move.

This also probably has something to do with my lack of understanding the game of Risk (or it might be my lack of drive to take over the world . . . oh - fun game: Name (in)famous people in history that should have played risk as a kid).

And I don't like mosaic-ing because I can't anticipate where to put the next piece of broken glass. But because I'm me and I have this whole type A, perfectionist thing going, I will finish this mosaic if it kills me.

One little glass piece at a time . . .

The Piano Bench Ate My Homework

In a random moment today I sat down at the piano and started tickling the ivories. Which I hadn't done in, um . . . gosh, I don't know how long. The piano is horribly out of tune - which always makes it interesting when playing because the music sounds so - off. Great for Halloween, but not so great for much else.

But that's not the point.

The point is: the piano bench ate my homework (I mourn the missed opportunity to use this excuse).

Ten years ago.

And I just found out today.

Seriously. I was digging around in the bench looking for some sheet music (my memory gets fuzzy after the first couple of bars of some of my favorite songs) when I found a bunch of neatly folded sheets of line paper with my horrid scrawl from my juvenile years all over it.

Grammar homework.

From ten years ago.

Ungraded.

Whoops??

I have no idea how they got in the piano bench or WHY they are still there over a decade later. My lack of cleaning skills might have something to do with it - but come on, who looks in a piano bench after they've stopped playing?

So - to my eighth grade Unified Studies (Language Arts & Social Studies) teacher: mea culpa.

Next I'm going to look in the victrola to see what I might find . . . maybe some old math assignments?

Chicky Parm

Earlier this week I made a quick Italian meat sauce and put it over some penne noodles, and like always I had more left over sauce than noodles. So that meant one small lunch of penne for someone (which ended up being me) and a dinner later this week of Chicken Parmesan (or in our house Chicky Parm because everything needs to have a nickname).

Ingredients: (beware there are no measurements - organic cooking at its finest)

Italian sauce

Bread crumbs (regular)

Shredded Parmesan Reggiano (or whatever kind of cheese you have on hand)

Italian seasoning

Salt

Pepper

Ground dried garlic

Chicken breasts

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Take your cheese and put it in a bowl, add some Italian seasoning and toss it together. Add a small amount of bread crumbs (I used a 3:1 ratio this time and it worked out well) to the mix and toss together. Now this is the important part - pick the bowl up and sniff - if you can't smell the seasoning throw in some more and re-toss.

Grease (or Pam) your baking dish of choice and throw the chicken in there. Sprinkle pepper, salt and the ground garlic over the chicken.

Using your fingers sprinkle the cheese/bread crumb mix over the chicken (they should be completely covered).

Spoon the Italian sauce on top of the bread crumbs (trying to keep it to the center of the chicken breast the best that you can).

Pop the dish into the oven and cook for 30-45 minutes.

Happy Eating!

It's October . . .

. . . the greatest month ever! Don't believe me? Just take a look at what goes on this month:

The Harvest Moon (2:10am EDT) is happening this month, a rare occurrence, according to SPACE.com, and it won't show up again in October until 2017.

The Big Read put on by the National Endowment for the Arts: inspiring people across the country to pick up a good book. Listen to radio programs, watch video profiles, and read brief essays about classic authors. Here in The Lou there will be an events held on the campus of Clayton High School at Mark Twain Circle and Topton Way on October 10 from 9am to 4pm.

October 12 is Columbus Day. Follow the link to learn more about Columbus himself and how the holiday came about.

Everyone has a dictionary, right? Or if you don't you at least have access to free on-line dictionaries (which let's face it are totally helpful). Haven't you ever been working on a paper (or a story, or whatever) and needed a dictionary, but you aren't at home or in a library - maybe you're at the local coffee house or a deli and BLAM you need to know how to spell a word correctly or you're lost on the meaning of a word you read? All hail the Internet! But here's an interesting twist - did you know that the dictionary has its own day? Yes, Virginia there is a Dictionary Day. What one does on National Dictionary Day (October 16, by the way) is a little fuzzy - but I intend to grab my Merriam-Webster and look up some new words.

October 18 - 24 is Teen Read Week, a wonderful event once again put on by the ALA (actually I think it is put on by a division of the ALA known as Young Adult Library Services Association or YALSA). This year's theme is Read Beyond Reality @ your library (or book store). The point of Teen Read Week, which was started in 1998 (is this where DropEverythingAndRead Week in school came from?) is to get teens to unplug, pick up a book and realize there is more to life than the Internet, television, iPods, cell phones, and gaming devices.

Then there's a day that really needs no explanation and very little introduction, Halloween! The best holiday there is (and yes I include Christmas in the mix). What's better than candy, creepy movies, costumes, and did I mention the candy? This year it's my mission to learn a little bit more about the history of the holiday. Of course that's if I find time between watching the movies that have made the list for this year's Halloween Features, which include but aren't limited to:

Rope (1948)

Frenzy (1972)

Rosemary's Baby (1968)

With fall there comes this want for fall-y food, and I've been collecting some recipes that I'm dying to try.

Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Cake which is found over at Bless Us O Lord.

Carmel Pumpkin Gingersnap Cheesecake - thanks P-Dub (can't wait for the cookbook!)

Banana Chocolate Chip Espresso Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting - found over at Tasty Kitchen (a great resource for almost anything you could ever want to cook).

Homemade Chicken Broth - thanks to Ree & Hyacinth for this one.

Edna Mae's Vegetable Soup - my grandmother's recipe so it's really not a recipe, it's more of an organic cooking experience, as are most things she cooks. I have a list of ingredients to work from. Mostly when I visit I stand over her in the kitchen and take notes.

Edna Mae's Chicken Noodle Soup - again my grandmother's recipe (they really are the best, but when you've been cooking as long as she has you tend to develop some winners). I dream about this soup. The carrots, the celery and the Amish Noodles - oh be still my heart.

Then there are a few other things that I will be making this month - specifically these Witchy Pretzel Rods. I have the mold and the candy melts, so I'm ready to go. As far as the baked goods go I need an excuse to make those - like a party or a house warming gift or a picnic out in wine country. I'll have to see if I can bribe my friends into doing something with baked goods.

Have a great month!