52 Photos – Week 7
52 Photos – Week 3
Snow on the tree in the front yard. 
Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving!
Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Print recipe| Dietary | Gluten Free |
| Meal type | Main Dish, Soup |
| Misc | Freezable, Pre-preparable, Serve Hot |
Ingredients
- 6 cups Chicken Broth
- 1 Medium Onion (diced)
- 3lb Yukon Gold Potatoes (peeled and diced)
- 1/2lb bacon (cut into lardons)
- 8oz sour cream
- 8oz cheddar cheese (shredded)
- 1 bunch chives (chopped)
- 2-3 green onions (sliced green parts)
- Salt and Pepper (to taste)
Note
This recipe uses the potatoes themselves to thicken the soup. You can add a bit milk if the soup is too thick, or add a bit of Wondra flour, cornstarch, or instant mashed potatoes if it's not thick enough.
Use the chives or green onions or both!
This recipe uses Yukon Gold potatoes because they are both starchy and can hold their shape for the chunky bits. You can also use Russet or baking potatoes.
Directions
| Step 1 | |
| Cook diced potatoes until cooked, but still firm. Set aside. | |
| Step 2 | |
| Cook bacon in the soup pan until most of the fat has rendered out. Set bacon aside. | |
| Step 3 | |
| Put onions in pan with bacon fat. Cook until translucent. | |
| Step 4 | |
| Deglaze with 2/3 of the chicken broth/stock | |
| Step 5 | |
| If you don't have a stick blender, take 2/3 of the potatoes and 1/3 of the chicken broth and puree in a regular blender or food processor and then add to the pan. | |
| Step 6 | |
| If you do have a stick blender, add the rest of the broth and 2/3 of the potatoes to the pan and puree with the stick blender. | |
| Step 7 | |
| Add the sour cream and 2/3 of the cheese, stirring until incorporated. | |
| Step 8 | |
| Add 2/3 of the chives or green onions (or both!), 2/3 of the reserved bacon, and the reserved potatoes to the soup. | |
| Step 9 | |
| Divide into bowls for serving using reserved bacon, cheese, and chives/onions for garnish. | |
Halloween Candy Exchange
Fall Back
Lightning
We had a storm 2 August 2015. A local pizza place was destroyed. A local high school had it’s roof ripped off. Trees are down and power is out. Lollapalooza was cut short and evacuated in Chicago. In Wood Dale, IL a tent at a festival collapsed and killed one person and injured others. Here’s my video of the light show from my front porch. It was eerily quiet. Lots of light, very little sound, mostly wind.
Scam Calls
The phone just rang. Caller ID said it was 911 calling from phone number 1911.
The caller left a message. The automatic transcript follows:
“I guess your name and your social security number. Unless you receive this message I want you to call the attorney generals office State of Florida to attorney Sam Wilson. 1-850-308-6061. Repeat again it’s 850-308-6061. Don’t disregard this message. Now we got arrest warrant. I guess some fraudulent charges on you. You only got 30 minutes. If you want weeks for 20 samples inviting(?) 30 minutes today evening. You are gonna be arrested by the police officers of your local County Sheriff’s office and will be held behind the jail for six months. Goodbye.”
These types of calls are SCAMS. Don’t answer, don’t return the calls.
Amazon Prime Day
July 15 will be Amazon Prime Day. I love my Amazon Prime. It’s so worth it.
Cowhide Rugs: Versatile and Stylish
The words “feminine” may not spring to mind when you picture a cowhide rug. It’s time to reconsider. Cowhide rugs can add a needed boldness to a room that is otherwise quite pretty. Picture a room filled with light, crystal accents, flowers, and classically elegant furniture. Now picture a bold and beautiful cowhide rug tying it all together. It is one of the great design strategies: take a style that works on its own, and then juxtapose it with an unexpected piece to really give the room its own character. A piece like this can also serve to help bridge the gap between the different tastes of the users of a space, whether it is a home or business.
A cowhide rug is a statement piece that adds charm and warmth. It is exotic, and at the same time it is earthy and practical. The natural cow skin material is extremely durable and will hold up in even the most high traffic areas of your home or office. These rugs are exceptionally easy to spot clean. The durability and ease of use are just a few of the great qualities of cowhide rugs. It’s also worth noting that bold accent pieces such as cowhide rugs can be the difference between a boring room and an exciting room.
You need not feel compelled to surround your cowhide rug with decor reminiscent of the Old West. The ways in which you can incorporate this design concept are limitless. It can seem at once whimsical and sturdy. A cowhide rug would be adorable in a child’s room or in a cozy home library or den. A kitchen designed with very simple, clean color schemes and lines would only be enhanced by a cowhide rug in a corner, or in the entryway.
These soft and stylish cowhide rugs are just the thing to tie together a whole room. They can be used as traditional rugs under a chair or in front of a couch, or you can use your imagination and use them as you would any other tapestry or throw blanket. This extreme versatility makes a piece like this a much better choice than a traditional rug. A traditional rug would stay on the floor in its place. A cowhide rug can be moved around from floor to wall to the back of a couch, allowing you to really express your creativity and keep your space feeling vibrant.
Allergens can be a major factor when purchasing a rug, but rest assured that cowhide rugs are not likely to harbor mold or mildew or other allergens.
Whatever your design challenge, you cannot go wrong with a classic, versatile, and bold cowhide rug.
