Creamy Chicken & Wild Rice Soup with Pumpkin

The light yellow is the cubed pumpkin

In 2020, my friend Tracy was participating in #CROCKtober by preparing her family's
meals in the crockpot all October. As it would happen, Momma Mary and I had a hunger for wild rice and had cubed pumpkin and homemade chicken broth begging to be used which meant, I created a quick crockpot recipe for Tracy and our household.

Into the crockpot went easy ingredients and out came a savory, makes-the-world-right soup. BUT, this is a new year to change up that recipe...so, I made it creamy!

CREAMY CHICKEN & WILD RICE SOUP with PUMPKIN

Into the crockpot:

1-2 Onions, diced

Several Carrots, sliced like coins

1-2 Garlic cloves, minced

2-3 Celery ribs, diced

2-3 cups Pumpkin, cubed (or cook separately, see sidenote, below)

1-2 cups Wild Rice blend

10-12 cups Chicken or Vegetable Broth (easily edited to turkey broth after Thanksgiving)

2-3 cups Chicken (omit for vegan version or use turkey after Thanksgiving)

salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, fresh sage, fresh thyme

1-2 8 ozs blocks Cream Cheese (Miyoko's Creamery makes a wonderful vegan cream cheese found at our local Publix grocery store or online)

• 
  Place all ingredients in your crockpot -not the cream cheese which you'll save for just before serving- 
• Turn to Medium for an all-day or overnight slow cook -or- shorten the cooking time by dialing up to High until all ingredients are cooked and the house smells yummy!
• Just before serving, remove 2 cups of broth from your crockpot and ladel into your blender with the block(s) of cream cheese. Blend until smooth.
• Pour the zipped-down cream cheese broth mixture into the crockpot and stir to incorporate.
• Ladel into soup bowls and enjoy!

Here's a sidenote: If your family is not crazy about pumpkin, no worries. Either strike from the recipe -or- in a separate small pot, add the cubed pumpkin and your choice of broth just until covered and gently boil until soft. When the soup is ready to be served, spoon the cooked pumpkin into the bowl and ladel soup over it!

This recipe is good for your tummy and your soul, but don't take my word for it. Go Play with Your Food and let me know how it turned out...

"Sam"

2-on-Tuesday: Roasted Brussel Sprouts

When it comes to an appreciation for the traditional, I'm your girl. However, I love to take culinary risks like throwing caution to the wind by making a new dish for an important meal. Usually, that's a risk you should not take, but I knew it would be awesome! Terry and I were to join friends for our Thanksgiving dinner -- I decided to try 2 NEW RECIPES: Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Cornbread & Wild Rice Dressing! 

Confidently, I purchased my ingredients, watched the recorded cooking show (Symon's Suppers - Thanksgiving), twice, and prepared for the next day's cooking adventure. This recipe caused my taste buds to perform the "wave" while each level of flavor and texture dissolved into the next. <Mmmmm - pause for effect> I don't really know the exact measurements, so I've given approximates! Be brave! You gotta try it!

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with a Bacon, Mustard & Walnut Vinaigrette

2 packages of fresh Brussel Sprouts (I'm guessing 2 lbs), slice into halves
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper (Use Kosher salt & freshly cracked pepper, if you got it)

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees, while slicing the sprouts in half
• For fast clean-up, line a large cookie sheet pan with parchment paper, toss the sprouts with a drizzle of olive oil and S&P on your lined sheet pan
• Place the pan on the rack about middle of your oven and roast for 35-40 minutes
• The sprouts release a stinky gas while cooking, so make the house smell good with the next step...

1 cup  Thick-cut, smoky Bacon, diced
1/2 cup  Walnuts, coarse chop or buy the bag of "Pieces"
1 large  Sweet Onion (Couldn't find Shallots, so I substituted), diced
2-3 cloves Garlic, chopped
1/4 cup  Red Wine Vinegar
1/4 cup  Grain Mustard (I used Grey Poupon)
1/4 cup  Honey

• In a large skillet, render the diced bacon (cook it until crispy-ish & keep the grease)
• Add walnuts to the rendered bacon & grease (If you think there's too much grease, empty some out, but don't throw away just in case you need to add some back during this step)
• Being careful not to scorch the walnuts, saute diced onions and garlic 
• Stir in the vinegar, mustard and honey
• When the brussel sprouts are tender --not mush nor burned--, ease into a large bowl and stir the vinaigrette carefully with the sprouts!

My son doesn't like nuts and loved this recipe! One of my Thanksgiving friends didn't care for brussel sprouts and loved this recipe! You are gonna love this recipe, too! The flavors work! This was the first time I heard of Chef Symon and I'm a new fan! 

Next 2-on-Tuesday, I'll give you the yummy 4-1-1 on the Cornbread & Wild Rice Dressing!

~"Sam"

2-on-Tuesday: Don't Eat that Weird Cranberry Stuff!

