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Archive | October, 2012

Lemon Chicken & Orzo Soup with Sweet Cornbread

October 30, 2012 at 4:18 pm

We had friends over the other night and I made an enormous (and I really mean eee-nor-mous) pot of this soup.  We had so much left over after we all partook that I sent them home with a quart of it, froze another quart, and then ate the rest of it all week while Elliott was out of town.  Lena ate it with me, sweet little thang.

(Why does she have two spoons and three cups?!)

Anyway, I was thinking of all my East Coast friends who are stuck in Hurricane Sandy and this sounded like a cozy meal to enjoy tonight.  If you’ve still got power (and can read this) and also have the ingredients (hah?), here are both delicious recipes:

Lemon Chicken & Orzo Soup
adapted from this recipe / serves 8

Ingredients

  • 3lbs chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces (thank you, Emily W!)
  • 4.5 cups low-sodium or homemade chicken broth 
  • 4.5 cups water
  • 1 1/3 cups chopped carrot 
  • 1 1/4 cups chopped onion 
  • 1 cup chopped celery 
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 8 ounces uncooked orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (or 2 T dried parsley)
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • Lemon wedges (optional)
  • Coarsely cracked black pepper (optional)

Directions

  • Mix water and chicken broth in a large pot.  Add carrot, onion, celery, and salt to pan.
  • Bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender. 
  • Add reserved chicken, and simmer 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated.  Keep warm.
  • Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. 
  • Add pasta to pan with chicken and broth mixture; stir in parsley, rind, and juice. 
  • Garnish each serving with lemon wedges and cracked black pepper, if desired. 

Sweet Golden Cornbread
adapted from this recipe / makes one 9-inch pan
 

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup yellow cornmeal
  • 2/3 cup white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil 

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Spray or lightly grease a 9-inche round cake pan.
  • In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
  • Stir in egg, milk, and vegetable oil until well combined.
  • Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

I’m linking up with 33 Shades of Green and Not Just a Housewife today.  This means those two websites have compiled a list of lots of bloggers who are posting tasty recipes or interesting crafts today. 
13 :: in eat this

fall color in Sicily

October 29, 2012 at 3:41 pm
Ever since I returned to Sicily last week, I’ve been feeling sad about leaving beautiful fall color behind in Virginia.  We love living here, but there’s just nothing like autumn on the East Coast.  I think it’s the rich color saturation of everything: leaves, clothes, sky, scarves, apples, boots, lipstick, pumpkins. 
Last week my friend Becca mentioned that there is fall color on Mt. Etna, the highest volcano in Europe, which is just a 45-min drive from our house.   Quick, gather a crew and let’s go hiking!  With two of our closest family friends here, we drove up to the slopes of the volcano, picnics packed and children in tow. 

Aren’t the kids cute?  Elliott and I got to see what “hiking” will look like in a few years when Lena’s a little older and we add a babe or two to our family!  These are some rockstar parents, folks.

 I’m linking up with Weekend Update Blog Hop and The Weekend File.
11 :: in friends, hiking, Mt Etna, Sicily, weekend

a little Virginia autumn for your weekend

October 26, 2012 at 2:39 pm

^ “Umm, Mama, I’d really like to go on a walk with you but I just have to figure out how to bring all my shoes along too.”

The weekend before we left Virginia and returned to Sicily, my parents, siblings, Elliott, Lena, and I drove to a pretty little getaway in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Elliott and I swung by UVA to pick up my sister Emily on our way to the house my mom had rented for all of us.  We soaked up time together with hikes in the mountains, leisurely meals and conversation indoors, and quiet moments around the fire pit or in the hot tub outside.  Lena especially enjoyed the huge walking stick bugs (“bee!  bee!” and giggles) that her daddy caught for her.

I’ll leave you with a portrait of a blogging couple.  This is how we spend many evenings together but usually no one else is around to say, “Aww, you two are so cute with your matching computers!” and take a picture. 

5 :: in family, Lena, Virginia, weekend

to fix a leaky chimney

October 24, 2012 at 1:42 pm
what is actually happening in my life vs. what I wish was happening in my life

Well, I was thinking of sharing some fun photos from our time back in the States.  (See above right photo.)  However, at 7:40 this morning (5 minutes after I woke up) the door bell rang and there was a work crew on the front step.  What?!  So early.

It’s okay, though.  Early can be good.  I knew they were coming to do an assessment today because we have an issue with our faulty chimney leaking smoke into our house.  After the assessment we planned to decide on huge chimney repairs vs. getting a wood stove installed in the fireplace instead.  Suddenly, a few minutes after they arrived, I heard a hammer hitting the wall and chunks of plaster hitting the floor.  “Stop!  What are you doing?!”  Well, so much for an assessment.  The chimney will be fixed this week!

Well, maybe not this week.  But in “a few days.”

My house is a total disaster, with dust everywhere, a man pounding on the chimney, and huge chunks of plaster falling to the floor.  (See above left photo.) My baby, meanwhile, is trying to sleep in the other room. I think she actually is sleeping, but that’s only because I have the White Noise Lite app on my iPhone turned up so loud that at first she couldn’t sleep at all.

Oh living in Italy!  I really love it, but it’s definitely hard with the language/communication barrier sometimes.  I only wish I spoke fluent Italian and could be trusted to do all the communicating on my own.  But instead every conversation has to go through an interpreter, often over the phone… and when you’re cell phone doesn’t get good reception in your house, that adds to the complications!

Anyway.  Here’s a fun video of Siena and Lena to end today’s post.  (I keep calling Siena “Luna” because that’s my sister’s cat’s name.)  You can see one of Lena’s greatest interests every time I take a video of her… oh vanity, you start so young!

5 :: in Italy, Lena, life lately, Siena, video
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