Heaven in a Bowl, or The Best Soup You'll Ever Eat

A big thanks to a few girls who have given me awards lately!  The first is from Carrie of Carrie's Little World.

And the next is from Amy of WhisperWood Cottage:

A huge thank you to both of these ladies for thinking I have anything to contribute to the blogging world!  And, since both awards ask me to list some things that I am thankful for, I thought it would be a great time to share with you something that makes me very, very happy:

This, friends, is the best soup you will ever eat.  I am not kidding.  I have been searching for a tomato soup recipe for years and years (really!) and had yet to find something that would rival my childhood favorite, Campbell's Tomato Soup...until this soup came along.  It is rich and creamy, with a subtle tomato flavor.  It is perfect to serve it to guests if I want, but I can also dip a grilled cheese sandwich in there on a Tuesday night and feel right at home.  Did I mention how much I love this soup?

I will give credit where credit is due and tell you that I originally got this recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks.  That woman has never steered me wrong and I have loved all her recipes.  But in this case, her recipe makes the soup rather chunky, and I am a firm believer that tomato soup should be perfectly smooth and creamy.  So the recipe I am sharing with you below is with my adjustments, but be sure to visit The Pioneer Woman if you want the original.  You won't be sorry!

Heaven In a Bowl, or The Best Soup You'll Ever Eat

6 T. unsalted butter

1 medium onion, diced

1 (46 oz.) bottle of tomato juice

2 (14 oz.) cans diced tomatoes, undrained

2 T. chicken base (you'll find it near the bullion cubes)

3 T. sugar

1 cup cooking sherry

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

salt to taste

pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large soup pot.  Saute the onions in the butter until they are translucent.  Let cool slightly.  Add sauteed onions and cans of diced tomatoes to a food processor or blender and blend together until smooth.  Put mixture back into soup pan.  Add tomato juice, chicken base and sugar.  Bring to a near boil, then turn off heat.  Add in sherry and cream and stir.  Turn heat back on low.  Add parsley and basil.  Let all the flavors cook and blend together, making sure not to scorch the soup.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

How easy is that?  YUM!  :)

P.S. I wanted to say a big thank you for your comments yesterday about the house next door.  I felt so supported and was so blessed that so many of you said a prayer for me.  It's so humbling!  The latest is that we placed our offer, but are competing with another buyer who also put in an offer yesterday.  So it's a waiting game, unfortunately, and since our offer is contingent upon us selling our house, the odds aren't in our favor.  I was pretty bummed yesterday and of course shed some tears, but let's wait and see what God does.  If this doesn't work, I do believe it's because there's something better out there.  I will keep you posted!

Me In the Front Yard With a Barcalounger?

So, what did you do this weekend?  Me?  I had a little of this:

And maybe more than a little of this:

And I caught up on these:

And I spent a lot of time staring at this:

Why did I spend a lot of time staring at an ugly purple door?  Well, I'll tell you.

This is the door of the house next door to ours.  It is currently in foreclosure.  We live in a newly built neighborhood, and it seems that the previous owner of this purple door bit off a bit more than he could chew.  What does that mean for us?  Well, basically it means that there is a "smoking deal" (as my husband calls it) sitting with a big "For Sale" sign right next door to us.

Not only would it be a great move for us financially, but it would mean lots more space for our growing family.  As you might imagine, space is foremost in my mind these days since I am less than three months away from having a Baby #2.

So for the past few weeks, we've been meeting with our realtor, our mortgage broker, and talking to various others whose opinion we trust to see if this is a deal we should pursue.  We've also talked to God about it an awful lot.  As of today, Monday morning, we are putting in an offer, with fingers and toes crossed.

