Boot Stompin' & Soup Makin'

Ireland has very moderate weather, rarely does the temperature go below freezing, and in the peak summer months we only average about 18C (64 F). However, it only takes a slight dip in the mercury to persuade me to pull on my favorite knee high boots and bust out my fall cooking repertoire.

Favorite Boots

When I think of fall food I think warm apple cobbler, hearty roast with mashed potatoes, and above all I think of soup! I love that something as simple as a one pot meal can also be complex at the same time. The way flavors come together swimming in brothy harmony.

So last week I put my boots on for the first time this fall and I did a little dance, or at least what I call a dance.  Mostly just bouncing around excitedly and erratically. I am really not a good dancer, but that's a discussion for another post. However, it was that little boot dance spasm that signaled to my brain that it was time to make soup. With so many soup options out there how to decide what kind of soup becomes a whole new challenge. Classic chicken noodle? Creamy baked potato? Tangy roasted tomato?

Luckily, I came to a decision easily. My Aunt Jane was recently here for a visit and she did not arrive empty-handed.  In addition to some of our favorite American candies, and cheesy snacks, she managed to squeeze four cans of Hatch fire-roasted green chilies into her suitcase for me! 

I couldn't wait to put these green chiles to use! So I decided to make a white bean chicken chili. You probably know by now that I am not much for exacting measurements. I usually find a recipe online that I deem acceptable and then I loosely base my dish around it.  I love tasting and tweaking throughout the cooking process. I know that off-the-cuff cooking is not for everyone so I am including below the recipe that I used as my jumping off point, with my changes and additions in red.

 

I hope this post will inspire you to pull on your favorite boots, warm up the dance floor (hopefully you're a better dancer than me), and warm up your kitchen with a little taste of fall!

White Bean Chicken Chili 

2 T vegetable oil
6 chicken legs ( I used 3 large chicken breast)

1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

(3-4 med fresh green chiles)

(1 yellow bell pepper, chopped)

1 serrano chili pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped

(2 cans diced green chiles, hot or mild)

1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano (Mediterranean or Mexican is fine)

2 sprigs fresh thyme ( I omitted the thyme)
1 bay leaf

2 cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups chicken stock

1 can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese 

0. Season chicken legs or in my case breast well with cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper
1. Heat 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a skillet. Brown chicken legs.
2. Take out and set aside chicken legs. Drain excess oil.
3. Add onions, bell pepper, and various chiles
4. When onions are translucent, add ground cumin and oregano and cook with onions until lightly brown.
5. Add garlic.
6. Add the cannellini beans, and can diced tomatoes and cans of green chiles.
7. Add chicken stock.
8. Put back the chicken legs and add the thyme and bay leaf.
9. Simmer until chicken legs are tender, about 35-45 minutes.
10. If desired, debone chicken legs and put back the shredded chicken meat into the pan.  

(I removed my breast and shredded the meat with a fork before adding back to the pot)
11. Stir in the chopped cilantro.12. Just before serving mix in cheese and sour cream until melted and well blended

13. Serve with a dallop of sourcream and some fresh cilantro

14. Enjoy!

Bringing the Baby Shower Tradition to Ireland

 I recently learned that the Irish do not have baby showers.  They consider a party before the baby's arrival to be bad luck. In fact, a mother of one of my friends here indicated that she would not even allow baby things into the house before the baby was born! Typically, the Irish wait until after the birth to bring gifts, and that is usually done at a party after the christening with friends and family. So no girls-only luncheon with silly games, crafts, and squeals of delight as tiny baby booties are unwrapped by the mommy-to-be.
Until now!

I know I have mentioned my friend Evin once or twice before on this blog.  If it were not for her I would be clueless and possibly friendless in Cork.  She is also an American expat, and when I learned she was pregnant I jumped at the chance to repay her for all her kindness and host a baby shower in her honor! Of course I have ulterior motives. I am not going to lie, I love any excuse to throw a party! So thanks goes to Evin for getting knocked up!

This past week I was in full swing party planning mode. With a lot of help from co-hosts Maire and Arlene come Saturday we put on our hostess hats and welcomed 18 of Evin's guest into my newly transformed woodland-themed apartment! Evin has a thing for garden gnomes and has also loosely based her nursery decor around woodland creatures, hence the theme! I am so excited to share with you photos from the festivities! Most of the photo credit goes to Evin, who in addition to being the guest of honor was also the official photographer, you can check out more of her photos here.

The fireplace mantel was decked out with felt toadstools, woodland critters, and foliage taken from a friend's yard.  I was thrilled to not have to purchase flowers!

We used rolls of brown craft paper to create large trees on the wall.  FYI "Og" is junior in Irish.

I spy a squirrel and a hedgehog.

Throwing a baby shower is not just about the decor, although I do love that part. There is food and drink to consider too, and just because the mother-to-be has to go without an adult beverage is no reason her guests should suffer! Festive mimosas and bloody marys were served up in addition to coffee, juice, and of course tea.  The Irish love their tea! Brunch was a nice mix of sweet and savory featuring quiche, ham biscuits (for the non-American readers, a biscuit is not a cookie, nor is it a scone), yogurt parfaits, and gorgeous cakes to name a few.

Moira showed off her cake decorating skills with a yule log cake topped with little fondant woodland critters.

Mommy-to-be Evin tucks into a slice of the adorable yule log cake.

Top to bottom: smoked salmon on brown bread with cream cheese and capers, mushroom and asparagus tarts, ham biscuts, and mini yogurt parfaits.

In keeping with the woodland theme I trimmed radishes to look like toadstools on the veggie tray.

 

In lieu of games, party guests had a chance to show off their creative skills by decorating bibs, burp cloths and onesies or "babygrows" as they call them here).  It was fun to see what everyone came up with!

 

Onesies were displayed  from a clothesline above the fireplace mantel.

Evin received a array of adorable and practical gifts. Many of her friends are talented knitters and now her baby is sure to be styling in handcrafted knitwear! Since my knitting skills are severely lacking I turned to a friend who has more talent with a needle and thread in her little finger than I have in my whole body. I commissioned Megan of textile-love.com to make a baby sleep sack out of a fabric pattern I knew was dear to Evin's heart. She also included an embroidered onesie with a matching Maryland crab (Evin's home state). Just in case you were wondering textile-love takes commissions for more than just baby things. In fact Megan has made me several fabulous articles of clothing. I hope you'll check out her website and she what she's up to!

Once all the adorable baby gifts were opened and the last mimosa was downed  guest left with a sweet little favor in hand. Roasted rosemary cashews were packaged in little blue squirrel tins I found while on holiday in Denmark, and simple burlap sacks.

I huge thanks to everyone who helped out and attended to make this party a success.

  I absolutely enjoyed planning and co-hosting, and I hope the guest of honnor took pleasure in this little American tradition!

Oops I Did it Again!

Gotta love Britney despite all her misdeeds for coining that phrase. Anyway, big oops on my part for dropping the blogging ball yet again. My Aunt Jane and Uncle Jim arrived in Cork just a week after my parents visit. So off I went on another whirlwind tour of Ireland! Upon their departure I went into party planning overdrive working on a baby shower I co-hosted for my friend Evin. Somehow between the travel, the cooking, the cleaning, and party planning, I forgot to turn any of my leftover time and attention towards this blog! So this week I hope to get back into the swing of things and share some of what I have been up to these last two weeks. Stay tuned!