Dixie's View of Boston

Humor me and please enjoy this (well at least I think) hilarious video of Dixie playing in the snow. This is what we do about 4x/day, and I forget how funny it must look when it is snowy, so I figured it was finally time to catch it on film! This is from the most recent mini-storm on Sunday. Thankfully, most of the snow you'll see is melted by now... about which we are quite thankful!

*Jacket by Petco :)

Oh, and happy Texas Independence Day!

Image via http://www.texasflag.us/texas_downloads/Texas-Flag.gif 

Spring Has Not Yet Sprung

My hopes and dreams for an early spring have been shattered. Just when it seemed like we were well on the way to sunshine and snowbank-free sidewalks, a (should-not-have-been) surprising snowfall last night and this morning racked up about 4ish pretty inches... and is now melting into sloppy slush :(

Despite the freezing temps outside.... in my mind it's already Spring!

Hope you're enjoying this Oscar Sunday :)

Tortilla Soup

If you lived here:

...and some of us do...

Wouldn't you like some hot and delicious soup to warm up? 

Try our slightly twisted version of tortilla soup - the carrots remind us of our all-time Dallas favorite, Veracruz Cafe :) If you're not a carrot fan, just swap for bell peppers - or try both! The beauty of tortilla soup is that it is super easy to alter to your liking. I hardly ever make two batches the same, depending on what we'd like that day (or what's in the pantry!).

Ingredients:

1/2-1 lb bone-in chicken breast (again... this is a time where you could buy a pre-cooked rotisserie)

Chicken broth (1 box your favorite brand)

2 carrots, finely chopped (here's a trick: avoid having carrots roll off the chopping mat by giving them a vertical slice to make a flat edge)

1 large white onion, finely chopped

2 cloves minced garlic

2 jalapenos (whole; optional if you're not into spicy)

3 vine-ripened tomatoes, diced

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 stick butter

1/2 packet taco seasoning (we bought McCormick's)

Cheese (we used cheddar this time, but feel free to get crazy - melty varieties are best and monterrey jack and queso fresco are other excellent options)

Tortilla chips

Avocado, sliced

Lime (opt)

Sour Cream (opt)

Directions:

Sautee onions, carrots and garlic in butter in a large sturdy pan (I used my Le Creuset dutch oven).

Sautee for a long time... if you think you're done, wait 10 more minutes. You don't want any bite in your soup, after all.

Meanwhile, cook the chicken by placing it in a large stockpot and covering with water. Bring to a boil for 15ish minutes, until meat is cooked through. Remove from water and let cool.

Add tomatoes to the onion base.

Shred chicken using a fork and add to onion/tomato base.

Add taco mix and salt and pepper to taste.

Add chicken broth to onion base until desired thickness achieved. I like my soup pretty ingredienty... if you'd like yours to go further or be a little more brothy, feel free to add water. All that simmering will bring the water up to speed with the other flavors.

Add jalapenos (whole) and let simmer for 45 minutes to 3 or more hours (of course, the longer the better). Season as needed during simmering process.

Now, my favorite part: fill the bottom of a bowl with lots of tortilla chips and a little cheese.

Next, ladle your soup right in.

Top with avocado, sour cream, cheese and more chips - to your liking, of course!

Don't you feel warmer already?

Wonderland

I realize I'll eventually have more pictures than I care to imagine of Boston and Cambridge in the snow, but here's a smattering of our strolls around town after these first couple of storms.

Oh yeah... Happy New Year!

What do you do with 12.5" of snow...in Dallas?!

Well, you go play in it before it all melts!

Then, you stay inside and cook for a few weeks and eat cookie dough and pretend you're snowed in for the rest of the winter! (kind of like the rest of my relatives in Wisconsin, D.C., NY and Philly - who are all trapped in the real Snowmageddon). You can see my new Hunter boots came in handy (can you believe I went with high-gloss Graphite after all that Pea Green talk?! My practical side got the best of me)... next up: a cute sweater for Dixie, if the weather keeps up. 

Admittedly, it has not been snowing for the last few weeks, and yours truly has been relishing a little break from organized activity. Well, that and our internet connectivity has been just painfully s-l-o-w making blogging simply unbearable. In the meantime, I've charted my own course by joining a gym - for mental sanity and also to prepare for a big vacay to the Exumas next month - at which I became quickly obsessed with Pilates (just ask StefSam - she was there for my first-ever Pilates lesson, which we both loved), whipped up a few fun new recipes, visited my alma mater with my Valentine...

...and most importantly, became (somewhat) reacquainted with one of my favorite hobbies: keeping my house really clean! Yes... I got out my Magic Erasers again. 

 

Okay, okay, so I'll stop avoiding the slowness that is my computer... keep your fingers crossed I can muster up some patience while working out these technical difficulties ;)

White (Dallas?!) Christmas and Breakfast Strudel

After a stormy Christmas Eve, we awoke to this fresh winter wonderland! We hardly knew what to do with the white stuff, and I even had a good old fashioned seat-drop fall while taking little Dixie on her first snow-walk (yikes!).

Back inside, we were nice and cozy, and the Christmas morning traditions resumed. Hubby and I joined my parents for the morning, and his folks later that night. For the a.m. portion, Dad and I got to work on the annual breakfast strudel (we open presents after we eat, of course):

First, scramble the eggy yumminess on the stove (eggs, hash browns, diced ham, onions, bell pepper) until almost fully cooked. Let cool in pan while you roll out puff pasty sheets and prepare them for special wrapping:

Add eggy yumminess to center of pastry dough:

Wrap it up nice and tight:

Use extra dough to make cute decorations! Sometimes we spell "NOEL," or "JOY" too:

Brush with egg wash and sprinkle liberally with Parmesan cheese:

Bake at 350 for 20ish minutes until golden. The slice on the bias:

Serve and enjoy! Here's mom's beautimus Christmas brunch tablescape:

I was also really digging the cranberry-filled decanters. Cheerful and elegant at the same time:

Who doesn't love a Stein's Bakery treat? (Our favorite delivery of the year - thanks, Baker fam!)

And Pitman & Davis grapefruits? Heavenly!

Mom broils ours with brown sugar and coconut on top.

Such is the bliss of our traditional Christmas morning!

I hope you and yours had a blessed one as well. Here's to another fun year in 2010!