Why am I telling you all this?  I suppose it's because I am scared.  I am a woman, as you probably know, and an emotional one at that.  The past few weeks have been so full of emotion, thinking about leaving this house that we love but also thinking about how great it would be for our family to have space to grow into.  Planning to put our house on the market and wondering if we can sell it before someone else sneaks in and buys the house next door.  Watching real estate agents parade other potential buyers through the new house and balancing my expectations on the head of a pin...is today the day that it will work out, or the day we will lose the opportunity?  Having hope but yet not having too much hope, so as not to be disappointed.  For an emotional control freak like me, it's a tough position to be in!

We've prayed a lot about it, and we believe that God is in control, but if you have any spare prayers, I wouldn't object to you shooting them our way.  I will keep you posted. 

Oh, and do you think it's wrong for me to sit in my front yard with an old recliner and grill some meat on  my car's engine, you know, just to scare away any potential buyers from snapping up the house before we do? 

Is It a Spa or a Laundry Room?

It all started with our new washing machine.  

My husband's company is very "green," and every year they offer a lump sum of money to their employees to do something "green" to their house.  We had been in need of a new washing machine, so a few weeks ago the nice men from Best Buy brought me this lovely front load washer:

I had seen so many people around the blogging world make their laundry rooms look more like spas, and I wanted to join in the fun!  First, I took my cork board, which holds some random coupons, calendars and other junk, and moved it to another, less conspicuous, wall.

Then, I found an old lamp in the basement and recovered the lampshade so that it looked sufficiently cute for this space.  Then I just did some good, old-fashioned decluttering.  Let's all take a deep breath as we look at the now clutterless laundry room!

Ahhh...much better!  A while back I blogged about that "Laundry" sign on top of the cabinets, so if you want to see how I made that little guy for so much less than the Ballard Designs catalog, click here.  

Otherwise, have a great weekend!

Five Things I Love About Colorado

I have been tagged by Chris from Just a Girl (She has an amazing blog, by the way!  Such great projects and ideas, be sure to check it out if you haven't already!) to participate in this fun little game.  She wants me to name five reasons why I love my state.  I live in Colorado, so this was pretty easy!

Now, the truth is, I could easily tell you about the mountains, the weather, the absolutely gorgeous summers and snowy winters. I could tell you that I love Colorado because it is sunny 300 days a year. What does that mean? It means that it snows and it is pretty, but then it melts the next day so we aren't looking at gray slush for weeks afterward. (That's a personal shout out to my hometown, Cincinnati, which loves to provide weeks upon weeks of cold, gray, slushy days in a row in February!) But instead I will just sum up the Colorado surroundings by posting this photo, taken of my husband Brent and daughter Nina last Christmas on the bike path behind our house!

I love Colorado, and my little corner of it, because of how family-friendly it is. We regularly attend community parades, festivals, farmers' markets, and holiday celebrations. Here's a shot of us at the Fourth of July parade.  Could we be more Americana?  

I love Colorado because, through a strange twist of circumstances, we have lots of family here.  My aunt, some cousins, and my husband's parents, to name a few.  I am especially thrilled because my sister and her husband live one mile from us.   Lindsay is my only sibling, and she is expecting her first baby in March, a month after me.  My husband and her husband get along really well, and it has been so fun to live so close to them!  Here they are with Nina last summer (she looks so little in this photo!)

You might think me strange, but I love that Colorado is such a football state, and that Denver is a classic football town. You have to remember that I was raised by a die hard Cleveland Browns fan, and I can totally get sentimental when I hear the Sports Center theme song or the comforting (to me) sounds of a football game on TV on a Sunday afternoon.  Here's a shot of Invesco Field at Mile High, home of the Denver Broncos (photo courtesy of denverbroncos.com).

And since this is a mostly decorating blog, I have to mention the great shopping I have found in Colorado. Here's a photo of one of my favorite thrift stores (It's the Littleton/Highlands Ranch Goodwill, for those Denver girls out there!).  I always find fantastic deals on things like furniture, home decor and lots of other little items that I can "rehab."  (Photo courtesy of denvergoodwill.org) 

So there are my Five Things!  Hope you enjoyed this little tour of Colorado!

WFMW: A Toy Worth Buying (For Babies)!

