The Almost All Vegetable Pot Pie

This week the wife made a chicken pot pie with scant amount of chicken, 

tons of vegetables, 

and a creamy potato soup sauce without the cream.

It turned out so delicious!

Ingredients:

• 3-4 large carrot sticks
• 1 head of celery
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 large onion
• 1 small head of broccoli
• 2 large potatoes
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 (12.5 oz) can of chicken (you can leave it out if you like)
• 1 cup of chicken broth (I'm sure you can use vegetable broth)
• 1/2 cup soy milk (I'm sure you can use almond or rice milk; or have some extra broth handy)
• Seasonings, like thyme, basil, pepper, and salt, to taste

Instructions:

1. Chop all of the vegetable ingredients into 1/4-1/2 inch cubes. 
2. (a.)Two of the carrot sticks, 1/3 of the head of celery, 1/2 of the onion, 1 clove of garlic, and 1 of the potatoes go into a shallow 8-10 quart sauce pan with 1 tbsp olive oil and the cup of broth after they've been chopped. (b.) Bring this mixture to a boil on high heat, then reduce heat to medium and simmer covered for 20 minutes. (c.) Allow this mixture to rest for about 5-10+ minutes and then puree in a blender. I added the soy milk as I pureed the soup.
3. (a.) The remaining carrots, celery, and onion go into a deep sauce pan with 1 tbsp olive oil. Cook these ingredients on medium-high heat until they have started brown. (b.) Stir frequently so you do not burn the ingredients. (c.) Then add the broccoli and the last clove of garlic and cook for about 3 minutes on medium heat. (d.) Turn off the heat and add the chicken. 
4. Add the pureed potato soup to the vegetable/chicken mix in your deep sauce pan and stir all of these ingredients together. 
5. Mix together your favorite pie crust recipe.
6. If you make a pie with a bottom and top crust, cook the bottom crust by itself in the oven at 375 degrees F for 5 minutes. Then add the filling and the top crust. Remember to cut slits in the top crust to release steam while the pie cooks. And don't forget to oil your pans.
7. Bake the pies in the oven at 375 degrees F for 30-35 minutes, or until the crust is light golden brown.

You can brush an egg wash (1 egg + water + dash of salt) on the tops of the pies before you bake them...or not. It's up to you. 

You can make 2 nine-inch pies or 5 four-inch individual pies. 

This recipe is very filling. One individual four-inch pie can probably feed two adults. 

Enjoy!

Flugtag!

Every year or so Red Bull hosts an awesome, ridiculous competition to see who can make any old, flimsy man-powered contraption fly.

It's called Flugtag.

This year our very own Dallas, Texas got to host one of the competition spots,

and lucky for us a dear friend had an apartment balcony with the best seats in the house!

There were so many people there!
We were just grateful not to be in the heat.

Some of those contraptions could "fly," and some of them could not. 

To quote an awesome Pixar movie, they were usually,

 "...falling with style!"

Team Fuel Fairy was a great example:

It looks like a promising contender for distance.

But drops immediately over the edge...

with an awesome splash!

The competition included best dancing and presentation.

We took several pictures of some fair competitors and magnificent flops.

It was a fun Saturday.

Enjoy!

This group took an immediate nose-dive: 

This was one of the more promising contenders 

(the big splash is from their launching system):

Best French Bread Ever!

This is, so far, the best french bread recipe the wife has come across.

It comes from the Heritage Cookbook by the Junior League of Salt Lake City, Inc. 

(On page 56 under Fabulous French Bread, for those who might own it.)

Ingredients:

• 2 packages dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 cups hot water
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp salt
• 5 tbsp shortening or oil (I use canola oil)
• 6 cups flour
• 1 egg white

Instructions:

1. Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water and let stand 10 minutes.
2. Thoroughly mix 2 cups hot water, sugar, salt, shortening/oil, and half the flour in a large bowl.
3. Add the yeast to the mixture in the large bowl.
4. Add the rest of the flour to the mixture in the large bowl.
5. (This is where you might want a mixer) You allow the dough to sit for 10 minutes and then stir it really well. You repeat this process 5 times, or for 50 minutes. The dough gets really huge and fluffy during this time. Keep it covered; you don't want it to dry out.
6. Knead the dough on a floured surface 1-2 times.
7. Divide dough in half.
8. Roll out each half into 9'' x 12'' rectangles.
9. Loosely roll up each rectangle (hot-dog style) and pinch the the seams closed. 
10. Cover a large cookie sheet with a thin layer of corn meal. 
11. Place both rolls seam side down onto the sheet. 
12. Allow the rolls to rise for 30 minutes.
13. Brush a thin layer of beaten egg white onto the tops of the rolls. 
14. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes at 400 degrees F (my oven cooks hot, so I usually bump the temperature down to 380). You can tell they're done cooking if the loaves sound hollow when you tap them. 

The crust is so golden brown, and the insides are delicious!

Enjoy!

Halloween Preparations

Get ready annual trunk-or-treat

because this year the wife is going all-out 

for costumes and decorations!

The sci-fi adventurous and creative sides came together to create, once again,

some future space-faring medical officers and a shuttle pod. 

And if you don't have funds to spare, you say?

Cardboard, pen, paper, scissors, and glue will save the day!

It all began with an idea, some paper, a pen, and a pair of scissors.

Then the wife discovered she had glue, and gold and aluminum foil.

It looks fairly real to me! Perhaps a little more shiny, but it'll do.

A Quilt of Which Grandma Would be Proud!

Nearly 10 years ago the wife sketched and colored-in a quilt design on paper. 

She hoped it would reflect something about revelation, restoration, hope and love.

It's even got a little palm tree in it. 

She can't help it; sunny California has left it's mark!

Here's the finished picture:

Now all it needs is some batting and someone to cuddle with.

Anniversary Day

It's that time again!

The anniversary of the two peas.

Lately they've been taking hikes and walks to celebrate.

Here's the day in pictures from a beautiful nearby park:

Forests!

Beautiful clearings with gorgeous wild flowers....

And mushrooms....

And Assassin Bugs!

What a beautiful day!

Oh, this poor yard!

The two peas have been working hard to clean up 

this sad, neglected, over-grown, weed and vine ridden backyard. 

Whew!

Here's some pics for updates,

since pictures speak faster than I can:

These vines are ridiculous and run shallowly under the soil for 10's of feet. 

Resetting the stones....

Filling in the sides with fresh cedar mulch. It smells so good!

Clearing out even the tiny weeds. Believe it or not, but most of those little leaves on the ground by the pot are from several tiny tree shoots we had to cut out.

A few potted flowers here and there to brighten it up a little.