"Egg-citing News"

We have eggs!  My youngest daughter went to the chicken coop this past week and came back inside and said, "Mom, someone is playing a trick on me!"  When I asked her why she replied, "There are a ton of eggs outside in the chicken coop."  THERE WERE TWENTY-THREE EGGS!  No, not a trick -- her chickens began laying eggs and we didn't realize it.

Zach and Melba

Talley won her chicken, named Zach, in a chicken race this year in Melba, Idaho.  She also took home one of her cousin's chickens, we named Melba, and they finally began laying!  Those little sneaky hens were laying them in a cat carrier that Talley had placed in the coop!  Talley never saw them going in the cat carrier so she never checked!  WHAT FUN!  Those naughty little hens chose the cat carrier to lay -- not the nesting boxes my husband made!  They had almost ran out of laying space!

Just thought I would share this funny story!

Cheesy Cabbage Ham Soup

Welcome to Red Couch Recipes! 

We woke up to snow this morning!  It was so fun to see the gigantic (or gigantor as I call them) snowballs the kids joined together to make before school!  This Cheesy Cabbage Ham Soup is a wonderful fix for the cold weather.  It is creamy and delicious on a cold weather day.  Are you a soup person?  Some in my family are and some aren't.  I am surely a soup person.  This recipe was taken from a family cookbook that my sister-on-law, Dawnell, and my mother-in-law, Geniel, spent many hours compiling; the recipe book is a treasure.

Chessey Cabbage Ham Soup

Ingredients

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 bag (16 ounces) shredded cabbage

2 cups chopped onion

1-2 quarts water (enough to completely cover the vegetables)

2 cups shredded carrots

2-3 cups diced potatoes

12 chicken bouillon cubes

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

2 cups milk

1 quart half and half -- I used fat free.

2 cups grated cheddar.  I used Sharp.

16 ounces cooked, diced ham.

In a large dutch oven or stock pot, saute onion and cabbage in the olive oil.  Add carrots, potatoes, bouillon and enough water to cover (1-2 quarts) the vegetables.  Simmer until vegetables are tender. Add half and half to vegetable mixture.   In a small sauce pan, add butter, flour, pepper, and paprika.  Add milk and cook on medium heat until thickened and add to vegetable mixture.  Stir in cheese.  Allow cheese to melt into thickened soup.  Season with salt to taste.  Enjoy.

Notes:  You could also replace the bouillon cubes with chicken stock and reduce water.  I used canned potatoes.  For a meat-less meal, leave out the ham.  This makes a huge amount of soup!

Happy Halloween -- Creepy Pizza Cookies



Zoulah wants to wish you the most wonderful Halloween and has so enjoyed being in her Bewitchen Kitchen this Halloween.  Zoulah wanted to bring you one more treat that we served at our Halloween parties -- Creepy Pizza Cookies.  Zoulah and I have been Halloweening and partying it up.  We have hosted two Halloween parties and attended another.  We went to a Missionary Welcome Home Party and a baby shower.  Not a lot of blogging was going on last week.

For the Creepy Pizza Cookies, just take a sugar cookie, frost with red frosting for the tomato sauce, add green and orange sprinkles for moldy cheese and then add eyes and worms.  So easy and fun.

This will be Zoulah's last post until next year.  She thanks you for all of your kind words of support and encouragement.  She hopes you had a wonderful Halloween with all your ghosties, goblins, and witchies.