There’s nothing quite as satisfying as making your own soup š. This is a recipe from Cook’s Illustrated that I’ve made several times. It tastes so much better than the canned ones. 
Plain tomato soup can be thin and sharp. Adding creamāthe usual stodgy solutionāmerely dulls it. We wanted to tame the tartness without losing flavor.
Sometimes when things get crazy, you just have to sit back, put your feet up and enjoy the giggle. So in honor of this idea, hereās a few memes on the subject…..
Now obviously, I didn’t draw these! My eternal thanks for the many cartoonists out there who did. Some of these came from the great folks at MSN who scoured newspaper websites gather these up!
Good behavior in the grocery store matters more than ever. Here’s how to be a more considerate shopper.
I found this article on AllRecipes and knew in a flash that I just had to pass it on. So, enjoy folks!
Before the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, shopping for groceries felt therapeutic to me. I looked forward to dawdling down aisles, reading labels for the thrill of it, and stocking up on chocolate (and other necessities) for the second time in a week.
Now? I find myself swerving an almost-full cart in one jerky u-turn after the next to avoid other shoppers, wishing the aisles were wider. I stare at the sparse shelves wondering whether I *need* more oatmeal. I had never, ever thought about the ethics of stockpiling oatmeal before. But here we are.
Continue reading “9 Etiquette Rules for Grocery Shopping During the COVID-19 Pandemic”
This is a dish I first came in contact with many years ago when my husband and I were stationed on the island of Guam. It was fantastic! Ever since, I’ve been looking for a recipe that would recapture that great taste. This one from Food Network comes close. I’ll list just a few of ingredients to “whet your appetite!”
This simplified version of a traditional Filipino comfort food was meant for your Instant Pot (a slow cooker, pressure cooker and stove-top stand-in, all in one). The pressure cook setting prepares it in no time and best of all, there’s only one pot to clean up.
Food Network
from Food Network
In all the times you thought about care packages š¦ from home, did you ever expect to sending one with face masks š? As luck would have it, neither of my daughters sews. So while I was making some for myself and hubby, I called the girls to see if they needed some. Net result was my sending care packages š¦ off by Priority Mail.
Now I realize that hugs are off limits right now, but please, keep in touch with your family and friends. More than once, weāve gotten FaceTime calls from my oldest because Riley (granddaughter) was bored and wanted to talk to āPawPawā and āMeMawā. Iāve also gotten calls from from friends who are also stuck at home š” and bored!
Today after finding out that said friends were still waiting to receive the fabric order to make a mask, we decided to grab a couple of the extras and take them down to Ted and Carol. We sat outside on the patio and enjoyed the company. Yeah, the area is under a āsafer at homeā š”, but all of us needed that time together.
So please, Video chat with all the friends that you can, and for older people who maybe arenāt as technologically savvy, take the time to find a way to visit them outside.
This is one of the many recipes we are seeing on our Echo Show. This one can be found on the āTastyā app. Iāve tried this several times and definitely recommend it to everyone!
Hereās just a few of the ingredients before I send you to the website.
We’re all in this together. Letās roll up our sleeves, wash our hands, and stay busy in the kitchen.
Friends of mine love coming to my house for dinner. I am a subscriber to Cook’s Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen websites. I can find some fabulous recipes there. The middle of March they posted the following article. After the article is a link to the page containing the full article and a link to 50 recipes for your enjoyment!
Staying at home and cooking for yourself, your family, and your neighbors has never been more important. As always, you can rely on all of us in the test kitchen for resources to help you plan, shop, and cook for yourself and your loved ones.Ā We are committed to serving as a resource to you every day.
We’ll be using this page to post articles and recipe collections that we think will help you feed the people you love in this unpredictable time. Check back oftenāwe plan to add new posts every day about topics you’re looking for now: pantry-friendly inspiration, info on ingredient substitutions, and big-batch recipes you can freeze. We’ll even provide an occasional break from the norm by way of a dispatch from our test cooks and kitchen staff, who are all currently working from home.
We’re all in this together. Letās roll up our sleeves, wash our hands, and stay busy in the kitchen.
P.S. To make our content even more accessible, we’ve taken some unprecedented measures. As part of our Keep Calm and Cook Sale, weāve slashed all our cookbook prices to $19.99 (or less) and they’re ready to ship. We created a collection of 50 of the America’s Test Kitchen recipes you need nowāand freed up access to all of them. We’ve opened up our ATK Kids website (so many recipes and fun activities, now free). You can also get every recipe, rating, and resource on all our sites with an all-access membership, now just $1 for 3 months.
What are you doing to keep from going stir-crazy?
So, now that we are settling in for what looks like a long period of āSocial Distancingā, what are you doing to keep from going stir-crazy? Hubby and I got outside this morning and washed the car š. By hand!
Now, of course, Odie just had to join us outside. While we worked, he dug a hole and got comfortable. So, that led to the expected, a bath. As you can see, bath time is not his favorite thing. š¤¦āāļø
So, what did you do today?
Got 10 minutes? Try this simple recipe!
Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love the folks at Cook Illustrated and America’s Test Kitchen. The testing that they do on recipes is unbelievable. They elected to share a number of these with everyone during the current crisis. So, enjoy!
Have 10 minutes? You can make the best Brussels sprouts that youāve ever tasted.
ā Read on www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/10260-skillet-roasted-brussels-sprouts-with-lemon-and-pecorino-romano
I know, it’s nothing to laugh about, but seeing this little graphic on a news story on my local ABC station had me giggling. Now, I’m in FL, but I’m sure you can think of similar weather problems for your area.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management is reminding Floridians that COVID-19 and hurricane preparedness are two different situations.
ABC Action News, Tampa FL
When I think of what happens around here the minute the local stations even hint at a storm, I get it! Read the story, enjoy the giggle
Book Reviews by the Reluctant Retiree 