Tag: scripture

“Easy Potato Soup” Recipe with Garlic, Parmesan and Cheddar topped Crostini

Trenda

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Downshifting from the accelerating month of December, I’m going to “ease” into January by giving you the delicious recipe for …”Easy Potato Soup” that I wrote about in my last post, “Love and Joy Come to You” (click here)and our dinner for two on New Year’s Eve.  This soup is so easy … no prepping is necessary and it is just a matter of opening cans, stirring, seasoning, and warming! (:

  • Easy Potato Soup by Trenda at CottageGreenontheLake.com 
  • Makes 4 – 6 servings
  • Level of difficulty – Easy

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Ingredients:

  • 1 – 10 oz. can Diced New Potatoes (drained)
  • 1 – 10 1/2 oz. can Cream of Celery
  • 1 – 10 1/2 can Cream of Potato
  • 1 and 3/4 cups Half & Half
  • salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Add all ingredients into large saucepan, stirring to blend.  Warm over low to medium heat, stirring often.  Be careful not to scorch soup mixture, but heat thoroughly.  Serve soup in bowls and garnish with desired toppings.  I top our soup with grated cheese and cooked and crumbled bacon.

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I love soups any time of the year but this soup is a wonderful “comfort food.”  I first “created” this recipe when our son was sick and he asked me to make him some “Magic Soup” and I searched our pantry, seeing what magic there was to be found. (:  Now, it is one of our family’s favorites and it is so easy to put together!  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!  AND … if tomorrow is your first day back to schedules, car pools, work, and life in general … I hope your day is “gentle.”

saltAnd tonight, thankful for another day the Lord has brought us safely through … “On my bed I remember you;  I think of you through the watches of the night.  Psalm 63:6

From my cottage to yours  ~  Trenda

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Thank you for spending some time with me today.  I’d love to hear from you.  Please leave any questions or comments you have under “COMMENTS.”

 

Texas-style Winter and the last of Thanksgiving … Recipe for Delicious Thanksgiving Soup

Trenda

It has been another delightful autumn here in East Texas but today’s temperature never “got out of” the 30’s and tonight, December 8th, we are finally expected to have our first freeze!  Fall is certainly a Southerner’s reward for surviving summer!

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Just a peek at Cottage Green on the Lake during the winter … 4the seasons!

leaves.pngPresuming it will freeze tonight, I gazed a little sadly at our still blooming Encore azaleas, roses, begonias, impatiens, coleus, and ferns.  However, Richard (forever surprising me) brought in one last winter rosebud he found blooming in our yard, put it in an antique vase that belonged to my grandmother, and set it on my vanity, where I happily discovered “it” after I showered! (imagine a picture of a heart, here!)

rose.png  Getting ready for “winter-on-the-lake” comes with a long to-do list … filling bird feeders, decorating the outside of the house with Christmas decorations, putting the potted begonias and impatiens away in their winter residence -our cedar greenhouse (: and last, covering the boat and draining our sprinkler system (which our son came over and helped his father with. PLUS … he also helped his father with our latest DIY project, the remodeling of our upstairs bathroom (pictures upon completion!)

Winter Twilight on the Lake …

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Thanksgiving Soup …

A delicious and easy soup that is made with Thanksgiving leftovers!  After enjoying our Thanksgiving leftovers for several meals, one of the simplest things we enjoy is making a big pot of comforting soup that uses all the “bits and pieces”still left from our Thanksgiving.

Instructions:

(So simple and delicious!)  In a Dutch Oven, add the last of your Thanksgiving leftovers.  (You’ll want to add only those leftovers whose flavors will compliment each other, when combined … no dill pickles from the relish tray or pumpkin pie!)  The leftovers I had which blended perfectly together were … dressing, a little turkey gravy, squash casserole, some leftover Rotel and Velvetta cheese dip (from football snacks!) and some turkey, I diced into smaller pieces.  To this mixture I added 6 cups of water and 6 teaspoons of dried chicken bouillon granules, stirring to mix.  Turn heat to high, until broth boils, then add uncooked pasta (I used 8 oz. from a 1 lb.box of Fideo Spaghetti.)  Return to boil, then lower heat “to simmer” until pasta is done.  That’s it!  Ladle soup into bowls and top with grated mild cheese and buttered breadcrumbs (leftover from my squash casserole!)  Delicious!  My husband and son had 2 bowls!


