a new nothing with a speckled handle

let me start out by apologizing to all of you who don't live near a panera.  i'm sorry.   i'm not saying it's the best restaurant i've eaten at or that they have the best food ever.  but what i am saying is they have pretty fantastic food for the price and ambiance.  it's a great place to run to for a last minute dinner effort with kids (their mac and cheese is really good!) or for that bowl of soup that you want to talk over while chatting with a friend.  speaking of bowls of soup...that's what's been on my mind this week.  one of panera's popular soups is their broccoli cheddar.  it's not my favorite of all the many other choices they have, but it is good.  being 8 months pregnant, though, i get these cravings and for some odd reason it was panera's broccoli cheddar soup, even though it's not something that i generally choose when i go to eat there.  go figure.  as you see, so goes the mind of an 8-month along pregnant

i've been searching for a good tortilla soup for a while now.  i love all kinds of tortilla, taco, enchilada, bean burrito (just kidding, i made that one up) soups but i wanted to make one that was a little more hearty than the usual brothy tortilla soup.  my mom has a tortilla soup that is to die for.  however, it's really brothy.  and while i love it, my cravings were wanting something more.  i like to talk about my cravings like they have lives of their own (and no, there's no bun in this oven).  i cook and bake to serve those cravings and their needs.  so its a win/win situation.  i bake and cook and therefore serve.  get it?  now on to the recipe . 2 T olive oil 2 small corn tortillas cut 1 inch squares (yes, just two) 1 small or 1/2 large sweet onion diced 2 cloves garlic 1 1/2 tbsp cumin 1 tbsp salt pepper to taste 1 tbsp chili powder 2 cups frozen white corn (divided) 2 cans mexican stewed tomatoes (i used s&w mexican stewed) 1 quart chicken bro

(picture courtesy of ThermoWorks.com ) good gracious it's been a long time since i posted on here.  oh well, no time for excuses.  straight to the point.  a few years ago my in-laws gave my husband the coolest instant read thermometer.  it's actually a thermapen .  it'll change your cooking/barbecuing world.  it's fast.  it's so accurate.  it's easy to use.  it's waterproof.  (but please don't put it in your dishwasher, mom.)  it's cute (right now there are lots of colors to choose from!)  and might i just add that the company that manufactures it is based right in good old lindon, ut (not too far from my hometown.)  i use it to test water temperature for proofing yeast.  we use it for meat on the barbecue all the time.  we used it on our thanksgiving turkey.  it's great for everything.  a perfect christmas gift for that special chef in your life.

in my humble opinion, there is nothing that says holiday season quite like gingerbread.  the molasses spice smell that permeates the kitchen and the buttery flavor melting over the top warm even the most bitter of mornings.  or maybe you're the kind of family that makes breakfast for dinner...we are that kind of family for sure.  in fact, these gingerbread waffles were made on such a night when it was cold and grey outside and the kids were in the mood for something festive.  our 10 year old loves to cook and he's actually very talented in the kitchen, so he helped me make these waffles.  and when we realized we only had enough molasses to make one batch, he was really bummed out and could not believe that i didn't stock enough molasses to make all sorts of molasses type of things.  it was humorous for me, because, although i use molasses in bread making from time to time, it's not really something i stock up on by the gallon.  but maybe that will be our next purc