The Orangery Parsnip Soup

December is always a busy month, but probably more so when you get invited on a trip to London, England. One of the best meals we enjoyed there was our late lunch/afternoon tea at the Orangery beside Kensington Palace. The Orangery used to be a green house for the place. It was beautiful inside with it's high ceilings, huge windows and little wire tables in white tablecloths.



We were served mint tea and rosehip-hibiscus tea. I was fascinated with the tea strainer. It was so pretty! I don't drink loose tea (and these were herbals), but I just thought those tea strainers were so ornate. They served raw sugar cubes for the tea. I was expecting to see perfectly shaped sugar squares but these were actual lumps of sugar.



Our lunch was divinely wonderful. My friend had some parsnip soup and I had a beef, mushroom and horseradish dish. These weren't overly filling, but perfect for a freezing afternoon. For dessert we had a raspberry meringue dish with unsweetened cream on top. Divine!



When I came home I had to try to make the parsnip soup. It was surprisingly simple and came out wonderful! Here's the recipe for you:

Parsnip Soup

Ingredients:
3 T. butter
2 lbs. parsnips
1 large onion
2 pinches of sugar
3 cloves of garlic
1 t. celery salt
1 t. ginger
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. allspice
1/2 t. pepper
1 t. salt
6 c. chicken broth
1 pint whipping cream

Directions:
Chop your onion. Peel and slice the parsnips. Melt the butter and saute the onions, garlic, celery salt and parsnips. Put a lid on them and cook on medium-low heat for 15 minutes, or until the parsnips are tender. Add the other spices and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and let boil until the parsnips are mushy.

When the parsnips are mushy, carefully pour the soup into a food processor, mixer or blender and puree the soup to this point. Pour back into the pan, add the cream and mix until blended. I didn't bring the cream to a boil as it was hot enough without extra heat.

I cannot attest to the healthiness of this recipe, but it was wonderful! We had it with gluten free biscuits topped with garlic salt and dill butter.

Christmas Chicken Chili

It's red and white, perfect for matching your dinner to your tree!

This is a sweet chili, which I need because most of my kids won't eat the spicy chilis out there.This recipe below is for a family of 8, plus leftovers, so plan accordingly. I've posted my recipe for brisket rub on here (made by my dad), but here is the recipe again, and this can be used as a taco seasoning mix or for brisket and meat rubs.

Spice Mix

1/4 c. paprika

1/3 c. salt

2 T. sugar

2 T. brown sugar

3 T. cumin

2 T. chili powder

2 T. pepper

1 T. cayenne pepper (optional)

1 T. onion powder

1 T. garlic powder

Christmas Chicken Chili

1 lb bacon, cut and fried, set aside

2 onions

2 T. garlic

3 cans diced tomatoes (not drained)

3 cans kidney beans (not drained)

3 T. spice mix

1 T. vinegar

1 T. sugar

4 c. diced chicken

1 can hominy (not drained)

Cook bacon until crisp. Drain on a paper towel and reserve 2 T. grease. Saute onions and garlic in the grease until tender. Add cans of tomatoes, beans, hominy and chicken, and spices. Mix together and let simmer for one hour at least. Add the bacon in just before serving. Traditionally, we always ate Doritos with chili, topped with cheese, but if you are gluten free, we started using Fritos Scoops, or old fashioned corn bread.

Merry Christmas!!

First Time for Everything

Adventure! I did something for the first time ever in my life. I colored my hair. I'm almost 37 years old, and today's "gloss" or "glaze" was the first experience I've ever had of coloring my hair.

My best friend Kim took me to do my hair today. The haircuts I'm used to are self bang trims in my bathroom that end up too short or crooked, and "I need to get in and out of here in 20 minutes, thanks". Those are the ones that get me razor scissor haircuts that take 18 months to grow out and a daily reminder of my mistake in trusting a woman with razor scissors to cut within an inch of my scalp. Or the "Yes, I really do like looking like Crusty the Clown." version. You could loose a hand in there!

Kim straightened it and styled it for me today. This is only the 7th time she's shown me how to straighten my hair and I still can't figure it out. The day they passed out the Barbie gene to girls I must have been reading a book or climbing a tree, because I do not have this skill.

I also do not know how to apply make up, feel uncomfortable wearing lipstick, cannot balance in high heels and cannot put stylish clothes together.

So, today, I'm thankful for a friend that said "We need to help you!" and DID IT. It was a great break for me and one that I have never taken for myself, but I think I might start now. Not every month or anything, but maybe a couple times a year.

I had no idea hair coloring could be so fun.