phun with phood phrases

Or, fun with food frases. I thought it might be fun to see how many commonly used 'food phrases' I could come up with.
Anyways...here are a few of my favorites:
walking on eggshells
don't open up that can of worms
no use crying over spilled (or spilt, depending upon where you grew up, I suppose) milk
I have egg on my face
after the fight, his face looked like hamburger
what a sour grapes attitude!
this won't amount to a hill of beans
when life gives you lemons, make lemonade
little girls are made with sugar, spice and everything nice (kinda like a good merlot?)
can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs (said during the middle of a crisis)
hey, sugar!
she's such a cheesehead
let them eat cake!
life is like a bowl of cherries
you are a peach!
I am going bananas
it's like pea soup out there

Can you think of any others??  I'd love to hear 'em.

And in honor of that last phrase, here is my recipe for Split Pea Soop.
My Nana Eleanor, the former Soup Queen of DuPage County, really likes this one.


Cover a hambone in water and add a bay leaf in a big stockpot. Boil until the water starts to evaporate and you are left with about half your original amount.
Strain your liquid, reserving it. Trim meat as desired from the hambone, (discard it after you are through trimming the meat off), and add to the liquid. Place the liquid and meat scraps back in the stock pot and add the following:

4 or 5 cans chicken broth (kinda gauge this from your meat stock you just made.)

about 1 cup dried split green peas that have been picked over and washed (sometimes little stones get in there!)

Let that come up to a boil and let it continue for at least 15 minutes. After that, bring the heat down so the soup is simmering. Watch that the foam from the fat of the ham doesn't cause a spill or a boil over-I usually cover it at this point, and keep a watchful eye over it.

While this is continuing to simmer, start chopping some veggies. Add them as you go.

1 chopped onion

2 potatoes, peeled and diced

2 carrots, chopped

at least 3 cloves garlic, chopped

Simmer until your peas are starting to impart a lovely green color to the broth. At that point they should be breaking down and disintegrating. If it is not enough, add more chicken broth. This will not detract from the richness at all.

This rocks with a loaf of garlic bread and a fresh green salad on the side.

Have fun, eat well, love lots,
~Antonia

My baby's a blogger.

Well, it's official! Olivia is now blogging. Come check out her interpretations of life as a homeschooled teenager at:
scramblede.blogspot.com

I was wondering when she'd catch the writing bug...part of the beauty of learning at home is that she can learn things at her own pace. Personally, I'd much rather she learn things like journalism, creative writing, composition and grammar through real-life experiences than by filling out endless facts on worksheet pages that will only be remembered for a test and then possibly forgotten. (I know, I'm cynical- of course that NEVER happens!)

Ok, off the soapbox now.

In other news, here is a fabulous picture that I took at our recent homeschool trip to the Aurora Fire House Museum. 

For those of you without x-ray vision, it reads: "I AM OLD...please do not climb on me."
I found it on an antique fire truck, but I think it would look great on a tee-shirt. Just sayin'.


Ah yes, food....I have been neglecting my duties here. So right now I am looking for great gluten-free recipes to share with my good friend who just found out her little girl has that Celiac thingie...not fun! I found a good one that I will make this weekend for retreat with my ladies.

Sausage Rosotto

In a large stockpot, place a half a package of Arborio fino rice and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Gently stir over medium heat for about a minute. Then add 6 cups of chicken broth, one cup at a time. When the broth has been absorbed and your pan is getting dry again, add another cup and stir it in. This is a very needy dish to make, as it requires a lot of attention. While you are waiting in between doses of broth, in a separate pan saute some Italian sausage over medium heat. Cook this until it is all done and the sausage is no longer pink inside. 

Then add some chopped onion, garlic and green pepper if you wish, cooking until the veggies are a bit limp, but not completely soggy. Cooked crisp, I guess.


When all 6 cups of broth have been added and absorbed, then cut up the sausage and add it and the sauteed veggies into the rice pot. Add about a cup of parmesan cheese and a bit more broth, maybe some parsley or basil, black pepper to taste, and VOILA! Risotto. Also good with cooked cubed chicken.


In the meantime, eat well, have fun and love lots!

Antonia