Creamed Chicken and Pasta Soup

I found a really cool website called CopyKat.com. It has loads of recipes on it that are remakes of restaurant foods.

I just made this last night. It is the Olive Garden Chicken and Gnocci soup.

OK. So I took license and changed a few things around. I used pasta instead of gnocci. I used cream and milk instead of half and half. I chopped a chicken breast and cooked it along with the veggies to add extra flavor. I used 2 cups of water and 2 chicken boullion cubes for the broth.

It is a KILLER soup! It was sooooo good that I had two bowls of it (larger than this bowl) and wanted to eat the rest. I was too full to do so.

If you decide to check out the CopyKat site, take a look at the recipe for the soup. It is very easy and you don't have to slave all day to make it. That's the good part!

Take care. Happy cooking!

Tiramisu!

Bless you!

Oh. It's not a sneeze! It's a lovely dessert!

We had a going away luncheon for a gentleman at work. The company is returning him to his home country in Japan. However, he LOVES Italian food. We ordered the food from a local restaurant, which was really yummy. But the dessert was $40 for this size of a pan of Tiramisu. Since it's one of my favorites to make, I offered to make it. The only thing is, I don't use raw egg whites in this version. Raw egg whites gave me a stomach ache. I have made substitutions so I can eat it. Here is the recipe.

TIRAMISU

1 plain cake, cut into slices - I used angel food. You can use pound cake or bake a plain box cake.
(Ladyfingers are traditional for this recipe, if you can find them.)
1/4 cup strong black coffee
1 tablespoon orange flavoring or orange Curacao
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 package mascarpone cheese - you can use plain or the 'tiramisu' flavored one
(If you're in a pinch, substitute Neufchatel cream cheese. I don't recommend it, but I have.)
1 package whipped dessert topping from the freezer section
chocolate syrup
grated chocolate or cocoa powder for dusting the top of the finished dessert

Method:

Put coffee and flavorings into a shallow bowl.
Dip one side of the cake slices into the coffee mixture and lay coffee-side up in an 8" x 8" baking dish.
You will use all of the cake. You will not use all of the liquid. Throw the rest of the liquid away.
After all of the cake is lain out in the pan, drizzle with chocolate syrup.
Mix the mascarpone with about 1 cup of the dessert topping until it is loose enough to spread.
Spread over the cake.
Spread the rest of the dessert topping over the mascarpone mixture.
Sprinkle with cocoa powder or grated chocolate.
Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight.
That's it!

Grab yourself a cup of espresso and have a seat with a chunk of the tiramisu drizzled with more chocolate syrup. YUM!

'Hello' Post

Hello!

As you can see from my About Me section, I love to cook. My husband, family and friends are the recipients of my practicing. Lucky them?!

All of my 'family secret' recipes and tips will be lost with my passing. So, I want to share with all of you what I know about cooking, how I do it, etc. Long after I'm gone from this world, maybe my tips, tricks and recipes will still be used by those of you who love to cook.

I have some food allergies to additives and soy, so I'll be cooking from scratch. I do use some pre-packaged foods, but they are not a lot. So, if you're like me, this may be the blog for you.

I hope to entice all of you into trying to cook along with me. It's not hard. It's fun!

See you later!