Post 101 and on the move

Okay, so fall has finally made it's appearance after the official fall season began nearly a month ago. As I was pumping gas last Thursday there was a change - a mad change in the weather during the very moment I was standing at the pump. As my gas bill was increasing the wind was kicking up enough to blow the gas tank cover shut and then the temperature dropped which gave me a momentary feeling of being back in South Dakota but being back there in early October. (Yes, it's typically this cool back home a month ago.) This short-lived drop in temps lasted but a day or so and then the temperatures quickly climbed up to around the 80s but finally fell again over the last day or so with the front that moved down from straight north - hello home! Fall and winter are the seasons I love most here in Texas and obviously the ones we most look forward to all year. I do seriously yearn for this once May rolls around and I truly have visions of stepping out of the shower and having goose bumps. It never fails that I go through this process each and every year because I know what's in store for us for the next six months. Even my kids being true Texans (bless their little pea-pickin' hearts) love the cooler weather and cherish this time of year. I love it when the leaves change and fall to the ground and then crunch under my feet when I step on them. I love the smell of the air. I love drinking tea, cider and hot cocoa and being cozy in my slippers. I love how the trees are all look like they need a blanket but are budding with the promise of new leaves in the spring. I'll be honest, the Holiday season is a definite draw at our house but mainly it's the cooler temperatures and the possibility of those little white things that flurry in the air that is the true reason we love it so much.

So, as the temps drop my attention turns to soups. Tonight I made this awesome Restaurant Quality Baked Potato Soup. Recipe (though modified by me below) and photo courtesy of AllRecipes.com

INGREDIENTS

• 2 potatoes (I cook these in the microwave and then cut them up, with the skins on, and add to the soup at the end)
  
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup chopped white onion
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups water
• 1/8 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 cups instant mashed potato flakes (I used Idahoan)
  
• 1 teaspoon salt (I used sea salt)
  
• 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 cup half-and-half (I use fat-free)
  
• 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 8 ounces bacon - cooked and crumbled
• 2 green onions, chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Bake potatoes for 1 hour, or until done. Set aside to cool. (I cook mine in the microwave)
   
2. Melt butter in a 3 quart saucepan over medium heat. Saute onions until tender and golden brown. Stir in flour, and cook 5 minutes to make a roux. Pour in chicken stock and water. Add cornstarch and mashed potato flakes. Season with salt, pepper, basil and thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Dice the potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes, and stir into soup, along with the half-and-half. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until thick. Spoon into bowls, and garnish with shredded cheese, bacon and chopped green onion.

All I can say is Yum-O! This stuff is a winner in our house and my kids even love it with the thyme in it. I feel like thyme is a big person spice but they have never once complained about it so I don't think twice, although I did question it the first time I made this recipe. I love it when I rock!

I started back to work yesterday. I had mixed emotions about getting back to the grindstone - I wanted to be off longer because I had all these plans of things I was going to do while I was recovering for two weeks and I never accomplished one of them because I felt so crappy but I was also ready to get back to some sort of a normal routine. I did start a bit later today because I think I may have overdone it a bit yesterday when I started at 6:30 a.m. playing chauffeur for the boy and his football, cleaning the house, clipping coupons, doing 5 loads of laundry, going to Sams (with the kids of course, still can't pick anything up over 10 or so pounds), going to Wal-Mart, playing chauffeur for the kids so they could play with their friends, working, cooking dinner and placing the insulated covers on the outside faucets. It did get down to 27 here last night. I think around 8:30 p.m. I finally crawled into bed to play on my laptop for a bit before turning in although I felt as if I was in robot mode. When I finally hung it up I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow and when the alarm went off this morning I was definitely not ready to get up. Not sure my doctor would approve but then again, what she doesn't know won't hurt her! *wink* Besides, can't get better by just sitting around doing nothing, right?