Favorite Soups

 Creamy Tortellini Soup

3 TB. Butter1 yellow onion, diced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

2 large carrots, thinly sliced

1 TB. Italian seasoning

1 tsp. salt

Pepper to taste

1/4 c. flour

6 c. broth (I use Better Than Bouillon Chicken)

1 pkg. frozen tortellini

1/2 - 1 bag of baby spinach

1 c. cream or half and half. 

  Melt butter in soup pot. Add onion, garlic, carrots, seasonings. Cook over medium-low heat for 6 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Whisk in flour. Whisk until crumbly. Slowly add broth and continue to vigorously whisk until everything is well combined and there are no clumps. Bring soup to a boil. Add frozen tortellini and spinach. Continue to cook over medium-high heat stirring occasionally  for 5-6 minutes, or until tortellini is tender and heated through. Stir in cream or milk; bring back to a steady boil and cook for 2 -3 minutes, or until smooth and thickened. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. 

Lasagna Soup

1 TB. Oil

1 lb. Sausage 

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 tsp. Red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed

4 c. chicken broth

1 qt. Tomatoes

2 TB. tomato paste

1 tsp. oregano

1 bay leaf

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 lb pasta

4 oz. ricotta

1/2 c. Parmesan 

2 c. Mozzarella, shredded

Basil

   Lightly brown sausage in oil. Add onion and sauté to tender about 5-7 minutes. Add garlic, red pepper flakes and fennel seeds. Sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add chicken broth, tomatoes, tomato paste, sausage, oregano, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Simmer for at least 30 minutes. Add pasta and cook until Al-dente, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix ricotta, Parmesan and mozzarella. Serve the soup garnished with cheese mixture.

Cream Cheese Crab Rangoons

 

3 ounces softened cream cheese 

2 green onions, finely chopped 

1/4 c. finely chopped imitation crabmeat 

1 tsp. minced garlic

Wonton wrappers oil for frying

Sweet and sour sauce

   In small bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add onions, crab and garlic. Mix well. Place about 1 1/2 teaspoon mixture in center of rapper. Moisten edges with water. Fold into triangles. Press to seal. Fry wontons for one to two minutes until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve with sweet and sour sauce.

Best Ice Cream....Ever

Hulse Family Ice Cream

Scald 3 cups milk

Add 2 cups sugar mixed with two Tablespoons cornstarch, half cup of cocoa, half teaspoon salt . (Omit cocoa for vanilla based flavors.)

 Cook 15 minutes or until it boils, stirring constantly. Beat 4 eggs well and add 1 c. Milk. Add hot milk mix to eggs and milk mixture a little at a time. (Prevents eggs from curdling) Add about 2 cups. Cook altogether for three minutes more. Add 1TB. And 1 quart whipping cream. Chill. Add to freezer. Add more milk to within 4 inches of top. We added chopped cherries. 

  My favorite flavor at this juncture of my life is to delete the cocoa and stir in raspberry purée at freezing time. I love this with homemade hot fudge sauce. See Barbara’s frozen banana split.

A Day to Celebrate

We loved being with L as he was baptized. So proud of him!

One great kid

Ready to go

Love him!

With Mom and Dad

Popie loves you too!

My Kind of Labor

Superman and I had a great Labor day Weekend. We started off with a yummy breakfast in SLC. I had been to the Original Pancake House a few weeks early with my adorable cousins. The whole time we were there, I thought about how much my sweetheart would love that restaurant. He had other plans for our Labor Day Saturday, but agreed to go to breakfast first. We got waylaid by a Yard Sale in our neighborhood where I purchased a glass pumpkin for my collection and a couple of fairies to hide in the yard next spring. We finally made it to the restaurant and order a couple of delicious plates.  He did love it!!
   After our delightful food, we headed east on I-80 to Fort Bridger Wyoming. The annual Mountain Man Rendezvous was crowded but fun. Steve was in need of a new hat. He had been thinking about what fur he wanted and was leaning towards either badger or red fox. We began hunting for traders with hats. What fun! He tried on many different hats. I really liked the silver fox fur. Finally he found his hat. I had to admit it represented him. It had bead work which included his connection with the Native Americans. I loved watching him get the hat. I have to admit that as we were wandering about, I became very hot,so, I purchased a parasol for myself. We also got beads, watched some of the dancing and enjoyed the pipers.
   We then drove around the area to see if we would want to retire in Bridger Valley. We found that we liked the feel of Mountain View. Pricing homes there....not sure we could afford it!
   We found a fun restaurant in Evanston called the Tumbling Tumbleweeds. It was a steak house. Very good food. We enjoyed our ride home and became vegetables as soon as we got home!