Today's Works-For-Me-Wednesday is a themed one: the Toys Worth Buying edition!  It just so happens that I went to a baby shower over the weekend and used this idea, but it would work just as well as a Christmas gift.  In my case, the mom-to-be is having twins, one boy and one girl.  A few friends and I wanted to get something that she could use for both babies, regardless of gender.  Look what we came up with!

We bought a simple basket from Michael's, added some green grosgrain ribbon (green is nice and gender neutral, you know!), and then splurged on a ton of board books to fill the basket.  I remembered that, before I had my daughter, I always wondered how people collected such extensive libraries for their kids.  I knew I wanted to teach my daughter the love of reading, but seriously, who has the money to buy stacks of books when there are cribs and strollers to buy?

Everyone at the shower commented on the basket, and we felt very virtuous because we have contributed to the babies' literary education.  Plus, just look how stinkin' cute the basket is!

An easy, gender-neutral and charming gift for babies (and new parents!).  Works For Me!

Candy Corn Cookies

It's still Fall, and although it is seriously hard to resist the adorable Christmas decorations that are popping up everywhere, I am determined to hold out.  Now, don't ask me if I have listened to Christmas music already, because that's a whole different story!  (And yes, I have.  Just a little bit.  Barely enough to count.)

Last week I hosted our monthly book club and it was a great chance to whip up some fall cookies.  However, I wanted to have a pretty little platter to put the cookies on, and alas, I never registered for one when I got married.  But, I had seen how people created cake platters out of a candlestick and a simple plate (I am sorry, I can't remember where I saw this idea, but it has been floating around!).  Here is what I was able to figure out with a $2 glass plate and 88 cent candlestick from Big Lots (along with some super glue):

How cute did it turn out?  It is not perfect, but when you put little cookies on top, no one is looking for the imperfections!  I shamelessly used Tidy Mom's idea to create candy corn cookies, and I think they turned out so well, along with my pumpkin cookies!

All my Halloween decorations and BOO pumpkins have been put away until next year, but I think these simple fall cookies would be charming through Thanksgiving.  And wait till you see what I did last Thanksgiving with a turkey cookie cutter!  We can hold out, girls!  We don't need to put up the Christmas lights just yet!

P.S. I had someone ask me how I made the cake stand.  It was so easy!  I got some super glue (anything that says it is good to use on glass).  I turned the glass plate upside down, found the exact center with a ruler, and then put glue in that spot.  Then I turned the candlestick upside down too, and stuck it to the plate.  That's it!  I gave it a full 24 hours to dry without moving it, and made sure that I cleaned up any drips before they dried.  I wouldn't run this thing through the dishwasher or anything, but it seems pretty sturdy for holding little cookies and cakes!  

Halloween Wrap Up

Hey all!  How was your weekend?  I don't know about you, but I am all Halloweened out.  So much fun, but so exhausting!

I started my weekend on Thursday by having lunch with my very first blogging friend, Lisa.  She has a private blog that she invited me to visit a few months ago, and we've gotten to know each other since then, because we are both in the Denver area.  It was so much fun!  We met for lunch, and we just clicked right away!  Don't you just love it when you meet people and it feels so easy to be friends?  We didn't think to take any photos to show you, but maybe next time!

By Friday, my little two-year-old spitfire was ready for Halloween to officially begin!  We kicked it off by carving our pumpkin...

...and then we all put on our costumes!  Nina was a Cleveland Browns cheerleader, Brent was a referee, and I was the football player.  (My husband thought I would make a good linebacker with my, um, rather large stomach.  Thanks honey.)

Then Nina ran around for awhile.  Cheerleaders have a lot of energy, you know.

But she did pause long enough to wonder why the Browns don't have a winning record this season.  She didn't come up with anything.

Finally Nina got out for some good, old-fashioned trick-or-treating.  We now have enough candy in our house that anyone could look 6 months pregnant if they wanted to.

We had a ball!  How was your Halloween?