October Cooking - Slow Cooker Potato-Leek Soup

Ah, it is finally cool enough to make soup. This is an easy, old favorite. Enjoy.

Potato-Leek Soup (Slow Cooker)

4 cups diced potatoes

3 thinly sliced leeks

2 cans chicken broth

8-10 slices of bacon cooked, drained, and crumbled

1 cup evaporated milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Shredded cheddar cheese(Optional)

Combine first 4 ingredients in a Slow Cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours. 

Add evaporated milk and adjust seasonings during last 30 minutes cooking. 

Purée about 2/3 and add back into the remaining soup. Stir. Top each serving with cheese if desired. 

October Thoughts

     “How much time he gains who does not look to see what his neighbour says or does or thinks, but only at what he does himself, to make it just and holy.” 

― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

October Poetry

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells."-   John Keats,  To Autumn

October Goals

Spiritual
     Daily Reading
     Church
     Meditation 

Physical
     Exercise DVD
     WW
     Water

Quilting
     Borders

Reading
     A Thousand Days by Arthur Schlesinger 
     Benjamin Rush: Patriot and Physician by Alyn Brodsky
     Without You There is No Us by Suki Kim
     The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott

Cooking
     Saturday -- CB Hash, CSC

Sunday-- Potato Soup

Monday-- Baked Fish, Carrots/Thyme, Coleslaw 

Tuesday -- Chicken and Snow Peas Stir Fry

Wednesday -- Steak, GMP, Peas

Thursday-- Leftovers 

Friday -- Out  

     
Personal
     Month end Finances
     Eduardo—Yard
     Housecleaners 
     Indivisible Meeting
     Halloween 

The National Gallery

Some of my favorites.

Around OakMeadows

While September was our month for hummingbirds, October has been the month of butterflies.  We started our butterfly garden 5 years ago and it has truly born fruit/butterflies this year.  One of the best plants we have found for attracting bees and butterflies is called Blue Mist.  There are two varieties, one blooms in the spring and the other in the fall. And does it ever bloom!! We have daily Monarchs, Queens, Gulf Fritillaries, Common Buckeyes, several skippers, Giant Swallowtails, and today a Pipevine Swallowtail.  Joe and I go out on the walkway and just stand there watching all the butterflies.  

We had a lovely weekend trip to Washington, D.C. to visit our daughter. She has a 16 week old golden doodle puppy who is just a bundle of fur, energy, and love. We had a great time walking the puppy around the city and playing with her in the apartment.  Her name is Lucy. I must say my daughter is an excellent trainer.  We went to the National Gallery which is astonishing and we went to the Smithsonian Museum of American History. I was very disappointed with the American History Museum as it was crowded and i thought the exhibits very jumbled. I did like the First Ladies exhibit of their dresses and China.  I liked Abigail Adams’ China best of all.  We met up for lunch with a dear friend from my high school days and that was just delightful. She is every bit the force of nature that she was in high school. 

I found a British mystery series on Amazon Prime that I am really enjoying. It is Endeavor. It is about Inspector Morse at the very beginning of his career and is set in the 1960s. Excellent!!

On the down side, Trump is still President and still embarrassing himself and everyone else. Oh well, as long as he doesn’t start WW III,  we will get through it.  I’ve been taking a break from my 🔥Resistance. Every. Day.🔥 but plan to get back at it the first of November.  9 months down, 39 to go. 

That’s all the news from OakMeadows where the cats eat Fancy Feast and the people make do with leftovers. 

Chicken and Snow Peas Stir Fry

An all time favorite. Excellent leftovers.


Chicken and Snow Peas Stir Fry

Marinade: 2 teaspoonfuls each soy sauce, corn starch, sherry, and water

1 pound boneless, skinless,  chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces

3 tablespoons oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 can sliced water chestnuts or bamboo shoots, drained

4 carrots sliced diagonally 

1/4 pound snow peas

Cooking sauce: 

Stir together 3/4 cup water, 2 tablespoons sherry, 4 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil, 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch 

In a bowl mix soy sauce, cornstarch, sherry, and water. Mix well. Add chicken and garlic. Stir to coat all pieces of chicken. Refrigerate. 

Place large pan over high heat. When hot add 2 tablespoons oil. Add chicken and stir fry until done. Remove from pan and set aside. 

Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan. Ad vegetables and stir fry for about 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup water, cover, and cook for 3 minutes. 

Add chicken and cooking sauce. Cook, stirring constantly until sauce thickens. 

Serve over rice.