Tomato Soup

It’s my first day back in Chicago after a great Christmas in Atlanta and I thought I would give a few of my new gifts a whirl – thanks for the pot utensil clip Mom and pot holders Michael and Libby! Even though we were one Klindt (well, now Schumacher) short this year, we had a lot of fun, eating, drinking, watching movies, and SLEEPING.  I am not sure about you, but when I have a chunk of time off, my body will shut down and go into hibernation mode for a while. 

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup with Homemade Noodles

It has been rather chilly in Chicago over the past week (and when I say rather, I am talking about 0 degrees when I wake up with negative wind chills). Thankfully, I made a large pot of chicken noodle soup while it was snowing last Sunday which lasted me a few days.   The old Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup commercial kept popping in my head as I made it…the one where the snowman comes into the house and the snow melts away until you see a little red headed kid.  Since I didn’t want to venture out into the snow that day, I decided to be a little creative and made my own egg noodles, and they turned out AWESOME!!!  Definitely a great way to add a special touch to soup.  They tasted like little dumpling strips in my soup...yummmmm!  While I was making the noodles I realized I don’t own a rolling pin, so my noodles are a bit thick, but if you own a rolling pin, I am sure you can roll them out much better than I could with my hands. Enjoy!

Grandma Cole's Fudge Nut Bars

Christmas is in the air and there is no better place than Chicago during the holidays!  The lights are hung around town, there is a smell of Christmas trees when I walk down the street, and of course, fun holiday parties make it a magical time of year.  It also brings on some reflection of the year that has passed.  With this I would like to say THANK YOU to all of you who read my blog.  In just a little over a year, there have been ~4,700 pageviews!!  Not too shabby for a hobby of mine. 

Homemade Calzone

When I was growing up, calzones were a staple in our house.  It was something fun and customizable. Everyone could make their own (which decreased the number of arguments of what kind of pizza we were having).  And it was always fun seeing the dough rise. This weekend, I needed to use up some food in my fridge before it went bad and I thought this would be a great way to do it.  I had most of the ingredients in my fridge below, but feel free to make your own version…pepperoni and green peppers, veggie delight, chicken and spinach, anything your heart desires!  I decided to make one large calzone, but feel free to cut the dough in two.  Enjoy!

Banana Nut Bread

With the weather being cool, it is the perfect time for baking with the windows open!   I cranked up my music and danced around the kitchen while I whipped up the batter.  Usually it is a pretty good arm workout if you don’t use your Kitchen Aid blender, so I opted to put a little elbow grease into it, stirring to the beat of the music.  Don’t be afraid to get your hands in there too to help mix…especially when you are blending the sugar and butter together….it is much faster (and more fun) if you use your hands. 

Wedding Soup

There are moments that can remind you what life is all about…sometimes big and sometimes small.  Last weekend was one of those bigger moments, my sister’s wedding.  The amount of love and joy surrounding the weekend was very special to be a part of.  Two families coming together to create a day that will always be remembered.  From the week of prep leading up to the festivities to the kick-off with rehearsal to the main event and reliving stories the next morning at breakfast, lots of great memories were made.  

Italian Meatballs

The first official day of fall!  Although I am sad to see summer fading away, I am very excited for fall…one of the best times of the year.  Changing leaves, cooler temperatures, pumpkin spice lattes, and the return of football season.  With the cooler temps comes the urge to cook some classic comfort recipes and I decided to make an attempt at mastering the art of Italian meatballs.  From what I read, texture of the meatball is just as important as the taste.  I cannot even begin to describe how awesome they turned out! Even though I made quite a few, they were super easy to freeze and are just as good when reheated again (a great thing to come home to after a long week of traveling).  I paired them with spaghetti, but I could also see serving them with hoagie buns and parmesan cheese for a zesty meatball sub (great for watching football with friends on the weekend).  Enjoy!