For the love of all that is pure and holy, DO NOT EAT that wiggly, jelled "cranberry" stuff in a can. It looks alien. It doesn't take a lot of time to create a bounty of bliss with the beautiful Bounce Berry! 

Bounce Berry? Oh, yeah. As cranberries are harvested and cleaned, they move through a ladder-type thingamajig which drops the berries. Because of the air pockets inside, only the best berries bounce. The others are processed for juices.

Cranberry Myth: Cranberries grow in water. Nope, they don't. They grow on bushes in fields sometimes referred to as "bogs." However, many cranberries are harvested by water --in the bog-- and this is where the confusion comes.

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

2 cups Sugar (or your choice of sweetener, try maple syrup, Agave, etc.)
3/4 to 1 cup of Liquid (your choice of water or orange juice or apple juice)
For that seasonal flavor, try adding a ground Cinnamon, Cloves or Allspice
12 oz package Whole Cranberries

• Bring first 3 ingredients to boil, add cranberries and return to a boil
• Reduce heat and boil gently while stirring occasionally
• You'll hear the berries burp or pop as they cook down, 10-20 minutes
• Pour cauce into a heat-tolerant bowl, cover and cool at room temp
• Serve as a side or condiment to Turkey and Dressing!

Cranberry Fluff

Cool Whip
Cranberry Sauce (homemade or from a can)
*optional: Chopped Pecans or Walnuts

• Empty a tub of Cool Whip into a larger bowl
• Using a spatula or fork, gently fold in 1-2 cups of Cranberry Sauce
• Refrigerate until time to serve

Other Ideas:

As an easy candy... Melt together a bag of Hershey's Premier White Chocolate Chips and a tablespoon of Crisco. Pour into cookie sheet pan that is lined with parchment. Bang out the bubbles. Spread the chocolate and drop DRIED CRANBERRIES (like Craisins) on top. Allow to set before breaking or cutting. Seal in air tight container.

Or...Mix in a handful of fresh whole cranberries to your dressing/stuffing before cooking.

Or...Toss a handful of dried cranberries into your sweet bread dough before rising.

Or...Add a sprinkling of dried cranberries into your batter for pancakes or waffles and cupcakes and cookies!

Because the cranberry is pretty tart, it usually requires a fair amount of sweetener to tame the taste. Honestly, if you don't have a bend toward this berry, already, just try a couple of sweet recipes to beguile your buds. If you don't like it, spit it out! You can always string your Christmas tree with garlands of popcorn and cranberries!

Another Cranberry Myth: Cranberries cure kidneys and urinary tracts. Nope, they don't.

Read some more interesting facts about the CRANBERRY, The Great American Berry!

Happy Thanksgiving!
~"Sam"

Well. So, it turns out I'm NOT Super Woman.

1. Make the bed
2. Make breakfast
3. Pack their lunches
4. Feed pets
5. Run
6. Clean house
7. Do laundry
8. Finish the gift list for Christmas
9. Un-decorate the house
10. Pull tubs of Christmas decor from attic
11. Finalize menu for Thanksgiving
12. Write Center of the Pie blog posts & recipes
13. Prepare guest room
14. Grocery Shop
15. Shower, Shave, Shampoo!
16. Dinner with friends, tonite.
17. 
    

...And, that's just today. Does she sound familiar?

Yep, I'm one of those overachiever list makers who, when discovering something to be done that wasn't originally on my list of To Do's, will go back and add it to my list just so I can mark it off as being completed. It only intensifies during the holidays! Knowingly, as if on a suicide mission for Santa, I will create a overly long list of tasks to accomplish before crashing into my contour pillow and clean sheets before midnight. (CRUD! That wasn't on the list... 17. Change sheets)

Oh, sure, at that point is when the Holy Spirit reminds me I haven't read my eDevo and Bible or prayed, yet. 

I really do love reading the Bible, especially the Old Testament partly because it reveals the personality of God. Take for example the story of Moses and the Ten Commandments. God, who in a mighty display of nature, gave the busy leader of Israel ten specific directives in the earshot of the people. The Creator commanded the attention of an entire, busy nation.

In a similar account, Elijah was busy about doing God’s work; predicting famine, raising the dead, calling down fire from heaven and having 450 prophets of Baal slaughtered, when he is threatened by a nasty lady (the Super Evil Woman of her time). In fear and spiritual exhaustion, he runs for the mountains on the backside of the desert.

Sleeping in a cave and depleted of his own reserve, Elijah experienced a powerful wind, earthquake and fire caused by God, yet, was not in any of them. Then, the Creator gently whispered something to catch the attention of a solitary man. No longer busy, he simply sits quietly with the Father receiving supernatural strength and wisdom.

When I need God to speak into my life, my Creator knows just when and knows just how to capture my attention and settle my busy, self-asserted-Super-Woman self.

Take some time to read Exodus 19 & 20 and 1 Kings 19. Have a wonderfully blessed Christmas!

~"Sam"