CREAM OF CELERY AND PEANUT BUTTER SOUP.

When left alone I get bored and head to the kitchen and there recipes are born. Most of the time I think about things I like together and then find away to make something out of them. Some times it turns out wonderful some times not. Believe it or don't this one is delicious. Made it once for my mother and she almost finished off the pot in one sitting. You know you love peanut butter on your celery, right? I take it one step further.

Ingredients

Stalk of celery
   2 cups diced and 1 cup thin sliced, save the leaves for decoration
2 cups of chicken stock
1 pint of 1/2 &  1/2
2 tbs of flour
2 tbs of butter
3 tbs of peanut butter

Chop the end off of the celery then wash. Use the big parts on the ends as part of your 2 cups of diced, save the hearts to make Bloody Mary's later or the soup will never get made. Put celery in the blender with 1 cup of chicken stock and puree, Pour mixture and additional chicken stock in a pot at med high till it starts to boil then back it down to medium heat. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir often. As it thickens, slowly add half and half slowly and continue to stir while making and enjoying that Bloody Mary. This should serve four, maybe and don't forget to use the leaves, they are eatable. Maybe with some Italian bread.

Let me know if you like this recipe and just be glad I didn't make PB&J soup.
Love ya,
AS

GOOD AND GREAT COOKS

Once in a while I have someone ask what makes a good/great cook? I love this question and the answer comes in two parts. First off, get to know your spices, not just their names but the taste as well. Take the top off of a bottle of any spice, pour a small amount in the palm of your hand and close your eyes and just take in the aroma. What does it remind you of? Something from the past or from your favorite restaurant? Next, wet your finger tip and then dip it in your palm then put it between your cheek and gum and run your tongue around it. You should at this point begin to think about what this spice would make something you make, even better. Then remove the spice with a shot of your favorite wine (it is so essential for spice testing, LOL) Also, do this at home, stores frown on you opening jars before you purchase them. If you are as absent minded as I am most days, a pad and pen will be a reminder for later.

Secondly, you need to have and imagination, spirit of adventure or whatever you want to call it. Don't be afraid to try new things, just do it on a smaller scale the first time. Improve recipes when ever you can. My mother used to make sliced cumbers and onions in a bowl with water, vinegar and a tablespoon or two of sugar. Stir and chill before serving. I took her recipe and added sour cream before serving. I love to try new things, some good some not so good. But with a good knowledge of spices, you can go home and make stuff you ate at a friends house or restaurant. Just savor the flavor and you will probably know all. With the holidays upon us, don't forget the recipe on here for my favorite dip recipe, it goes great with veggies or chips.  Happy Holidays everyone.

Do you LLLUUUVVV your coffee?  Auntie Stella loves hers, many lives are saved by her having her morning beverage.  My doctor told me no more that two cups a day (mean bastard that he is) so I got rid of my normal mug and traded it in for a 40 oz thermal one.  Now it stays hotter longer and I don't have to worry about spilling any on the keyboard, HEHEHE.  It came with a straw.  I want/need the first dose to be strong enough to kill telemarketers and lower the dosage on the second round so here's what I do.  Lots of coffee in the filter and after filling the new mug, I add a glass of water to the coffee maker with no new coffee and not only does it make a second mug but there is also enough left in the pot to make an iced coffee later in the day.  I also love cinnamon coffee but it will boil over if you don't use the next trick.

Put about a teaspoon of cinnamon in the filter, add your ground coffee and fold the filter over and put it in another one (you get what a million of them for a buck) then make your coffee as usual.  If you don't like or want to pay for flavored coffee or expensive creamers, try a teaspoon of vanilla extract, or rum extract or whatever is your favorite.  You may have to add some additional sugar/sweetener but it is great especially for a night time cup of coffee.  And donuts, don't for get the donuts.  They have zero calories when dunked in coffee, LOL.

Welcome to the Casa Del Auntie Stella, OLE!!!  Okay I don't speak Spanish but I do know most of the dirty words.  When they get hurled at you often enough you learn what they mean, for the longest time I thought that PUTA meant pretty.  Turns out it means BITCH and they are right, but I'm a pretty bitch, LOL Bathing suit season will be here soon (mine starts at the neck and goes to the ankles) so that means time for salads and what better way to start then Taco Salad.  Auntie is a big fan of canned diced tomatoes and why not, for about 75 cents you get a one pound can (much cheaper than fresh) and they store well and for long periods of time.  Packed in tomato juice so just drain it into your favorite shot glass, add some vodka (okay you are probably going to need a bigger glass) and a squeeze of lime and knock it back.  Also, since they are wetter than fresh tomatoes, you will need less dressing-save money and calories.  This should serve 4 but that is really up to you, I have been known to eat the whole thing (stop laughing).

Okay let's get started, very little cooking and basically if you can use a can opener this is for you.

