News Year Dinner

It is New Years day 2012 and I woke up feeling a little under the weather and a little depressed.

I said to myself why should I make pea soup today? The Rose Parade is not going to be shown until tomorrow and no one is coming over today. So why the heck should I follow a useless tradition? Fact is it is my tradition and I like it so why should I not do what I enjoy doing?

With that realization I gave myself a mental kick and took something to make me feel better.  

That done I went over to the fridge and freezer and got out the makings for fresh pea soup.

I am a little broke right now so whatever I had in the freezer and fridge would have to do. That’s ok you know I like it when I have to think outside the box so this will be fun and a challenge making this soup from on hand ingredients.

I found a big ham bone in the freezer along with chicken broth and frozen baby peas. Great! What a fine start!

Next I rummaged through the veggie drawer and found onions carrots and celery hearts that needed to be used up before they went bad. Even though the recipe does not call for either carrots or celery  who cares? It’s my soup right? Next I went to the pantry and pulled out a potato and noticed the box of cake mix. It gave me an idea to make guiltless pineapple upside down cake. I will share half of the cake with my neighbor if it turns out OK. I think it sounds good but we will see. I got that recipe from the Food Network  show the Hungry Girl who makes low fat treats and dinners. I have never tried this recipe and I have never made anything she has made on her show before.

I will have to let you know if I liked it or not and if I do I will include the recipe later in another article.

OK it was time to make the soup and since it was only me today I decided to cut the recipe in half.  I put some butter in the bottom of a pan to brown the onions. Next I put the carrots and potatoes that I had chopped up in a plastic bag that I sealed and put them in the microwave for three minutes. It would have been four if I wanted to cook them completely but I only wanted to soften them a bit so there would  still be some firmness to the veggies when I then put them in the soup. I didn’t want to over cook them have them turn into mush when I was done.  I learned that little tip about putting the potatoes inside a sealed bag  from a bus driver I knew. He was right it works like a charm.

While I was waiting for the veggies to cook in the microwave. I turned back to the stove and the onions were just right so I went in hunt of some white wine. I didn’t have any standard white wine in the house so I added a quarter cup of Salturn which is a German desert wine and too heavy and sweet to add a whole 1/2 cup of that kind of  wine to the soup. That meant I had to get some more chicken broth out of the freezer. Since I have a lot of broth in the freezer there was no problem doing that. I added the broth to the pan (you will only need a cup and quarter of the broth) still frozen because it will melt down in the pan just fine.

Next I added the chopped up celery hearts. 

I don’t like celery to be fully cooked in anything I make  because I don’t like the taste of cooked celery. If you do then after you have chopped up the potato and carrots add the celery to the bag you are putting in the microwave. Remember this is your meal not mine and you’re going to cook it your way.

 The microwave dinged and the veggies were ready to come out of the microwave and be added to the pan along with about a cup and a half of frozen peas. If you don't have frozen then use what you do have. Fresh or canned will work too.

I mix it all together and then put the ham bone in the pan (this recipe does not call for a ham bone so if you don’t have one doesn’t worry continue on without it.)

I put a cover on the pan and reduced the heat to just above a simmer and let it cook for a half an hour.

While the soup is cooking I made the pineapple upside down cake and put it in the oven.  As I have said before my oven is not dependable so the cake will have to be checked on every so often. It took the cake forty minutes instead of thirty. But it smells and looks good. Fingers crossed it will taste good as well.

Now it was time to finish the soup. I put everything from the pan into the blender. All but the ham bone that I still needed to scrape the ham off of. I started the blender and pureed most of the ingredients. Next I added the ham from the bone and a little half and half to the blender.

 I again turned on the blender until  everything was pureed I then  tasted the soup and I decided that I needed to add a little more fresh ground pepper and sea salt.

Then I put the soup away for dinner.

When it is time for dinner I will make grilled cheese sandwiches with ham. I had some ham left over from the week and this will taste good grilled with the cheese and it will use up the ham slices before they go bad. (Here is another tip. When you get cold cuts have them sliced a little thicker. It will give you options to make more than sandwiches during the week.)

Now it’s time to relax and one of my neighbors is knocking at my door and has just come over for a visit. She has been out of town for a month so it will be nice to catch up with her. After she left I will take some more meds and a little nap so I will be ok for tomorrow.

My New Years wish for you is that I hope you all do whatever you do your way and not the way someone else wants you to do it.

It’s your life lead it your way.

Have a happy and independent New Year!