Surprise!

Today was a really busy day.  I picked up and dropped off quilts for artquiltmaker and one of my stops, New Pieces at 4th and Gilman in Berkeley, I was handed a birthday card from artquiltmaker (my daughter)! It had a generous gift certificate in it which I proceeded to totally use up! The picture above shows the goodies I selected.

I found some 120" wide fabric for the back of my grandson's food quilt.  I got two quilt hanger thingies (I've misplaced one already!) and the Machine Quilting book by Maurine Noble.  This book was recommended to me by SewCalGal and is timely because I am endeavoring to set up the Flynn Frame I purchased recently.

When I got to artquiltmaker's house I gathered the food I had asked her to get and made two pots of soup and a pan of lasagna for her larder.

I make a really easy and delicious soup. Take a boneless chuck roast and cut it in large chunks.  Cut up vegetables, including an onion, of your choice, also in large chunks.  When I make a chicken soup I cut up a whole chicken, use the back, neck and wings for the soup and save the meaty portions (breast, drumsticks and thighs) for another meal of baked or fried chicken.  Put enough oil in the bottom of a cast iron dutch oven and heat it.  Dump in the meat and vegetables.  When they start to sizzle (about five minutes) put them into a 350 degree preheated oven and bake for thirty minutes.  After thirty minutes remove the dutch oven from the oven and place on the stove.  Add broth, water or fruit juice to cover the meat and veggies.  Bring to a boil and simmer for thirty minutes.  You can add a bay leaf when you add the liquid but add any other spices about 25 minutes into the simmering so they don't loose their flavor.  With chicken soup, after the simmer, I remove the chicken pieces, let them cool, then remove the skin and bones and put the meat back in the soup.  Some poultry seasoning is nice in the chicken soup.

In a beef soup some small new potatoes are nice.  Or in either beef or chicken soup you can put rice in your individual serving bowl and then add the soup.  I don't put rice in my soup when cooking because it soaks up all the liquid.

So I hope you enjoy this easy soup recipe as much as I am going to enjoy my birthday presents!