1 pound of hamburger
1 can of refried beans
1 can of diced chilies
1 can of sliced black olives
1 lime quartered
1/2 head of lettuce (good luck getting the produce manager to sell you a half)
1 package of McCormics Chili-o mix (they make one for tacos but this is a little spicier)
1 large bag of tortilla chips
1 8oz bag of sharp cheddar cheese.

Brown the hamburger then drain the grease off, add the chili-o mix and one envelope of water, why waste any of the goodness and works great.  Stir till it thickens (or the smell makes you want to crawl into the skillet and eat your way out).  Fill bowls half full of tortillas, add the rest of the ingredients and save the hamburger to the top and then add shredded cheese and you are ready to eat.

Should you happen to have leftover chilies, cheese and tortillas,  place tortillas on a paper plate, dribble the chilies and throw some cheese on that bad boy and nuke for one minute.

Please leave me a note so I will know I'm not just doing this for myself, Love ya, AS

Not sure if Easter comes before St Patties day but they are both coming up soon.  If you don't have kids or can keep an eye on them, after the eggs are boiled use crayola or wax to write on them before dying, fun stuff like slut or oral sex or what ever comes to your perverted little minds.  Kids can put their names or designs on them and then dying them.  Heard tell that the Easter Bunny started hiding the eggs so no one would know about the affair with the chicken.

Gotta love St Patties day, everyone is Irish that day.  Not much for green beer but I do love me some Irish coffee.  In a tall mug you put 1 1/2-2ozs of Irish whiskey and then add hot coffee, a dash of cinnamon, whipped cream and a cherry. (Sugar or sweetener optional.) Between the coffee and the whiskey, in the outer villages of Ireland the bartenders are required to put a bell braclett on the patron so that the the sheep have a chance to run away, LOL  Any plans for you????  Stella

Valentines is just around the corner my loves, Auntie Stella loves diamonds, chocolate and red heads, not necessarily in that order, LOL.  Hope you have picked out your valentine and that it is going to be the best.  And let's not forget that a month later it's St. Patrick's day,  Auntie has a recipe for you in my older posts for an Irish Meal.  This has been tested by me and many of you as well, guaranteed to get your Irish in order.  And should you come across any of those Leprechauns, don't believe a word they say against me, I would never kick or pick on anyone that small no matter how much green beer and Irish whiskey I drank.

 Now for today's recipe and I know many of you are going to cringe, but don't give up on me yet, fried Chicken Livers, not just for the cat anymore.  Get a container of them at your favorite store and bring them home with you.  No fair forgetting them and leaving them at the store, and I grant you they are a bloody mess when you open them but never fear.  Take two lunch bags and put one inside of the other.  Next add a cup of flour (more or less), a tablespoon of sugar and about three or four shakes of the Italian Seasoning that is usually only reserved for spaghetti sauce, put all of this in the doubled brown bag and shake the shit out of it.  Salt and pepper if you please and I like to add about a tablespoon of chives in mine.  Pour half of the livers into the bag and shake again, hard this time.  It coats the livers and they are not so scary looking and try not to think of it as a chicken abortion because that's not what it is.

Ready your skillet with your favorite cooking oil, bacon grease is wonderful or lard if you can find it.  Pick the coated livers out of the bag when the grease is hot (a drop of cold water will tell you it's ready).  Then just start putting the little bastards in there and cook over medium heat.  I serve with applesauce, Lima beans and pickled beets.

It does tickle the hell out of me that many of my close friends wouldn't touch chicken livers, however, they love the hell out of the pate I make, LOL..Boil a container of chicken livers, let them cool.  Have an 8oz package of cream cheese brought to room temperature and and the spices and chives from above.  Put the mixture in the fridge till it sets, form a log from the mixture and roll it in pecan or walnut pieces and serve to your guest.  Some orange extract added makes it memorable or Gran Mariner if you have it, but it doesn't last long at my house.  Thanks for stopping by, Stella

NUTELLA????

Who the hell forgot to tell me about this stuff?? We are talking about an orgasm in a jar, with or without a spoon. Really, chocolate and ground hazel nuts, OMG. I saw an ad on television, (I usually speed through them but I caught this one), where a mother is actually giving this stuff to their kids on bread. WTF, I believe that you must be at least 21 to eat this wonderful concoction, I'm saying you have to appreciate life to truly understand this blend. This has set an awfully high bar for their little lives to achieve. I don't remember how much I paid for it but I would sell one of my best tiaras for another jar. It says it's 200 calories per serving (two tablespoons) and contains 10 servings per container. Right. If you are on a 2,000 calorie a day routine, you could eat the whole jar. Okay, not a good idea at all, but I assure you that you are going to want to do that very thing and I promise to do the right thing on the next jar! What's going on with all of you??
Auntie Stella