Rainy Day Cherry Crisp

Brighten someone's day with this delicious oat and pecan topped cherry crisp!

Ingredients:
-2 (21 ounce) cans LUCKY LEAF® Cherry Pie Filling
-1/2 cup butter, softened
-1 1/2 cups quick oats
-1 cup brown sugar
-1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350. Pour two cans of Lucky Leaf Cherry Pie Filling into the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. Blend softened butter, oatmeal, brown sugar and pecans until the mixture is crumbly; sprinkle the mixture over top of the pie filling.
-Bake 30 minutes or until golden brown.

*Reciepe & photo courtsey of Lucky Leaf.

Chicken Noodle Soup

This is a recipe that was given to me by my grandmother. It is a very savory and tasty soup and I believe that all will like it. If you would like to add even more flavor, try using smoked chicken!!



Ingredients
-2 1/2 cups wide egg noodles
-1 teaspoon vegetable oil
-12 cups chicken broth
-1 1/2 tablespoons salt
-1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
-1 cup chopped celery
-1 cup chopped onion
-1/3 cup cornstarch
-1/4 cup water
-3 cups diced, cooked chicken meat

Directions:
-Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add egg noodles and oil, and boil for 8 minutes, or until tender. Drain, and rinse under cool running water.
-In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, combine broth, salt, and poultry seasoning. Bring to a boil. Stir in celery and onion. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes.
-In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water together until cornstarch is completely dissolved. Gradually add to soup, stirring constantly. Stir in noodles and chicken, and heat through.

French Onion Soup

French onion soup is one of America's most popular "restaurant soups," but with this easy recipe you can make it at home anytime you want.

Ingredients:
-4 large yellow onions, cut in large dice
-1/2 stick unsalted butter
-1 tbsp sherry vinegar
-1/4 cup dry sherry wine
-2 sprigs fresh thyme
-1/2 tsp salt
-fresh ground black pepper to taste
-1 bay leaf
-3 cups high-quality beef broth
-3 cups high-quality chicken broth
-1 cup water

For the topping:
-toasted French bread
-8 oz shredded Swiss cheese

Directions:
-In a large soup pot, melt the butter over med-low heat. Add the onions and salt; slowly cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are golden-brown - about 30 minutes.
-Add the vinegar and sherry; cook for 5 minutes, and then add the remaining ingredients. Simmer on low for one hour. Taste and adjust seasoning. Ladle into heatproof bowls, or crocks, and top with a piece of toasted bread (cut to fit top of bowl).
-Cover with the cheese, and place under a preheated broiler until the cheese melts and begins to brown.

Rainy Day Soups

On a rainy day you can never go wrong with a great soup! Soups are also great for cold winter days!

The next few post will be dedicated to 2 of my favoite soups; Onion Soup & Chicken Noodle Soup!

Hope you enjoy!

Stay Dry With Rainy Day Dates

Sometimes the weather just isn’t cooperative for moonlit walks on the beach. Knowing a few indoor date ideas for a rainy day is a great way for you and your partner to still have a great time, rain or shine. These rainy day date ideas are also great ideas you can use year round or on a hot summer day when you’d rather be in air conditioning than in the hot sun.

Here are 12 unique romantic rainy day date ideas to try.

1. Go ice skating. Most areas have indoor ice skating rinks for hockey leagues and school teams. Find out where the nearest indoor ice skating rink is and make sure they offer ice skate rentals. You and your partner will have fun holding each other’s hands while you make a few laps around the rink, even if neither of you are very good at ice skating.

2. Go bowling. Bowling is a great way to talk with each other and have a little competitive fun. You can pretend to be serious bowlers or request bumper lanes if you’re a little rusty.

3. Be bookworms. A book store is the perfect place for a rainy day date. You can check out stores that sell new books or visit a few shops that have used and rare books. You’ll learn a lot about your partner’s interests as you look through the different book titles. Don’t forget to stop for coffee at a local café or coffee shop afterwards!

4. Play board games, cards or puzzles. You can have a blast playing card games or board games like Monopoly. You can also always stop at the store if you have some extra cash and pick out a new game together just for the occasion. If you’re not a huge fan of board games, you can always opt to do a puzzle together instead.

5. Cook up a Romantic Dinner. If you don’t feel like going out, try making dinner together at home instead. A few candles and some music playing in the background can make a simple dinner like spaghetti seem romantic.

