Really, it is!  Eight of those 17 ingredients are things like salt, pepper, spices, sugar, olive oil, and chicken broth. The only things to cut up are an onion, some garlic, and a couple of apples. As for the time involved, the four hours – or more, if that works better for you – is to brine the meat. That means that it is just sitting in the refrigerator, not bothering you one little bit! So don’t let the long list of ingredients scare you off, this is the perfect recipe for a quick and easy dinner, as long as you think ahead and get those pork chops into the brine.

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This is a great go-to soup to make with three favorite convenience items in the pantry; sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, and boxed chicken broth. Toss a salad or put together some sandwiches while the soup simmers and you are sitting at the table eating dinner with your family in no time!

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FYI: Before I get to today’s recipe, a quick update about “Wednesday’s Child.” I received an email from AASK saying that the segment may be pushed back to tomorrow due to the Republican presidential contenders debate happening here in Arizona tonight. Now back to my regularly scheduled program…

Wanna hear the song “Lemon Tree”? CLICK HERE.

Last year at this time I was juicing more citrus from my seven trees than I could handle. I only had a tiny juicer but was lucky enough to borrow my neighbor, Jeanie’s, ACME Juicerator. Yay, I received my own Juicerator as a Christmas gift this year! CLICK HERE to reminisce with me.

Currently, I am reminiscing back to when my lemon tree produced crates of lemons. This year… not even one lemon from that very same tree! My Meyer lemon tree, on the other hand, produced a bumper crop this year.

As a result, I shall make a bumper crop of marmalade!

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A few weeks ago I filmed a TV segment with Scott Light of NBC Channel 12 EVB Live. The segment is called “Wednesday’s Child.” Scott now fills the shoes of longtime, now retired, Channel 12 anchor Kent Dana, who started the monthly segments more than 20 years ago. “Wednesday’s Child” is a profile of special-needs children available for adoption thru AASK, Aid to Adoption of Special Kids. In a 2009 interview, just before Kent Dana was to be inducted into the Arizona Broadcasters Hall of Fame, he said, “I’ve profiled over 1,000 kids over the years, and close to 80 percent were adopted. That show really changed lives, and it was a fun thing to do.”

It was fun for me to do too. You may recall that I am good friends with Tram Mai, Scott’s co-host on EVB Live. Tram had mentioned to Scott that I was adopted, so he asked if it would be all right to ask me a few questions about that during my interview portion of the segment. I, of course, said it would be absolutely fine…. but then I met Robby…

The first people to show up at my house that morning were three women from AASK, including the two videographers. Next came Robby and his foster dad. I fell for Robby the second I saw him.  My heart just melted as we talked and then even more so as we cooked and hung out afterward.

Scott and a couple more people from AASK came and we got busy with the filming. The shoot was of Robby and me cooking together in the kitchen. He was so sweet and interested and curious and polite and sweet, oh I already said sweet. He had wonderful manners and insisted on helping me clean up. Then, as the adults all gathered to figure out how and where to shoot the interview portions of the segment, Robby and I played a little Foosball outside on the back patio. I’m pretty good – but he beat me.  Next, Scott came out and Robby beat him too. He has so much joy and confidence for a child who has not had it easy and who has been shuffled around.

You might think that AASK is only for kids with physical, mental, or emotional special needs. There is any number of needs that make a kid “special” and in Robby’s case all I could see that made him “special” was that he is 12 years old, not an infant, who is up for adoption. You can check out Robby’s AASK profile HERE to see what I mean, this little boy stole my heart! Oh, and we made the Lasagna Soup recipe you will find below – just take a look at the list of foods he likes. I didn’t know a thing about it until about an hour ago when I pulled up his profile to write this! That just makes me smile.

The segment will run sometime tomorrow on EVB Live between 4:00 – 5:30 PM.  I am dreading it a little bit tough, because after Robby and his foster dad had gone, while Scott was interviewing me alone, I broke down. I don’t know how much, if any, of that they will show, but I’ve never cried on camera before. What if it’s the “ugly cry” as Oprah calls it? I have no idea how they will edit the interview. Channel 12 doesn’t do any of that portion, they just provide Scott and the airtime, AASK does the rest.

Oh well, it is what it is, that sweet boy and the position he, and so many other children like him are in, just breaks my heart. So if the segment has any impact and helps him get adopted by a loving family, any old ugly cry is worth it!

I love everything about this meal. There is very little prep, only minutes of hands-on time, and only 1 knife, 1 Microplane, and 1 pan to clean. You pop it in the oven, set the timer, and go about your business.

I wish I would have created this fabulous recipe, but alas it was the lovely Nigella Lawson. I have a few minor revisions. For instance – the addition of one of my favorite ingredients – smoked paprika.  Enjoy!

