Potato Bacon Soup!!

Once again, it has been way too long since my last post. I hope to make the next few great ones to help make up for it.

So...without further ado: Today's Post - Potato Bacon Soup!!

This is the easiest soup you will ever make - so try it!

Ingredients:

6 potatoes, chopped into small pieces
1/2 package of bacon
1 large onion, diced
2 celery sticks, diced
kernels from 1 cooked corn
900 ml vegetable stock
1 tbsp pepper

STEP 1: 

Cook bacon; dry with paper towel

STEP 2: 

Prepare celery, onions, bacon and corn

STEP 3:

In the same deep pot (to avoid too many dishes), add chopped onion; cook until browned 

STEP 4: 

Add vegetable stock; bring to a boil

STEP 5:

Add chopped potatoes; turn to medium heat and continue cooking until potatoes are tender

STEP 6:

Remove half of the potatoes temporarily and slightly mash the remaining soup to create a 

creamy texture; add the rest of the potato pieces back in

(This doesn't look every appetizing but you just have to look at it briefly)

STEP 7: 

Add chopped bacon, celery and corn; continue cooking on low until you are ready to eat!!!!

And that is it!! It is so quick and so easy to make! It is also very hardy and filling. It's a great soup to make a ton of and freeze into individual containers for lunches or dinners later on.

****I cooked the corn on the cob separately and then filed the kernels off and put them in the soup. Alternatively, you could probably file the kernels off without cooking it and just add them raw to the hot soup. OR you could just use a can of corn. Whatever you have will be just fine!!

NOW on a completely different note - I wanted to say 'without further ado' (as a I did up top) but I wasn't sure of the spelling so I looked it up and apparently people get 'ado' and 'adieu' mixed up....read on if you care.... So 'ado' means a flurry or fuss whereas 'adieu' means goodbye in French and has nothing to do with the phrase 'without further ado' UNLESS you want to say 'without further adieu, I'm out of here' ('without further goodbyes, I'm out of here') because there would never be a need to say without further goodbyes period - you need to finish the sentence. Just thought it was interesting. Google is great.

Cream Cheese Chocolate Cake

This is my second attempt at this icing for a chocolate cake and I must say it definitely needed that second try since the first one just did not work (see here).



A little while ago I finally got myself a proper set of piping tools (all the tips and bags) so I have been dying to try out some of the piping methods that I have learned via youtube - very useful!

The icing is a Cream Cheese Butter Cream Icing:

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
8 oz (one package) cream cheese
5 cups sifted icing sugar

Step 1: Beat butter until soft
Step 2: Beat in cream cheese, just enough until it's blended
Step 3: Cup by cup sift in icing sugar and blend

There is a lot talk on the forums about whether cream cheese icing can be piped and so far, in my experience, it can. It was a nice firm icing that came out and held its shape quite nicely - even on the sides of the cake.

I did a quick sweep over the cake with the icing so that it was completely covered - but thinly - you don't want to use all of your icing here. Add a little extra in between the layers since this is the filling as well. The thin layer is just so the cake crumbs don't flick into the icing, as well as if any spots are missed while piping it isn't as obvious.

I put the final cake into the fridge because of the cream cheese but it would be fine out and would most likely continue holding its shape as long as it's not in a super hot area.

*If the icing is too thick, milk (or cream) can be added tsp by tsp. Likewise, if it is too thin for your liking, simply add more icing sugar.



Mini: Lemon Meringue Pie

Josh and I missed Mother's Day this Sunday and we weren't able to go see
his mom, even though they live fairly close.

To make it up to her we went for a visit yesterday and brought a little treat,
one of her favourites: Lemon Meringue Pie.

They are really easy to do. The hardest part is the crust but you could make it
even easier on yourself and buy store bought crust if you wanted to.

Making mini ones was super cute. They are bigger than a tart and much much
smaller than a 9 inch pie but they are still quite big - two servings I would say.

I left two pies out for Josh and I and packaged the other two for Josh's

mom and away we went for a lovely visit.

***On a side note though: I found the crust had a slight bitter taste to it and I'm not too sure why. It could have been the brand of shortening. I used Crisco but in the past I've used Tenderflake. I don't remember it having the aftertaste that it did in previous times. Any other ideas?



Update

It feels like it has been forever since I last posted something! Sorry for those who kept checking back to find something new. I will try posting items more often so there is always something new to look at.

Josh and I finally had a few days off together and the weather has been so nice here that it made more sense to be outside than to bake.

We found a really neat place to take Czar for a walk - it's a huge forest area just in behind our place. There are multiple starting points so we drove up a little ways to start our walk at a new destination. The results: a huge ravine in the middle of the forest that we climbed down to. Czar absolutely loved playing in the creek water - he loves the water - rivers, creeks, ponds, the ocean - anything but bath water.

This place was very neat, we wished that we had brought our camera and definitely will next time. I think we will try from a different entry point as well.

We packed a nice lunch of sandwiches and lots of water for Czar so we were all happy campers.

Have a great day. We are off to enjoy another sunny one!

Reason Why

I think seeing this...

...makes having a blog worthwhile. I love seeing that people from around the world are looking at Wilma: Loft Living. Sure, the numbers aren't super high, but having hits from Russia and Ireland and Malta (Josh's family lives here) is the neatest thing ever. Keep the spread of my blog going and pass along its name to everyone you think may be interested.

Thank you everyone!

- Frozen Bananas -

I saw these on Dr. Oz last week. They turned out pretty good when I made them last night. We ate them before they were fully frozen but still delicious. Honestly, I have no self control. Dr. Oz was saying that they are a great alternative to an ice cream treat (even with the sprinkles - he also used nuts for another topping).

We often make these in a simpler version - we cut up the banana into slices and dip each piece and just refrigerate until the chocolate is hardened and then eat. But almost frozen and sprinkles was a nice change for these ones.

Cheese Cake!

This is the best cheese cake recipe ever. It is simple. It is easy. And it is deliciously good.

Very minimal ingredients here: Graham cracker bottom, cream cheese, whipped cream, a bit of sugar and a can of condensed milk. Easy breezy!

AMOUNTS: (To make 6 individual sized cheese cakes)

1 9 inch graham cracker crust (I bought one prepared, you could make it from scratch if you wanted)

1 package of cream cheese

1 cup whipped cream (in liquid form)

2 tbsp of sugar (to your taste - use more or less if you want)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

STEP 1:

Using the condensed milk, make caramel topping - see Caramel Recipe in the Baking section.

(Boil condensed milk for 4 hours)

STEP 2:

Blend cream cheese and sugar together until smooth.

STEP 3:

Whip whipped cream until it forms stiff peaks.

STEP 4:

Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture.

STEP 5:

Layer the graham cracker, filling mixture and caramel.

STEP 6:

Refridgerate for an hour or so to allow the ingredients to settle and form.

STEP 7:

Make sure you having someone helping you eat them!

As I mentioned before, Josh and I have been together for 4 years but only recently have our parents met. I served this for the occasion and I think everyone enjoyed it, especially in the cute mason jars.