6. Have an indoor picnic or camp. Grab your blankets and picnic basket and have a fun picnic on your living room floor. You can also set up a tent inside your house if it is big enough and you and your partner can snuggle and nap together while you listen to the raindrops on the roof.

7. Head to the museums. A rainy day is a perfect time to brush up on history, admire classic art pieces, or learn more about science. Museumspot.com is a great site where you search by location or interest to find the perfect museum for your rainy day date.

8. Find a pool hall. This is one of my favorite rainy date ideas since it’s always fun for us to laugh at how bad the other one is or pretending to be pros and calling the shots.

9. Get your video games. This can be a fun way to spend some time together on a rainy day. You can either visit your local arcade, rent a few video games to play for your current system, or drag out your original Nintendo or Atari. Just remember to stick to the 2 player games – it can get boring for the other person if they are just watching you play the whole time.

10. Have a movie marathon. Either rent a few movies from the video store or order a few from your cable provider. Make sure you have the popcorn and some blankets ready and turn the lights off to make it even better than going to the theater. You choose certain themes, actors, or catch up on your favorite television series to make it more of a “marathon”.

11. Have a photo shoot. You can be as serious or as silly as you want to be taking pictures of each other around the house. Find some unusual items, ugly sweaters or old Halloween costumes and start snapping away to a good time. You can go all out with lights and backdrops if you are able to. When you’re done taking the pictures, you can play around with them with your favorite photo editing software to make them black and white, sepia, or add other effects.

12. Go to a play or other live performance. Whether you’re into music, theater, or comedy clubs, going out to a performance is great form of rainy day entertainment. Your local newspaper can be a great source of information for current shows and venues.

What do you like to do with your partner when the weather cancels or changes your plans? Share your rainy day date ideas in the comments below.

Rain Rain Go Away

I HATE THE RAIN!!! I don't just dislike it, I LITERALLY hate it! My ankels seems to always get wet from the rain no matter what I have on, its just not a good look!

Looking at the forecast this moring, I've noticed it rains the whole weekend so I'm going to write a few post dedicated to the rain!

These post will include great rainy day date ideas, rainy day activities, & rainy day recipes!

Hope you enjoy!

Perfect Rainy Day Desert: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 large eggs,beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• if desired, 1 cup chopped pecans, or chopped walnuts

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix sugar, brown sugar, butter, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl by hand.
Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt. (The dough will be very stiff.)
Make sure that the dough is well mixed before moving on.
Stir in chocolate chips by hand.
You can add the pecans, or other nuts, at this time if desired.
Keep stirring and folding the chocolate chips and nuts into the dough until they are evenly dispersed.
Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown. (You may even think that the chocolate chip cookies are underdone, but they will finish cooking through out of the oven.)
The centers will be soft.
Let cool completely* then remove from cookie sheet.

*If you try to remove the cookies while they are still warm, the chocolate chips are still very soft and this can cause a very big mess as well as messy looking cookies.

Perfect Rainy Day Meal: Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese

Ingredients for Tomato Soup:
3/4 cup roughly chopped tomatoes
15 ounces tomato sauce
3-4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
3/4 cup roughly diced onion
1/2 cup roughly diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup roughly diced carrot
1/4-1/2 cup half & half
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon roughly sliced garlic
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
salt & pepper to taste

Ingredients for Grilled Cheese Sandwich:
2 slices (per sandwich) bread
1/2-3/4 cup (per sandwich) shredded cheeses (I use Cheddar, Monterey Jack, & Parmesan)
olive oil



Directions for Tomato Soup:
Saute red bell pepper, carrots and onion seasoned with salt & pepper over medium heat.
Add parsley and garlic, & crushed red pepper flakes.
Add chopped tomatoes and 1 cup broth.
Allow to gently boil for 5 minutes.
Stir in can of tomato sauce and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Ladle mixture into blender and puree until smooth.
Add up to 1 more cup of broth while pureeing.
Return puree to pot over medium-low heat.
Stir in additional 1/2-1 cup broth and 1/4-1/2 cup cream.
Taste and adjust salt.

Directions for Grilled Cheese:
Brush outside of bread slices with olive oil.
Add cheese between bread.
Place on grill.
Rotate sandwich on grill for prettiest grill-marks.
Grill until golden and crisp and the cheese is melted inside.

Serve grilled cheese with tomato soup.
Makes about 5 cups soup.