I ladled our soup into these favorite Fitz & Floyd “Tis the Season” mugs.  These mugs are “jumbo size” and hold 4 cups of liquid, each! Since they are so large, I only filled each mug, half full, topped with grated cheese and buttered bread crumbs

Wherever you are while reading this, I hope … you are nice and warm … have lots of sweet birdies twittering around your bird feeders … a pot of soup is simmering on your stove, beautiful Christmas carols are playing in the background!

From my cottage to yours  ~  Trenda

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Our Week of Thanks-giving

by Trenda

After all the shopping, decorating, cleaning, and cooking … I hope your Thanksgiving was everything you hoped it would be!

For us … it was a wonderful, blessed week of our family “gathering together” again.  Days of mishaps and bruises … laughter and tears … “simmer’s” and smiles … indulgences and exceptions … understanding and camaraderie – all experienced with the blessed assurance that the emotions and remembrances shared were sheltered under the wonderful umbrella of Love … the halcyon days of our family!

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Beautiful autumn days …

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Park days & pizza …

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crafts with Grandma …

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A day at the zoo!

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 Feasting and football …

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golf cart rides … grandkid-time … and late night snuggles!

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and during it all … I was Thanks-giving! (: 

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Next … (:  I know you’re going to love this recipe I’ve included below!  It is one of my family’s favorite side dishes … Apple-Cranberry Salad and it is delicious, beautifully showy, and it is so easy to make!  I found this recipe years ago in the Gooseberry Patch Cookbook “Taste of Autumn” which was submitted by Carla Hyde from Fletcher, North Carolina.

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 I’m always collecting vintage dishes and planters and I love using them in unexpected ways in my home and on the table. This ruby colored salad is always the “crown jewel” setting on the table, but I think it looks especially beautiful in this petite Carnival Glass Punch Bowl that I was thrilled to find in an antique store, complete with 5 darling punch cups!

Apple-Cranberry Salad

  • 6-oz. pkg. of red colored gelatin (I use cherry)
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 16-oz. can whole cranberry sauce 
  • 16-oz. can crushed pineapple
  • 1 red apple, cored and diced
  • 1/4 cup chopped nuts (I use pecans and add more to taste!)
  • 1/4 cup golden raisins (I omit these)

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water.  Add cranberry sauce and stir until berries are separated.  Add remaining ingredients; chill until set.  Makes 12 servings.

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What a blessing it was to be “gathered together” once again …. “to ask the Lord’s blessing; He chastens and hastens His will to make known;  The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing;  Sing praises to His Name, He forgets not His own.”  ~  Adrianus Valerius, 1597

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From my cottage to yours  ~  Trenda

I am delighted that you read my blog, today.  I’d love to hear from you!  Please leave any questions or comments you have, below.

 

 

“We Gather Together to Ask the Lord’s Blessing …”

scriptureby Trenda

As I woke and began preparing for the blessing of sharing “Thanksgiving” with our family, I kept recalling different events of our past year. My heart and soul couldn’t help but soar with thanksgiving as I began recalling all the Lord has blessed us with … helped us with … brought us through, and for His strength and blessed peace throughout the good and sad times of  our year.  This wonderful verse I read this morning “sums up” my feelings well.

“The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.  The Lord protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, he saved me.  Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.  For you, my Lord, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling …”  Psalms 116:5

Grateful for each of you; I hope you had a blessed …”Thanks-giving.” 

From my cottage to yours  ~  Trenda