Mushroom Soup

Yesterday was a cold one so I made Mushroom Soup.  We love it.  Well, Tony and I do.  The kids had chicken noodle.  Here's the recipe (I usually add more mushrooms and then more of the creams and milk):
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 large onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cans beef or vegetable broth
1 to 1 1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 to 1 cup half and half
1/2 to 1 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Saute mushrooms, onion, garlic, tarragon, and nutmeg in butter until vegetables are tender.  Stir in flour until smooth.  Gradually add broth.  Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.  Reduce heat to low; slowly add sour cream.  Cook and stir until smooth.  Stir in half and half and milk.  Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Heat through.

Cupboard Update

I saw on another blog a great way to organize a pantry.  I don't really have a pantry, but I do have a large cupboard.  So I ordered the chalkboard contact paper ($6.88) and bought white letters from Hobby Lobby ($3.99), and today I went to work! 

I took the doors off.

 Unfortunately, the contact paper wasn't wide enough so I had to put a little strip on the side.

 I then covered the whole back.

 I put the white letters on with a little help.

 We used the time to practice our letters.

 We then colored the entire board.

 We erased the chalk and I hung them up.

So cool! 

Creamy Tomato Soup

A couple years ago I started making a lot of homemade soups.  I found a great cook book; I didn't come up with any of them on my own.  This weekend I made the first one for the season and looking at the forecast for the week, I probably will be making another later this week.  Tony and I love this tomato soup recipe.  I had to strain out the "chunks" for the girls to eat it, but they liked it too.
1 or 2 onions, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 quart tomatoes
2 cans condensed tomato soup
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 package cream cheese, softened
In a large saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender.  Stir in the other ingredients expect cream cheese.  Bring to boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  Add cream cheese; stir until melted.

Landscaping Project

Be sure to check out my update on the right (The House - Other Projects *New Post*) to see all the work we have done outside lately.  Here is the finished product.

I Think I'm Done

I finally used up all my canning jars today. I canned 14 more quarts of tomatoes from Dad. Now I just have to find recipes to use up my supply. It was a pretty productive canning season. The results:

-35 quarts tomatoes

-14 pints tomatoes

-15 quarts tomato juice

-5 quarts peaches

-13 pints peaches

I also froze:

-12 cups zuchinni

-12 cups corn

-"so many I lost track" servings of squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, apples, and banana baby food