Tomato Pepper Jack Soup (like Issac's!)

I go to Issac's, a Pennsylvania sandwich chain, just for this soup.  Today it's rainy and gray and gross and I don't feel like getting dressed but I wanted this soup so I decided to try and recreate it at home.   Here's what I did and I think it's pretty close.

Ingredients:
2 cans of condensed tomato soup
1 14-oz. can of petite diced tomatoes
8 oz of pepperjack cheese (or Monterey Jack cheese plus 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes), shredded
1/4 cup of heavy cream
1/2 tsp of dried basil
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp onion powder

Combine everything except the cream in a heavy stockpot over low heat and stir frequently with a spatula so the cheese doesn't burn to the bottom.  Allow this to heat slowly and maintain a simmer for about 10 minutes. Taste your soup.  If the cheese is still grainy, keep it over the heat for a little while longer. Stir in the cream just before serving.  Top with homemade croutons.

Homemade croutons?  I cut up two hard rolls into one inch cubes.  You can't use sandwich bread, it's too soft.  Toss the bread with one stick of melted butter in a large skillet.  Make sure all of the bread gets butter on it and then spread on a cookie sheet and stick it in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.  Easy peasy and sooo much better than the bagged ones at the grocery store.

Mom's Extra Creamy Rice Pudding

This is some gorgeous rice pudding right here, and I get to eat it!

My sister goes absolutely ape over this rice pudding.  In fact, when my mom makes it, she has to make a double batch so my sister can have her own bowl all to herself.

That said, be forewarned that this is not a light recipe by any stretch of the imagination.

What you'll need:

2 quarts of milk
1 cup sugar
1 stick of butter
2 cups of water
1 heaping cup of Carolina brand rice (I don't know why Carolina rice works better, it just does)

2 small cans of sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp. real vanilla extract
2 eggs


In a good pot with a thick bottom, heat the water, milk, sugar and butter to a slow boil over medium heat.  If you let the milk mixture come to a rolling boil it will curdle.  You can still eat the pudding, it just won't be as pretty.

Add in the rice and let it all boil slowly for 45 minutes.  You don't have to hover over the pot, but give it a decent stir every once in awhile.

When the milk and rice mixture has about five minutes to go, empty the sweetened condensed milk into a second pot, nonstick if possible, and warm it up gently. You should be able to comfortably stick the tip of your pinkie into it without getting burned.  You just want to thin it out a little and use it to temper the eggs.

Speaking of the eggs, beat them with an electric mixer or with a stick blender until they're very well beaten and foamy and slowly add to the warm sweetened condensed milk.  Add the vanilla.

Once the two are combined, add them slowly to the rice mixture and stir, stir, stir.  Cook everything for another 10 minutes, stirring a lot.

Transfer the pudding to either a bowl or individual serving cups.  It will thicken considerably as it cools.  Do not put it into the refrigerator until it is completely cool.  Sprinkle the top with cinnamon and nutmeg. Store covered in the fridge.

Glazed Double Ginger Cookies

I love the aroma of ginger.  I love it in Asian foods and I love it in baked goods at Christmas.  A lot of the cookie recipes I have that contain ginger also have cinnamon and nutmeg and other stuff that takes the spotlight off the ginger.  This recipe puts the ginger front and center.  There are no other spices or flavors in there!

Here's what you need: 
1 cup (2 sticks) of softened butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 Tbl. grated fresh ginger
1/2 cup candied ginger, cut into a fine dice (divided)
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbl. milk (add more by the drop if you need to for the glaze to flow)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

The Christmas Baking begins!

Necessity is the mother of invention, right?  So I came up with this recipe- a combination of two classics- because I had an open bag of pretzels in my pantry that I wanted to use up somehow before they became completely stale.  And I didn't particularly feel like sitting around munching pretzels.

Spicy Crab & Corn Dip

I just invented this dip based on one my friend, Jennifer, served at her Fourth of July bash last weekend.  Hers was really, really good and came from Breakstone based on their new line of "Zesty Blends."  The little grocery near my house doesn't yet carry Breakstone's Zesty Blends so I had to improvise. Here's what I came up with:

1 10-oz. package of frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 cup of grated parmesan cheese
1 pkg. of shredded Mexican 4-cheese blend
1 pt. of sour cream
1 small can of chopped chiles (more or less to taste!)
3 cloves of garlic
1 lb. can of lump crab meat
1 T Old Bay

Here's the very complicated directions.

Are you ready?

It's really hard.

Dump all that stuff in a bowl and mix it around.  It's going to make a heck of a lot of dip so make it when you're exceptionally hungry or you've got people coming over.

I put half of the mixture in a 9" pyrex pie plate.  I baked it at 350 degrees for 25 minutes (until the top was all brown and bubbly) and now we're going to eat it with my favorite blue corn and flax seed chips from Target.  You can serve this with any chip you like or with crackers or baguette slices.  It's yummy.

The other half of the mixture is still up for debate.  I'd like to freeze it but I don't know what freezing will do to sour cream and I don't want to waste all of that crab.  So right now, it's in a plastic container in the fridge.  I believe that by being in the fridge, the chiles are going to spread their spicy goodness deeper into the dip.

Look at that!  That's how we watch True Blood here at our house!

Slow Made Beans of Goodness

This is not a recipe you can start and have ready in fifteen minutes.  Sorry folks.  You need to plan DAYS in advance for this one, but it's well worth it.  You can shorten the time from prep to plate by using canned beans and that's perfectly okay.

What you'll need:
1 lb. bag of navy beans or 2 cans
1 lb. of bacon, diced small (I like peppered bacon)
1 big onion, diced small
Large pinch crushed red pepper flakes
4 garlic cloves, smashed and finely chopped
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 bottles of your favorite BBQ sauce (or whatever is on sale!) 
1 1/2 cups reserved bean liquid

Bacon Crackers

Ah, if only I could stop after three!

This isn't so much a recipe as something you throw together and stick in the oven.  It's the easiest thing and when I bring these to gatherings, they're gone in a flash.  They're addictive. I'm warning you.

So here's what you'll need
1 lb. of bacon
1 box of Club crackers
dark brown sugar