Chicken Soup for Tabby

Tabby, this entry is for you.

I made some homemade chicken noodle soup for my great whitetail hunter man to take in his thermos. Like he says, "There is nothing better than a thermos of hot soup when you are hunting." Here is a picture of all of ingedients.

1 whole store-bought roast chicken
2 tablespoons vertable oil
1 chopped onion
6 cans (14 ounces) chicken broth
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
chopped carrots
chopped celery
1 can (10.5 ounce) condensed chicken gravy
This last ingerdient is your choice I used noodles.
Noodles OR 1 can (16.3 ounces) golden buttermilk biscuit dough

Remove skin from chicken and shred into large pieces. Set aside.

In a small frying pan, add vegetable oil and heat over medium heat. When oil is hot, add chopped onions and saute until soft.

In a large pot, add broth, poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, carrots, celery and sauteed onions. Bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer for about 10 minutes to soften vegetables. If you are using noodles add them now so they can cook also. Next add the chicken. Continue to simmer.

If you are using the dumplings instead of noodles this is when you make the dumplings. Open the can and remove the biscuits. On a lightly floured surface, roll each biscuit to 1/4-inch thick. With a knife, cut each biscuit into 4 pieces. Set aside.

Stir in chicken gravy. With the stew still simmering over low heat, stir in dunplings a few at a time. Once all dumplings are int eh pot, cover with a tight fitting lid and cook for 10 minutes.

Ladel into bowl and serve piping hot.

Don't you love this last line. Serve piping hot?? Like I am going to eat cold soup? But we have to follow the recipe right?

Here is the finished product.... I had to eat a bowl myself after all this work and you can't have a bowl of homemade soup without a homemade bun right!! YUM!!

Deer Hunting Past

Since it is that time of the year for hunting, I thought I would post some pictures from the past. On these two pictures Chris and Megan are both 13 years old. Chris tells me that this is a spike buck. I don't know the whole story but I'm sure he could tell you in great detail the next time you see him, if you had about an hours time that is. That is quite the hunting gear he has though. Nice bow and hunting clothes too. Now days he has to have all the latest hunting clothes and bow gear. In Megan's picture she shot a four pointer I think. I was with her but now I am not sure how many points was on the deer but again, I'm sure she would tell you the whole story. She is so much like her dad. Happy hunting everyone!!

Saturday Baking

I spent my Saturday cleaning the house and then baking in the kitchen. I made a batch of homemade potato bread and when it was cooling on the top of the stove I just had to take a picture. Doesn't it look like something you would see in a magazine? I also made cookies, (frozen cookie dough) and I made some potato soup, (from a bag). I am definately not the Betty Crocker, but I think I do ok in the kitchen.

More Haloween Pics

These two characters were quite the show.

Let me just say, the costume really fit their personalities.

Here is another one that fits him. Check out the shirt, "Dirty Hoes"

These two are really going places! They know their jobs and they get it done!!
"Race girl" really stopped some people in their tracks.

AAAWWW don't they make a cute couple?

It was a really long night for "Bernie." He kept falling over dead all night long!

Haloween

Stop means Stop!!

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Haloween

We went out to a Haloween party and had a groovy time.

There will be more pictures to come.

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Megans 20th Birthday!

I can't believe she is twenty?! Seems like just yesterday I was reading her bedtime stories and playing barbies. I did by the way ask her today if she wanted me to read her a bedtime story. She said, "No thanks mom." Here she is with her birthday gift and yes, that is a pair of camouflage hunting boots. She has really grown to be her fathers daughter. When Chris first suggested the hunting boots I was not so sure. But she loves them!! I guess I will just have to think that she will at least have warm feet when she is sitting in a tree for hours on end just waiting for the big buck to walk under her tree.
Here Megan is practicing her aim.

When we invited Megan and Jordy over for a cookout birthday dinner the first thing Megan said was, "Mom are you going to make me a birthday cheesecake?" I said sure but she was going to have to take home the leftovers. I love cheesecake and I don't need to have that thing in my house. I forgot to buy candles so I just stuck a tealight candle on the cake. Another year is gone and Chris and I could not be happier with Megan and the wonderful girl she has grown up to be.

