Potato Soup at its best...

The pool is closed even though the sun is still shining bright and the weather is suppose to be in the high 70's and 8o's this week...go figure! I guess it is all in the eye of the beholder. I have to admit though that I personally have only been to our community pool exactly three times this year. It seems that summer has come and gone right before my eyes and I missed it!

I guess with all the traveling I did this summer, my physical therapy, and trying to find that perfect GF cupcake recipe, that I didn't realize how fast time was flying. With that said, I guess its time to look forward, as it does no good to keep looking to the past...

I am still trying to find that perfect cupcake recipe but everything "good" takes time. In the mean time I came across a great potato soup recipe over at Face book that I wanted to share. This is one of the best potato soup recipes I have ever tried and I hope you enjoy it!




Ingredients:

 2 1/2 pounds baby red potatoes, sliced into small bite sized pieces
1/2 regular package uncooked GF bacon, finely diced
1 medium onion, diced
1/4 bunch celery, diced
8 cups milk
4 cups water
4 GF chicken bullion cubes (use a cup of the hot potato water to dissolve, then use the cup of hot water in place of one of the above cups of water) I just used 5 cups GF chicken broth instead of water and bullion cubes.
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup salted butter
3/4 cup white rice flour
1/4 bunch freshly chopped parsley
1 cup whipping cream

 ***For garnish:***
Shredded cheese
fried bacon bits
chopped green onions

Directions:
In large pot, boil potatoes in water 10 minutes. Drain and set aside. In saute pan, cook bacon until crisp. Drain bacon fat and place on paper towel over plate to drain more. Add onion and celery to bacon pan over medium-high heat until celery is tender, about 5 minutes. To the large potato pan, add milk, water, bullion, salt and pepper. Cook over medium-high heat until mixture is very hot, about 8 minutes, stirring often. Do not let mixture boil. In small, heavy saucepan melt butter. Add flour and mix well. Cook over medium-low heat until mixture bubbles, stirring 2 to 3 minutes to make a roux. While constantly stirring soup, add roux slowly until soup is thick and creamy, about 4 minutes. Stir in parsley, reserved potatoes, and cream. Garnish with cheese, bacon bits, onions or all three. Serve hot!

Enjoy!
Sharon

Frozen Peaches...

My husband and I are huge Costco shoppers as we buy most things in bulk to save money. Things like paper towels, laundry soap, dish soap, and other necessities. The other day when shopping we decided to buy some fresh fruit as we both seem to be on a fruit smoothie kick lately. Heading for the fruit section we came upon boxes of peaches that were bigger than my fist in size. They looked so delicious they naturally ended up in the cart...

OK, I know sometimes I can be a impulsive shopper, but something sweet and juice was just what I needed since I have been trying to cut down on my processed sugary sweets. The first peach smoothie we made was out of this world, and left my taste buds tingling with it's sweet juicy flavor. The second was just as tasty as the first. By the third smoothie I was just about peached out as was my husband, so when we switched to banana pineapple smoothies.  I was in a dilemma as to what to do with the eight remaining beauties sitting on my counter, knowing that neither of us would be in the mood for a peach smoothie anytime soon...

What to do...I do not a can, although I find it quite interesting and envy those who do. Nor did I have time to make peach jelly, or peach spread, as it was over the holiday and we had places to go and people to see. I decided to search the web for information on freezing them, as I thought this would be the easiest of all my options. I am so glad I decided to not discard of them.

As I placed my bags of peaches on the freezer shelf I felt a wave of great accomplishment! Not only did I step out of my comfort zone, but I will now have the best tasting peaches to partake of during the coming winter months! Peaches for smoothies, peaches  on cereal, or smothered in milk on a cold Winter day...

Yep...I am one proud peach freezer!!! The only regret I have is that I didn't buy more boxes to freeze. Oh...did I mention I might be making a trip to Costco's tomorrow   =)

Enjoy the recipe!
Sharon


Freezing Peaches:

Wash and clean peaches. Place the whole clean peaches in a large pot and cover completely with water, leaving about 1" of water above the peaches.

Remove the peaches from pot and place the pot on the stove on a med-high heat until it reaches a rapid boil.

Lower the peaches into the boiling water for just under a minute using a slotted spoon or a small frying spider.

Move the scalded peaches to a large bowl that is half full of ice and cold water, to quickly stop the cooking process and to chill the peaches.

Remove the skins from the peaches then cut in half and remove the pits. Lay peach halves on a cutting board and slice each half into four even slices, removing any bruised or rotten sections at this time.

Mix 1/4 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice and 2-3 T of sugar. Place peach slices into a large bowl and pour the juice over peaches, blending evenly using your hands. Place a even amount of peaches in each freezer zip lock bag (I put 12 slices in each) and pour the remaining juice from the bowl into the bags, distributing evenly.

 Mix the juice to evenly distribute over the peaches by gently shaking the bag before forcing out as much air as possible, then seal the bags.

Wipe down outside of bags with a paper towel and date the bags with a permanent marker. Lay bags flat on freezer rack to freeze so they can be evenly stacked later once frozen to save space. These are good for up to a year in the freezer, but I don't think mine will make it that long...