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On Valentine’s Day evening, Dave walked into the house with two huge bouquets of flowers for me and I made seafood pasta for him. Although dinner was delicious, I think I got the better end of that exchange. The meal is long over and there have been four more dinners since then, but my beautiful flowers are still bringing me the reminder of being loved. <3

Note: To make the rose napkins above; Open a large cloth napkin. Fold in half diagonally. Beginning at the long end, roll into a rope. Then start at one end of the rope and roll into a spiral. Secure with a paper clip if needed and “garnish” with real rose leaves. I swiped the ones I used from my neighbor’s yard! She loves me, so it’s OK.

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In May 2000, when Connor turned nine, we took a family trip to the east coast; Newport, Rhode Island,  New Hampshire (including the Ben & Jerry’s factory), Philadelphia, New York City (Statue of Liberty, Broadway, the Empire State Building, Times Square, etc.), Washington D.C. (Smithsonian, White House, Capitol, all the monuments, etc.), Colonial Williamsburg, Arlington National Cemetery, and Mount Vernon.  The highlight of that trip for Connor – and about the only thing he remembers, besides celebrating his birthday – was his first taste of lobster (Yes, that is the actual moment in the photo above)! He immediately fell in love and ate lobster at every meal it was available for the rest of the two-week vacation.  His happiness came to a screeching halt when we arrived back in Arizona and he learned that lobster was a seriously special treat, not an everyday staple, like say, peanut butter, and jelly sandwiches.

He still loves his lobster and I know that when he sees this post, he’ll be begging me to make it for him when he comes home this summer.  I love him to pieces, so I will!

The other guilty pleasure I want to show you is this fabulous vintage grocery store scale I purchased on Thursday at Sweet Salvage. Isn’t it amazing!?!  It obviously needs to be calibrated… or maybe I’ll just let it be.

Back to the lobster … I read an article about this over-the-top sandwich made by the Devilicious Food Truck from San Diego, California, and had to try and copy it at home. It was a major success!

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This is what your life looks like when you are looking through puffy watery eyes.

All blurry and miserable. Puffs and NyQuil, that is what got me through a full week of a massive head and chest cold.  I did my very best to keep it to myself and not pass it along to Dave. I slept in another room every night and washed my hands like a criminal trying to wash away the proof. It didn’t work. I’m over it and he has it in full force.

Luckily for him, I know how to make chicken soup! Stat! Quick, easy, tasty, cold-curing chicken soup.  And just in case the bug travels from this keyboard, through the internet, and onto you… you can make it too.  Get yourself to Costco, stock up on Puffs and NyQuil, and pick up one of their huge-breasted five-dollar rotisserie chickens.

Seriously, these are huge chickens with the breast meat weighing in at more than the entire amount of meat you’d get from a grocery store chicken! One and a third pounds of breast meat in the case of this particular bird!

I was actually going to title this post – “Big Breasts”, but considering all the spam I already get (the post that gets the most spam is titled “Manly Man Salad”) … yeah, I just don’t want to attract any more of that sort of attention!

So, back to the soup. Put in any vegetables you like or have on hand. I can’t stand cooked carrots, but Dave loves them, and since this soup IS for him – in went the carrots. I also had leftover sliced potatoes and a roasted poblano pepper – in they went. I have previously spoken of my affection for the under-rated and overlooked broccoli stems, they are in there. You get the point, whatever suits you and your family’s taste – put it in.

As for the chicken itself, I put in mostly dark meat and save those big breasts for sandwiches and such, you do as you please.  See – there is nearly a pound of dark meat for the soup.

After you pull off all the meat, you’ll use the chicken carcass to enrich a box of purchased chicken broth. You will be on your way to feeling at least 90% better in no time.

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My technical issues have been resolved. My lovely webmasters have “increased my quota” – whatever that is. What it means to me is that I can get back to blogging and posting photos to go along with my recipes. Thank you, webmasters, you are the best!

I am going to be completely honest and straightforward with you about this recipe… it is NOT “easy-breezy”.  In fact, it’s a big pain in the backside.  Kinda makes you want to tackle it, doesn’t it?

No?!? Come on, a challenge is a good thing!  The cookie dough is the problem. Well not a problem exactly, it is just a tad soft and not exactly easy to work with. But, I think it’s worth it. These are tasty little treats and besides, all the pictures I am providing you with demonstrating the caramel-making process will make it all worth it! Now Keep Reading!

The cookie sandwiches were the dessert for the wedding shower cooking class I taught last weekend, and the same ingredients served as the makings for Valentine’s tart for my sweetheart.

To transform the cookie recipe into a tart; spray a tart pan with Pam, line it with the rolled-out cookie dough, refrigerate for 15 minutes, and then bake the crust for 10 minutes at 325 degrees. Let it cool, and fill it with the caramel. Make some ganache, top the tart with the warm ganache and refrigerate until firm. Finally, sprinkle the top with a little sea salt, just before serving.  The tart is a whole lot easier than rolling and cutting out all those cookies! But cookies are what I first made, so a cookie recipe is what I have for you today.

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My webpage seems to need a little technique support, so while that is occurring, instead of the planned post for today, I am going to share with you this beautiful Arizona Valentine’s day sunset that I captured last night.

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