Book of Mormon Project

Today is the 2nd Annual Book of Mormon YouTube Project.  Please watch this video sometime TODAY between 12:00am-11:59pm and then share it with your friends and family to also view today.  You can repost this video on websites, email, Facebook, blogs, etc.  Our goal is to get at least 250,000 views today.

And while you watch the video, please enjoy the music by my own EVMCO and OCMCO!  The CD of this recording is going to be released on October 25th, so mark your calendars!

Corn Soup: French Fridays with Dorie

I was so proud of myself when I finally got a French Friday with Dorie recipe done before a Friday ... I finished my corn soup on a Tuesday and we all enjoyed it for family dinner, but ....  then I never posted my photos & results.  Ack!

So here we go ... the Corn Soup.

I've always loved corn soup of the Amish variety with potatoes, bell peppers, freshly diced tomatoes, and other good stuff.  While I was in Salt Lake City this past summer, there was a super yummy cafe basically across the street from where we were rehearsing, performing, and recording, so we (my friends & I) stopped in several times for lunch and dinner.  They had a corn soup there that I tried and kept going back to get ... it was soothing to my tummy after sitting for way too many hours and before nerve-racking concerts.  The corn soup in Salt Lake City had pesto swirled into it that I totally loved.  Even though I was hesitant to try a different corn soup recipe cause I already have one that I enjoy, I was hopeful that it might taste like that corn soup up in Utah.

I decided to hunt down some corn on the cob here in hot AZ.  It was not easy to find, but I did it and payed too much for it.  The kiddies and I made our corn soup along with some of my pesto.

I enjoyed the soup, but it more closely resembled my Amish corn soup, but without all the veggies, so I kinda missed my chunky veggies.  I did decide that if make a smooth corn soup again, I'll definitely make pesto to go with it again!

Creamy Cheesy Garlicky Mushroom Rice: French Fridays with Dorie

I have lots of cooking and family posts to catch-up on.  I have photos on my camera going back to the beginning of the year that I still haven't blogged about.   Ahhh.  And today's post will have to be quick because I have two concerts at ASU's Gammage this weekend.  If you're in the Phoenix area, please come ... I'll post a video at the end of my post that has more info.

This week's recipe was another simple one that I'm glad I made the effort to try.  The only ingredient that I didn't already have in my home was the risotto rice (I've never made risotto before) and since I was out & about, I decided to get a nice block of Swiss cheese. 

The recipe called for spinach,which I had here at the house, but I decided to try making my dish with sauteed mushrooms instead of cooked spinach cause I'm not a huge fan of soggy spinach.  I LOVE mushrooms and they were great in this rice dish.  The only thing I wasn't totally in love with in this dish was the Swiss cheese.  I think the "nice" Swiss cheese was a bit too strong and stinky.  It was still good, but I think I'll try a different cheese next time. 

Dorie suggested making stuffed peppers with the rice.  Stuffed peppers are a favorite food at our house and I think I'll try adding a little cream and mixing my shredded cheese in with the rice instead of sprinkling it on top of the peppers the next time we make our stuffed peppers.  This time around, my kids talked me into one of those rotisserie chickens cause I had a coupon for one from Sam's Club and I'm usually a mean mom and say no every time my kids plead for one of those chickens.  We also had cauliflower and lots of cold watermelon to finish off things off for a quick & easy dinner.

Excited to see the results of other Doristas!

Info for my concert in Tempe, AZ:

Get tickets for tonight or tomorrow night's show HERE.