Baked Potato Soup

I love potatoes!  I like them plain, mashed, baked, souped and saladed.  Seriously, if you make them, I will eat them.  My favorite is mashed potatoes, but this soup is a very close second.  I found a version of this recipe in Southern Living before Mitch and I got married, and it was one of the first things I cooked for him after we tied the knot.  It has evolved into a staple in our household; we eat it no matter what time of year, and it makes wonderful leftovers.

Baked Potato Soup

6 large russet potatoes

1 large onion, chopped

3 14 oz. cans chicken broth

1/4 C butter

2 1/2 t salt

1 1/4 t pepper

1 C half and half

2 C shredded cheddar cheese

3 T chopped chives (I often use dried chives from my spice rack)

6 bacon slices, crumbled

Peel potatoes and cut into cubes.  Combine the first six ingredients in a dutch oven or soup pot. Cover and cook on medium high heat until the potatoes are really tender, approximately 30 minutes.  Mash mixture until the soup is thickened.  Stir in the cream, 1 cup cheese, half of the bacon and chives.  Top with the remaining bacon and cheese.

You can also do this in a crockpot.  The only variation is that you cook it on high for four hours or on low for eight.  I did this a lot when I was working.  Happy Eating!

Crawfish and City Bakery

Last weekend we went to a delicious crawfish boil at the Boat Basin Cafe on the Upper West Side.  One of Mitch's good friends from Starkville, Jimmy, started an organization called Crawfish for Cancer after his dad was diagnosed with multiple myeloma cancer.  This was the third annual boil in NYC, and it was a blast.  We spent about five hours outside eating crawfish and talking with friends.  There were several people from Starkville that came up to help cook, and they can cook some mean crawfish.  All around, it was a lovely Saturday afternoon and the close to 700 people that showed up, helped raise a lot of money for a great cause.


On an unrelated note, I was introduced to a wonderful bakery/restaurant near Union Square, and I am slightly obsessed.  I met my discipleship group at City Bakery on Saturday morning, and it was delicious!  I got the bakers muffin, but there were so many other pastries I wanted to try.  And I hear their hot lunch buffet is pretty delicious too.  I can't wait to go back and try lunch sometime soon!  Also, their space has a great feel to it, and is huge by New York standards.


I hope everyone is having a great week!  We have been engulfed in baby registering around here; which has taken a little bit more time than I anticipated.  I couldn't resist buying a couple of cute little outfits and headbands for little Maybelle...they are just so darn cute!  I will post pictures of our purchases soon.

Fabric Shopping

I went fabric shopping earlier this week and had a blast.  My friend Ashley kept me company and helped me haul the spirals of fabric around the store.  I found P and S Fabrics online and really liked the store a lot.  The workers are really nice and helpful, and the fabric selection is pretty good.  The only downside is that they don't have a good selection of printed fabrics.  But the price is certainly right.  It was fun to get inspired by the different colors and textures.  I am going to work on a burp cloth for Maybelle today using that pretty pink fabric.  I'll report back tomorrow with the finished product, and hopefully it will resemble an actual burp cloth! :)

Royal Wedding and Our Weekend

Did you watch the royal wedding on Friday?  I was not dedicated enough to get up in the wee hours of the morning, but I did watch it on delay as soon as I could get Bo to doggy daycare and pick up my breakfast.  I decided to bring out our china for the occasion; it seemed like there really wasn't any other way for me to have my bagel and coffee.  I loved watching all of the coverage and fell in love with Kate and her dress.  It was amazing!  And I loved that they just looked like two normal people in love and getting married....even though millions of people were watching.  I am not usually this into "celebrities," but I was glued in on Friday.

Mitch and I had a wonderfully relaxing weekend together.  It had been a pretty busy week, and it was nice to recharge.  Saturday night we went on a lovely dinner and a movie double date.  Natalie always knows the best restaurants, and this time she introduced us to some of the best BBQ we have had since moving up here.  The movie was really good, but had a plot twist at the end that kind of made you wonder whether you should like it at all.  Sunday we rented a Zipcar and headed out for the morning.  It was wonderful to stretch our wings and see that there is in fact green space outside of a park and that single family homes are still prevalent.  And Bo loves riding in a car, so it was nice to give him a treat that he had been missing for seven months.

Did anyone else watch the royal wedding?  What did you think?

Pink Cupcakes

I made pink cupcakes on Tuesday to let our bible study know that we are having a GIRL!!!!!  Maybelle Jean McGuffey was being very shy and did not want to reveal herself, but thankfully we had a patient ultrasound tech who waited out our little girl.  We are so excited and cannot wait for her arrival.  Let the nursery planning begin!

Easter

We had a fabulous Easter celebrating the resurrection of our Lord with some wonderful friends.  I always love an excuse to break out our china and to create a tablescape.  Mitch baked a mean ham, and we had more food than we could possibly eat.  It was a delicious traditional Easter lunch!  I hope you had a wonderful day of celebration and ate until your pants wanted to bust.  Because if holidays aren't for overeating, I don't know what is!

Mr. Mailman.....

delivered this fun box yesterday!  You may be wondering what I am going to do with 500+ used wine corks, and that is a very good question.  Because why on earth would someone need that many wine corks?  Well, I decided a little while back to start up an online boutique of handmade items for the home, and one of the stars of the show will be the wreath you see below.  With the baby on the way, my wine drinking, and consequently my cork collecting, has been put on hold....so I had to call in the reinforcements or rather I just had to jump on Ebay.  I will tell you more about Amanda Carol Designs in just a few weeks when the store gets up and running.