Hi all….gosh, where is the time going? Time is just zooming by. WOW!!
Well, every year since I was a child, my mother made our traditional Japanese new years soup. I mean, it was a MUST in our household. It is supposed to bring good luck and good health. Hmm-m-m-m-m-mm……….welllllllllll, I dunno bout that. However, one year, my ex said to me, “hey, how about we skip having that Japanese soup this year? Cuz I sure don’t see that it is working for us”. hahahahahahah, well I ignored him and continued to make it. I even encouraged my friends and coworkers to have a bit, promising them good luck and good health. After a few years, they too asked me to not force them to eat the soup since they saw no change in their luck or health. But I did have a couple of friends who to this day make the soup every year. hahahahahahha. Well, I decided to skip it one year, then I skipped it again another year. Not much changed. I mean nothing really terrible has happened, but I really haven’t seen the good luck the soup promises…..or the good health. But I must say, I didn’t make the soup the past 2 years and my health has not been as good as it used to be. I blame it on age, but maybe I need the Japanese soup after all. So, what the hell……..I made it. It surely couldn’t hurt, right?? It is loaded with chicken, napa cabbage, mushrooms, all cooked in a soy sauce based chicken broth…..it really is delicious. So, since I can’t force you all to eat some soup, just look at the picture, think positive thoughts and know that I am wishing you all great luck and good health this year. But if you really want soup, come on over. I made plenty!!!
Happy New Year everyone…….

Can you believe that it is Christmas next week? Don’t you feel like we just did this???? OMG, this is the first year ever that I am really behind and not ready at all. What to do, what to do!!! I made my salted caramels last night. I had 2 failed batches out of 4 batches. rrrghhhhh. So, someone on my gift list is getting a nice jar of delicious caramel sauce. 🙂 I made 9 dozen cookies for my daughter to give to friends. It is her favorite cookie and I only make it at Christmas time. It is a chocolate chip oatmeal cookie with tart dried cherries and toffee bits. SINFUL. We call it THE cookie. m-mmmmm-m-m-m-m-m
Now it is off to make buttercrunch popcorn….my favorite Christmas treat. I will post pictures tomorrow! Sweets, sweets and more sweets…even my tree is decorated in sweet treat ornaments.
                                              

I got an order for some Christmas Fish cookies. They are for a Fishing club that my friend Kim belongs to.  The fish are the cutest things ever. Hahhahah. I also did some baking for my annual cookie exchange tomorrow. I made pretzel sticks dipped in chocolate, coated with toffee bits, cookie crumbs, coconut and drizzled with white chocolate. They are delicious….a little bit of salty with a lot of sweet. Yum-m–m-m-m-m. I also made my favorite cookie……..well, one of my favorites anyway…..chocolate chip oatmeal. I’ve already eaten 3, yikes! Then I made my homemade cocoa mix. I only make this at Christmas time. That too is delicious.
Well gotta do so more baking…will post pics and tell you more about the cookie exchange tomorrow!!!!!
     

I love the smell of macaroons baking in the oven. I love the smell of coconut. It’s funny, because I am not a huge fan of coconut. It’s the texture……so chewy, that it seems like you are chewing forever. My macaroons are one of the few coconut things that I will eat and I love these. They are not at all dry like the macaroons you find in stores or other bakeries. These are chewy and moist and the bottoms are dipped in chocolate. What’s not to like, right? Seriously….
There is a little secret to my macaroons, but I cannot share that secret. I’m so sorry. It’s a family secret and Sugarbundle Junior would be so upset with me if I shared. We are normally share girls, but not this time. But I can give you the recipe if you would like it. You will love these, even without that top secret bit of info..I promise.

Here is the batter:

Here they are ready to go into the oven:

Here they are all dressed up….some with their bottoms dipped in dark chocolate, and some drizzled with dark chocolate:

YUM YUM, heavenly…..
Ok, off to bake chocolate chip cookies. I will post those too. Stay tuned…

Oh, how I love these rainy days. We just don’t get enough of them here in San Diego. I really love soup…I love making soup, but for some reason, I just can’t bring myself to make it unless it is raining. Soup and rain….they just go together. Don’t you think? Today I made chicken noodle soup. I threw in some broccoli at the last minute. Mm-mm-m-m-m. It is so good. Tomorrow, I think I will make chili. Chili with some homemade cornbread. I will post pictures and the recipe tomorrow.

If it’s still raining, I may even do some baking. That’s if my knee isn’t causing me grief like it has been lately. I hate getting older….with age, comes aches and pains and crackly, crunchy knees. But that is an entirely different post. hahahhahahaha.

I’m sure you all have your favorite chicken noodle soup recipe, but here is mine….simple but comforting and oh so yummmmmmm.

Boil one large chicken breast and one thigh in about 6 cups of water.
shred the chicken and add it back to the water.
Add seasoning salt and lots of black pepper. Add about 2 tsp of soy sauce.
Add some broken pasta and 1/4 cup of rice. Let it cook till pasta and rice are done.

That’s it! Throw in some veggies if you want, but it’s great without.  Fill up a bowl, enjoy and sit and watch the rain.