Labor Day Traditions

This year we continued our Labor Day tradition of going up north for the weekend. The lake's water is too low to spend any time on the water so we made our own fun. A few years ago we found a Lawn Jart game in Mike's garage that was left by the previous owner. This new/old game has turned into somewhat of an obsession for some people. In past years we played all day long and the winners of the game got to keep playing like holding the pool table at a bar. This got a little boring for some of us who were not the best players. Last year someone came up with the idea to have a tournament. This tournament has become the center of the whole weekend, along with alot of eating and drinking of course.
The competition got pretty intense in the championship game. Mitch had to lend his expertise judging capabilities. After much discussion it was decided who, if anyone would receive any points on this round. The championship game went into extra innings with many close calls. It was played by partners, Chris and Sara and partners Mike and Al. Mike and Al came out the winners in the end. Here they are displaying their winning trophy!

This weekend has grown over the years to beome a big event for us. It seems like our home away from home stay-cation. We are joined by neighbors and relatives from far and near. Who would have guessed that Lawn Jarts could draw such a large crew of spectators. When the end of the weekend came and we all gathered around the campfire. Mike has again displayed one of his many talents in designing a campfire ring. I told Mike I would take some pictures and show some of my friends and maybe make some sales for him. If you are interested in one of these campfire rings just let me know and I will give you the details.

Canning for Dummies

It all started when Chris decided that he wanted to have some pickled asparagus for his Bloody Marys. The crazy things I do for LOVE!! I have never canned in my life so I called someone who I "thought" would be an expert. She replied, "Yes, I know how to can things!" So we started with making some Margaritas. After that it all went downhill. We made the brine and poured it over the asparagus. Then Julie said, "HMMM, I think we should have boiled the water first before the brine was over the asparagus?" We made our second Margarita. Then I had an idea that maybe we could make some dilly beans too. So I walked to the garden to pick some green beans. Poured brine over beans. Then we waited 1/2 hour for the bath water to boil. We put in the 2 quart jars of asparagus then had to wait 5 minuites to put in beans. Julie realized she could not find her tong grabber thing so we just dropped the bean jar in the bath. We heard a POP and thought Oops something is wrong.
After waiting 5 more minutes we took out the jars with salad tongs and this is what we found. The asparagus jars were in tact but they do not look real good, kind of cloudy. Chris can sample them later.
We decided not to let the beans go to waste so I fished them out with the salad tongs. They taste like beans but with a little pickle juice on them.

I guess I picked the wrong sister for this task.

Our Summer Vacation 2008

We went on vacation this summer. We started out our vacation in Tomahawk at Mike's on June 28th. After one day there we drove to The Big Elk and spent some time with Bruce and Pam. Watched the Nascar race and the Brewers game. Chris wishes we had two TV's at home to watch both at the same time. Later that day we drove to a friends cabin to spend a few days. We went canoeing down the river. It was a very relaxing day. Chris had to do some fishing from the canoe. Chris, Lauren, and Tracy caught alot of fish.

We continued our vacation at Chris' sisters Mona's house in Oshkosh. This was on July 4th. From their back yard we could see the fireworks of quite a few neighboring towns. There were fireworks in almost every direction that you looked. The next morning we drove to Milwaukee and went to a Brewers game. I was not very happy on the way there because I discovered that I forgot my camera in my suitcase at Mona's house. We had a great time at the game. Brewers WON!!! It was an excellent vacation!!

Megan Graduation

This picture is after Megan's Graduation from Phlobotemy (not sure if I spelled that right) school. She graduated in May with top honors. Chris and I are very proud of her, she worked really hard for her grades. She is continuing her education this fall for nursing. She will be working full time and taking classes full time so she will be a very busy gal.

Hello

Okay, so I spend enough time on computers throughout my day so I am not sure why I am doing this but I am going to give it a try. I have a pretty boring life so I am not sure what I will write about. WOW I am really off to a good start. I always have been quite a pessimist. I'm sure by now you are all at the edge of your seats for my first entry...