We All Have Our Comfort Foods

In my previous blog, I told you about the time I met Bryan Duncan.  It was then realized that people we see as celebrities are just real people.  He was with his family.  As adults we are aware that celebs are real people, but kids don't always know that.  Seeing Bryan's child in a stroller really stuck with me.  From then on I wasn't so fascinated with celebrities.  I would say about Christian music artists, "We both are going to heaven."

Apparently this attitude is a great one when meeting celebs and volunteering to work concerts.  I have gotten to meet several Christian music artist in the past few years.  While interacting with them, they appreciate being treated like a normal person. (Well at least most of them.)  They also like their privacy.  I wouldn't want all my business put out there for everyone to see.  So why would they.

I am thankful that I am not a celeb.  I am thankful that I get to spend a majority of my time at home with my husband.  I am thankful I get to make dinner at home and don't have to depend on a group of volunteers to feed me.  I'm sure actually positive that most of the time the catering is amazing food, but we all have our preferences on what we eat.  We all have our comfort foods.  A recipe that I have found recently has become one of my new comfort foods is





Chicken & Sweet Potato Chowder
2 Tbsp butter
1 cup sweet onion, chopped
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
28 oz chicken broth
2 garlic cloves, minced.
1 tsp dried thyme
2 cups shredded chicken
1/2 tsp paprika
2 cups half & half
1/4 cup flour
Salt & pepper to taste

Melt butter in medium sauce pan, add onion.  Cook over medium heat until onion is tender.  Just before the onion is tender add minced garlic. Cook about 2 minutes more.  Add sweet potatoes, chicken broth, and thyme leave.  Continue cooking until mixture comes to a boil and sweet potatoes are tender.  Stir in chicken and paprika.  Combine half and half and flour in a medium bowl until smooth.  Gradually add half & half mixture to potato mixture, stirring constantly until mixture comes to a boil and is thickened.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Recipe comes from Land O Lakes.

They Are Like Flowers

I was walking through the living room and saw that Pandora was playing a song by Duncan somebody.  It made me think of Bryan Duncan.  And that immediately took me back to San Cruz and meeting Bryan Duncan with my cousins.  Those were such good memories.  I would spend part of the summer with my Grandmother in Northern California and she would take me down to San Jose to spend a weekend with my cousins.  My cousins and I (well the girls anyway) would make up dances to songs.  One of the main artists we listened to at the time was Bryan Duncan.  So going to Santa Cruz to the beach boardwalk with them and meeting him was exciting or at least it was for me.

It's funny how some memories stick with you and other stuff is just gone.  And why is the stuff that isn't all that important sticks with you and things you really need to remember have left.  A few other memories I still remember are tips people have passed along to me.  A friend college told me once that when she makes her bed she puts the comforter on so the tag is on the head end of the bed instead of the foot.  That way when she wakes up in the night and the blankets are disheveled she can figure out how to put it back together by the tag. I still use that with the extra blanket on my side of the bed.  Another tip I remember is one I learned in jr. high.  If your pencil has an eraser that is hard and just won't erase anymore, rub it on the carpet until it is soft and erases easily.  The carpet takes off that hard crust that has developed.

These small things I remember aren't important but they make life a little better. They are like flowers.  They aren't that important, but they make life a little better.  I have found while cooking & baking it's those little things that makes the food taste so much better.  My mom's zucchini bread has that small thing that makes it so much better.  I actually don't know what it is, but her recipe tastes so much better than other recipes I've tried.

Zucchini Bread
3 eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
2 cups grated zucchini, squeeze the water out
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 325.  Grease 2 loaf pans. Beat eggs till they are light, add oil, sugar, zucchini and vanilla.  mix well.  Add remaining ingredients.  Bake 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Due to Popular Demand...

After a bad day, I gave in and made some muffins to lift my spirits.  I had found this recipe years ago.  The recipe was a basic muffin recipe with lots of variations. I printed all of them out and laminated the page.  I made up muffin mix packets and took it all to the beach for a singles beach weekend.  Apparently laminating the page makes you OCD.  My friends teased me about it.  But I have yet to lose it or ruin it.

Making the muffins brings back great memories of trips to the beach.  And makes me long for days spent in the water and grilled fresh off the boat shrimp.

After posting on Facebook that I was making the muffins, several people asked for the recipe. So due to popular demand:

Preheat oven to 375
3 oz semisweet chocolate squares
1/2 cup butter
heat in microwave until melted, stirring frequently

Mix together chocolate mixture
2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup Nutella

Spray muffin pan with Pam, pour batter into pan so they are 3/4 full. Before putting into oven drop 1 tsp Nutella on top of each muffin. Bake 25 minutes (I had to bake them for 30). Cool and enjoy.