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Saturday, January 31, 2015

A Day of Treadling & Cauliflower Soup ((Recipe))

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The sewing nook at Quilt Villa has been returned back to normal.

The linens on the beds have been washed and changed, towels washed, dried, folded and put away.

I’ve spent the day puttering here and puttering there, dusting this, arranging that, enjoying the peaceful quiet of a Solo Saturday up in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

No, I’m not ignoring my family.  Son Jeff doesn’t have his days off until mid week.  The Hubster is busy with a weekend long tennis tournament and is unable to come up.

Besides…the last time I was fully alone for a day by myself was the day I drove to Georgia nearly 2 weeks ago.  My life has been packed with people since.

And sometimes a girl has just got to have a weekend of rest –without having to use her ears to listen, her mouth to speak, or her brain to think beyond the normal day to day things that fill the alloted 24 hours each day is given.

Besides, there is great satisfaction in commanding the remote and the TV ---rolling the treadle machine to its best vantage point and treadling away to endless streaming on Netflix.

Shown above:  The Making of a Lady.  Highly recommended for those who love period pieces with a bit of suspense!

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I treadled my way through all of these!

As of one American Patchwork & Quilting Quiltalong with four-patches isn’t enough – I have plans to add THESE to another project.  This just might be the year of the four-patch, which has always been my favorite unit like…FOREVER.  Or is that FOUR-EVER?!

Dinner tonight is the leftovers from Thursday night’s Cauliflower Soup:

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SO YUMMY!!

I never think of taking photos while I’m chopping, dicing or otherwise stirring in, but this recipe needs to be added to my recipes tab, it’s THAT good!

And it was fun having Lori dicing and chopping and adding things with me, a joint effort!

Ingredients:

1 large head of cauliflower, chopped small.
2 tsp salt
1 small yellow onion
2 ribs celery, also chopped small
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 1/2 cups diced ham.  (I had slices of spiral ham left from Christmas that I had frozen)
2 Tbl Olive Oil
3 Tbl Butter
1/3 cup flour (Or cornstarch for thickening if you are staying gluten free)
2 cups milk

Place Cauliflower in a stock pot and cover with water.  Add salt.  You need enough to boil the cauliflower by an inch or two, but not too much!  Bring to a boil and simmer until cauliflower is cooked very well.  You want it nearly mushy.

While Cauliflower is boiling:

Heat olive oil in a large skillet and saute the onion, bell pepper, celery and ham until union is translucent and tender.   Remove excess water from cauliflower if there is too much. Add veggies and ham to the  boiling cauliflower.

Make the sauce:

Melt butter in the same skillet used for the veggies.  When butter is melted, whisk in flour until all butter is absorbed.  Slowly add the milk to the roux and whisk it until smooth over medium heat.  Continue to stir until mixture comes to a boil and is thickened. 

Add sauce to soup, stirring to blend.  Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Allow to cool a bit and serve with grated cheese on top as a garnish.

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It’s even better the next day!

You can use this SAME recipe for broccoli soup and it turns out really great too!  just be careful to drain excess water before adding the thickened sauce.  I don’t like my soup too thick,  but I don’t want it watery either.

You can also use an immersion blender to blend up the soup more before adding the sauce if you want.  I still like to chew my food, so I don't want everything pureed too small.

If you missed this morning’s post – the link-ups are coming in with folks sharing their progress and completions for our Grand Illusion Mystery.  Click HERE if you missed it!  Links will be accepted through Feb 8th – so get those photos posted!

Have a lovely evening, everyone!


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14 comments:

  1. Kathleen Whipple7:09 PM EST

    Hi Bonnie, How do I do the the wild goose

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  2. We are HUGE soup eaters in our family. Will be adding this one to my "list to try". Looks delicious. Will have to check out that movie, too. Just finished watching the entire season #5 of Downton Abbey (cheated and got the DVD series in mail this week). No spoilers but it is WONDERFUL!! The Four Patches look great and I am thinking of doing the stitch along as well ... have enough scraps to make it interesting. Enjoy your time alone ... you're right ... a girl needs some GIRL time!! Linda

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  3. What a wonderful day! I too am sewing away on my 1923 Singer Model 99K, which I call Maggie as she was made in Scotland. Happy quilting to all.

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  4. Darn it! I missed the soup dinner!! Glad you got to enjoy a day of complete peace and quiet!

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  5. That soup looks yummy and I love soup. I hope you put the recipe in your file so I can find it again. I saved the page but somehow when I want something I spend half a day looking.
    Love the color of the pieceing you had laid out. Were they purple or a shade of blue?

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  6. Love the 4 patch blocks and your soup looks great.

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  7. Love that soup recipe! I'd also love to see it in your recipe tab.
    Four patches look fabulous, truly scrappy. Hmmmm, that's a Bonnie thing.
    You mentioned American Home & Garden Quilt-a-long? Did I read that right?
    Have a great quiet weekend.

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  8. I,too, love soups and make my own all the time. I learned to add a whole potato to the mix early in the cooking. Let it cook through. Remove it with some of the liquid and blend it well. Add this back to the soup and you have your thickener and with no added butter or flour or starch. I've even used dried potato flakes for thickener. No gluten either.
    Katie

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  9. Wouldn't that be nice. A day to oneself. Never mind dinner cooking in the oven and I am now ready to do some cutting and sewing for a few hours. I will try your Cauliflower soup recipe when we have some cooler weather I have a lovely Cauliflower and bacon soup that we love.

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  10. Having your home to yourself for a day can be a delight. Can't exactly explain it in words. But it is such a great feeling! And it is not that you dislike your family or friends... just want to totally enjoy being WITH and by yourself. HAVE A GREAT TIME BONNIE!
    Soup looks yummy. Serve with warm crusty bread, and I will travel to NC to eat with you lol

    Smiles, JulieinTN

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  11. I started watching The Making of a Lady today too, based on your recommendation! I realized I have already watched it. But it is definitely worth a second viewing! Thanks for the suggestion!

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  12. Yum, cauliflower soup. A male co-worker some 20 years ago once brought in to a potluck, an absolutely wonderful bleu cheese cauliflower soup, oh so gooood.

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  13. Bonnie, I saw in your post that years ago you lived in the Tri-Cities/Prosser area! Five years ago, we bought a house out in the country in Benton City. If you have not been to the TC area in a long time, it will shock you as to how much it has grown and growing! There certainly is no recession happening here!

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  14. Good for you having time to yourself Bonnie, you are so busy I imagine it feels wonderful. Love those little purple four patches :) The soup looks delish!

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