02 June 2008

I'd Like to Thank...

I am so honored to have won the first cook-off contest in our group! I feel like I should make a speech or something. :) I had so much fun trying all the recipes and I was surprised at how much my family enjoyed it too. They thought it was so much fun that we were having a contest. I think I'd really love to have that muffin book that Marie posted a while ago for the prize. Speaking of prizes, I have found some here to add to the pot, so I'll really have to post them soon. I have so many things to post...one of these days I'll have a free moment.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Okay! I'll send it off probably this week because I have to mail off my dad's box also. The book is in really good shape. I couldn't believe it was in the free book section.

So, I do have a question about the bakes potato soup. What's with the tiny bit of celery and carrot? I didn't put celery cause it cost $3 for a bunch and I knew the rest of it would probably go to waste. I still thought it was good. And I wonder how that little bit of carrot makes a difference. Did you all use both the carrot and celery? Do you know why the author bothers to add such small amounts to the recipe? Did anyone else think it was strange to put a quarter of a carrot and 1/2 a stalk of celery into the soup?

Joanna said...

I actually made it both times without the carrot because I couldn't reconcile the taste of carrots with the taste of a loaded baked potato. I made it once without celery (because I didn't have any) and Del said as he was eating it, "I think it could use some celery," and I thought the same thing. So I put it in next time and it was yummy. There is just something about the flavor of even a little bit of cooked celery...it's yummy. Plus we eat celery like it's going out of style around here. Plus I made a lot of my own stock so I use celery for that, too.

Even little bits of ingredients make a difference to the flavor of the end product. I put in more celery than was called for. I don't think the kids noticed, but both Del and I liked it better than without the celery, although there is nothing the matter with it without the celery.

Johanna said...

It is kind of odd to add such small amounts, but I did notice them in the finished soup. I actaully think I added more than it called for though. I am always looking for ways to add more veggies to our diets, so I just put in more. And I always have both celery and carrots on hand since I make so many soups and it seems like most of them have onion, celery, and carrot for the base.

M said...

I added different amounts of a lot of the ingredients... especially the cheese cause I like cheese. Celery is not a favoite here either so I left that out, but added extra carrots cause we like them so much.