A snowy winter broccoli soup of a day

I bought a bunch of broccoli last week for 99 cents a pound – anticipating that it might snow.

Today was the soup day.

First get the broccoli to steaming.

Next get out the soup pot and put butter in:

Add onions and garlic:

After they have sweated for a bit – drown ’em in chicken broth:

Note: this chicken broth was from Grocery Outlet and certainly not LOW fat! (Low Carb, yes…)

Oh, what to add next?

Maybe whipping cream?

Sure – then what?

This is Xanthan Gum – a low carb thickener.

I put just a spoonful in – and danged if it did not clump up.

Next time I would take some broth and mix the xanthan gum and broth in a separate bowl and dump them back in the soup pot when they are well blended.

Better than finding globs and smushing them against the side of the pot to break them up…

Next – the broccoli goes in!

And it gets pulverized!

My friend Wanda, said to me a few months ago, that life is too short to not eat good cheese.  She is right.  I no longer buy the medium cheese – it is sharp or even Extra-Sharp!

If you do not have access to Tillamook Extra Sharp Cheese  – I feel sorry for you.

What on earth could make this soup any better??

Bacon!

Bacon makes everything better!

Yum.

I had two bowls full!

A break for freedom and shopping!

The snow stopped and the ice went away and I took it as a sign that I could make a break from the homestead and head to town.

I wiggled down the driveway with those anti-skid brakes working all the way to the bottom.

1st gear for the 1st mile to the 1st stop sign.  Then – the highway was clear.  YAY!  I could clearly see my way to town… and Goodwill.

Goodwill was not so good to me today.  I found a french press travel mug.  A vintage 70’s clock and a book on CD – 16 CDs- if I like the story that will be great fun.  If not – garage sale fodder.

I would have preferred to find something to sell at a huge profit – but I am out of practise after being stuck home for 5 days.

Oh, yeah…

I got these winter boots – brand new for 4.99 – not my perfect style – but the perfect price!

Maybe tomorrow…

Snowed in again… A pantry party!

I have had the thought of cleaning out the pantry in the back of my mind for quite some time now and since I am stuck at home – AGAIN – turns out that today was the day.

First I had to take a lot of stuff OUT of the pantry.

I shop at Grocery Outlet sometimes and pick up odd stuff.   Apparently I picked up this can of asian pears – maybe a decade or so ago?

Hint:  when the can is expanded on both ends and wobbles  instead of sits – that is a clue to THROW IT OUT!

I shudder to think how many hours it took to get this done: I have pile of stuff to take to Goodwill – whenever I get outa here…

(Plus I really want to go shopping at Goodwill in the worst way!)

I found that I had more jars and containers to put things in that things to put in!

** Goodwill COLD Turkey – and I mean COLD! **

Hello, my name is ______, and I have not been to Goodwill for over 4 days.

I am a shopoholic.

At least that is how it FEELS.

I have been sorta ill and then the snow came and then the ice and then the COLD.

So, what to do whey you cannot go shopping?

I shop at home.

I go to a shelf, or closet and find something I no longer need – and sell it on ebay.

Today, it was this fab arts and crafts era design book from 1915.

I so like how they deconstructed bugs to make art.

So then I decided that I had a whole lot of “little” stuff to get rid of and packaged up lots of Wacky Packages from the 70’s and vintage travel stickers – old buttons- and whatevers into cellophane envelopes and ready to sell at the antique mall – where I have a small space.

It is supposed to snow the next couple of days.

School has been closed so far this week – and again tomorrow.

I am a LOUSY driver in the snow.  (Fabulous in the rain!)

And I am lucky that I have someone in town to keep the office open for me.

So tomorrow, I guess I know where I will be shopping once again…