The silver fox...hat... not the man

Little dancer

Red fox....hat... not the comedian

Badger

Red fox with bead work and decorations

The pipers

Butterfly dancer

The Rangers

A New Years Resolution?

I am resolving to get caught up on this blog. I know it is late in the year. My goal is to add at least one new post a week. I have great memories to record. But first.....
Today we decided to escape the heat. It has been so hot all week. Hovering close to 100* all week and wouldn't you guess....the swamp thing is not functioning on a higher level of expectations. We took a drive to the Uintahs.....along with half the Salt Lake valley. We were amazed at the humans and cars everywhere. But the wildflowers were amazing. The scents were divine. The sights and sounds were such a treat and the temperatures were perfect. We enjoyed a meal at Dick's Drive-in in Kamas. Yummy! We also dubbed this Dead Deer Day. We lost count of the deer carcases lining the road. We came home, sprayed down our swamp monster and are enjoying our fairy lights and the blessings of home.

Superman just had to get out and absorb the high mountain air.

He also just had to pet a tree to smell the pine.

View from the summit

It was definitely................

Dead Deer Day

Watching the fairy lights come on

We are so blessed.......watch for more posts!

A Wild Ride!

Hmmmm! What are the highlights of our last four weeks. So much has happened, so many lessons learned, so many prayers answered, so many tears, fears, smiles and praise to Father in Heaven. 

   February 15, I was busy getting ready for our first choir rehearsal when I got a phone call from Dad’s work. Dad had collapsed and was being taken to a hospital. I headed out feeling very calm that he must have a virus and I would take him home and resume my work. I went to the hospital that I was told only to spend 90 minutes trying to get to Death Valley hospital. Morgan joined me for the long hours while we were told nothing for hours. We finally were accosted by a jerk Dr. Corinthian (name changed to protect the not so innocent.) When we quiried the reason for admission to the hospital-a worry as this hospital, thankfully is not in our insurance network, he informed us in a snotty voice that we were not in jail and if we wanted to take the unconscious Steve we were welcome to do so. 

    After I called the insurance for approval, we walked upstairs with Steve after him being so ill and in the emergency room for 9 hours. We were informed that he had a stroke after an MRI. I came home around 11:00. I had been blessed to have Stephane, Morgan, Hayden, Maddie and the Townsend’s. We also had Leger’s and Ryan Larsen come to the hospital also. I spent the night in a very cold house with my heart breaking. I missed my sweetheart and wondered what lay ahead for us. 

   We brought him home the following day with instructions to see many doctors. We have had a physical therapist for two weeks in our home. We saw Dr. Cope who helped us to find Dr. Reddy our cardiologist and Dr. Duvarney our neurologist. In assessing Steve’s heart, he had to have a trans-esophageal echocardiogram TEE. That procedure set Steve back. We have spent the next three weeks with Steve losing a lot of ground. His first and worst symptom was vomiting. He couldn’t keep anything down. I kept calling the doctors and taking him in. Finally last week, Dr. Cope took X-rays and decided that Steve needed help. He ordered many medicines and procedures, very painful to endure, to help. We had to take him in for IV fluids on Tuesday. He had 4 liters before he could go to the bathroom. He was given a fifth liter and had to go see the cardiologist. We were told that if his system didn’t start by Thursday that we needed to go to an emergency room. We finally went on Friday. We once again asked for prayers. We spent the entire day there! I was starting to feel nervous about procedures and worried about my sweetheart. He has literally been starving to death in front of me. I was wishing that they would do a CT scan, when Dr. Valenti came in and said he wanted one also. The scan came back clean. I know it was a miracle. He gave us a new prescription and good advice. We are finally feeling like Steve is headed the right direction. In the midst of this, we also had to see a orthopedic doctor for a second opinion. He was a big boar of a doctor. Two hour appointment, no X-rays, just a lot of boarish stories trying to make himself look good and then he says he doesn’t think the shoulder wore out because of Steve’s job....lifting 3 tons of paper daily for 30 years. Yes, that Dr. Andersdaughter (again a name change to protect the you-know-what! ) I am so grateful for Steve’s progress. I have been so lonely. He has been so sick that it was like he wasn’t here with me. I grateful for his arms around me. 

At Death Valley right after the stroke

 

Waiting to the TEE

 

Re-hydration

 

 

 

At LDS hospital emergency room