Grammie's Broccoli Soup

This post was written by Kelly, a part-time contributor

My mother-in-law usually makes this for Thanksgiving. It's one of those special occasion soups. It's not very diet friendly, but it's so delicious.

Here's the recipe for Grammie's Broccoli Soup

6 cups chicken broth
Head of broccoli or frozen broccoli
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 cups shredded American cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese
2tsp salt
2tsp pepper
1tsp garlic powder
1/2Tsp basil
1cup light cream or more
3 cups half n half or more
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
Juice of one lemon

Place broccoli In a large bowl and cover with cold water. Add lemon juice and let stand one hour.
Drain and chop broccoli. In large saucepan bring water to a boil add broccoli and onions. Boil till tender. Drain.
Large saucepan medium heat add chicken broth, broc.,onions,salt, pepper, basil, garlic powder. Mix well.
Still on medium heat add creams, stir well, add flour. Mix well.
Add cheese. DO NOT LET SOUP BOIL. Add more cheese and cream as needed.

Add the Mozzarella Cheese

Time to add the Swiss Cheese

Oh my! Look at all that cheesy goodness.

My tester for the day couldn't wait to try it.

"Yum! This tastes just like Grammies." Yay! success.

Cooking with Loopy-Part Five

Today we'll be making chocolate frosting. Now, I know I'm not the best cook in the world. Some of you are probably expecting me to open a tub of frosting and spread it onto a cake. Well, not today. Today, we'll be doing it from SCRATCH! Hard to believe, I know.

Here's what you'll need for this recipe:

6 squares unsweetened chocolate
2 1/4 cups of confectioners sugar
1/4 hot water
6 Tbsp butter
1 egg

First, melt chocolate and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.

Then REMOVE from heat.

Next add the confectioners sugar, 1/4 cup at a time:

The mixture will be LUMPY!

When it gets too lumpy to stir I add the hot water, a little bit at a time.

Finally, add the egg and stir well.

All done! Doesn't that look delicious? Drool.

I love the consistency of the frosting. When it's warm you can pour it over your favorite cake.

Here's the final product.

Enjoy!

Cooking with Loopy-Part Four

For this edition of CWL, we'll be heading back to the good old U.S. of A for an old favorite.

Today we'll be making the classic peanut butter and jelly.

For this recipe you will need:

Peanut butter

Jelly

Two pieces of bread (I prefer white bread, but some fancy-pants people like wheat or whole grain)

Knife

First you want to spread peanut butter on one piece of bread. Next do the same with the jelly.

Put the two pieces of bread together, like so:

Then you can cut your PB&J in half. This part is optional. I enjoy it in triangles myself.

This recipe is one of my all-time favorites. I often have it for lunch and/or dinner. It can be challenging at times, but stick with it. After some practice, you too can get it just right.

Enjoy!

Cooking With Loopy-Part Three

Since we're already doing some French cooking, I figured we'd stay on this side of the globe and do some other cooking.

Here's a hint for the kind of cooking we'll be doing today:

Yes, we'll be heading (in our imaginations, of course) to the lovely, rolling hills of Ireland for some good, old fashion cooking from the old country.

Here's our recipe for today:

Tea (your favorite brand, but I used Barry's because that's what REAL Irish people drink)

Tea kettle

Tea cup

Here's the how to:

If you need to grab a pen and paper to write down these instructions, I'll wait.

Here we go.

First, fill the tea kettle with water.

Now, wait for it to boil. For those of you not into cooking, boil means really, really hot.

Next, put your tea bag into your tea cup.

Now it's time to pour the hot water into the cup.

Viola (wait, what's Irish for viola?)

Now, doesn't that look delightful?

A special shout to Rich and Anne Marie. I hope you use this recipe in good health.

Cooking With Loopy-Part Deux

For this segment of CWL, I thought we'd hop across the Atlantic. I'll give you a few hints of what kind of cooking we'll be doing today:

If you guessed French food, you're right!

Here's what we'll be making today:

I'm pretty sure Ore-Ida is French for yummy. I've never been to France, but I'm sure these are big over there. My question is, if you're in France do you have to ask for "French Fries" or just fries? I'm going to have to look into that further.

Here's our recipe for today:

Ore-Ida French Fries (or any other brand that you may like)

Cookie sheet (I thought they were just for cookies but apparently you can use them for other things)

Once you're ready, place your fries in a SINGLE LAYER on the cookie sheet. Here's what it should NOT look like:

This is the correct way:

After cooking for about 15 minutes (or however long it states on the package) they will be done. Let them cool for a bit, add a dash of salt and viola, they're done!

I just love French food. Yum!

Cooking with Loopy

Many people have complimented me on my cooking abilities. Most of these people are under the age of seven. I wanted to share with you some things that I excel at making.

English Muffins

What you will need for this recipe:

1 English Muffin from a package

Butter

Knife

Using your fingers, take the English muffin apart. Put it in the toaster. When it pops up, take it out and spread butter on it. Like so:

Viola! Breakfast (or lunch or dinner) is served.

Please don't get discouraged if you can't get this right on your first try. It's a difficult recipe and it took me 20-30 tries before I finally got it right. Just remember, practice makes perfect.

Enjoy!