Broccoli Cheese Soup

1 package (10 oz. frozen broccoli just the florets are best)

2 oz. angel hair pasta, broken into small pieces 

1/4 cup butter

1 T. flour

1 cup water

3/4 c. milk

1/8 t. pepper

6 oz. Velveeta cubed

1/2 c. sour cream

Cook both the broccoli and pasta according to package directions and drain.  In a large saucepan, melt butter, stir in flour until smooth.  Gradually stir in the water, milk, and pepper till blended.  Bring to a boil, cook and stir 2 minutes or till thickened.  Reduce heat, stir in cheese until melted.  Stir in broccoli, pasta and sour cream.  Heat through but do not boil. 

This is the soup I bring to the Kinast Christmas Exchange.

Pork tenderloin with roasted potatoes and mushrooms

I am definitely not the type of cook who writes down specific recipes, so I'll try my best! This is an easy weeknight dinner for us because most of goes in the oven for the same temp and time- with only one frying pan on the stove. Pork tenderloin is on sale at least once every few weeks - so we stock up and keep them in the freezer.

Pork
1 pork tenderloin (they often sell these in two packs so we will cook two and have leftovers for lunches)
1 to 2 tsp salt (we use kosher salt)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 to 2 tsp chopped rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme leaves
2-3 tbsp olive oil

Mix the salt, pepper, rosemary, and thyme with the olive oil so it makes a sort of paste. Put the pork tenderloin in a 9x13 glass dish and spread the mixture on the pork. You can tweak the topping to your taste (more or less salt/rosemary/pepper) - you could add red pepper flakes if you want it a little spicy.

Put it in a 400 degree oven for around 20 minutes.  If it's a super big one it might take more like 25. You can use a meat thermometer, it should be at about 150, I think. I also just do the poke test - if it is firm to the touch, it is probably done! Let it rest for 5ish minutes, then slice and serve.

Potatoes
Chop any type of potato into 1 inch cubes or so. I like red potatoes because I don't have to peel them! Spread them out on a sheet tray and drizzle over enough olive oil to coat them. It also sometimes helps to put a little oil on the tray itself before you put on the potatoes so they don't stick. Sprinkle on salt, pepper, and maybe some rosemary if you have extra. Put in at the same time as the pork - they should finish up just about when the pork is done resting. Flip them over once during the cooking. They should be nice and crispy.

Mushrooms
Cut one container of white mushrooms into quarters. Put in frying pan with 1 tbsp of butter, 1 tsp of salt, and a little pepper. Saute on medium heat until the mushrooms are soft. Probably about 10 minutes.

Bonus Sauce: My family makes a "pork sauce" that is purely to use up things in the door of the fridge. Mix together 3 parts jam with 1 part mustard in a small saucepan. Doesn't matter what kind of any of these! Add in a splash of water or juice (really...anything!) and some salt and pepper and simmer until it is thick. I know it sounds crazy - but it's delicious!

Enchilada Lasagna

I also owe you a blog post as we were traveling when the last one was due, but here's one to pass the time with recipes...

This one can be as complex or as simple as you like. You pick and choose what works for you and your family.

Enchilada Sauce from Scratch
Can of Tomato Paste
Flour (1 TBS)
Butter (1 TBS)
Water
Chili Powder
Garlic Powder
Combine flour and butter in a saucepan. Turn heat to medium and stir until it smells cooked or changes color to a browner look(you're at the start of making a rue). Add can of tomato paste and two or three cans of water. Add garlic powder and chili. Cook until the sauce starts to thicken. (It will thicken additionally as it cooks in the lasagna.)

If that step sounds too complex, just buy a can of your favorite enchilada sauce.

Then, in a 9x9 or 9x13(more sauce for this one) pan, combine layers in following order:
Sauce
Taco Shell
Filling
Cheese
(repeat until at top and finish off with cheese)
Bake at 350 for approx 30min (keep covered until last 10 min).

Ideas for Filling include:
Black Beans and Corn
Meat - chicken, ground beef or pork (cook this beforehand)
Sweet Potato and Black Beans (pre-cook sweet potatoes some)
Spinach and Mushrooms (pre-cookin frying pan)
(all filling when combined with taco seasoning adds an additional layer of flavor)

Top with sour cream, avocado, olives, tomatoes, etc...

If you just wanted to do cheese, you could do that. If you would rather do corn shells, you could choose that. The options are endless. And, the re-heat is delicious.

Main Dish Recipe

I owe you a blog update post... it’s on my list, but here’s a favorite main course at our house:

Crockpot Potato Soup
6-7 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
4c broth (I use either veggie or chicken)
onion, if desired

Cook in crockpot on low for 8 hours, or high for 4 (low yields the best results).

To finish:
Mash potatoes with potato masher or mix n chop.
Add 2 cups cheddar cheese, let it melt in.
Then add 1/2 cup heaving whip cream. Stir all.

Serve with extra shredded cheese and bacon bits.

The Dairy-free version finishes at mash potatoes. Sprinkle Daiya cheese on top and let sit so it melts.

Hello from Fountain St.

We have had visits from Andrew, Katie, and Theo for the fair and meeting relatives,
Hannah and James for Kate and Tyson's wedding, and Tim's family for his birthday and Thanksgiving.

Tim played with his student Aiden for a concert in Winfield.  We went to the dress rehearsal as I had a bell event at church the same day.

Samuel and I planted a fall garden.  It includes strawberries,  cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli.  We have little cauliflowers on some of the plants!

We enjoyed pasture work day.  A HUGE tree had fallen over but didn't totally break off.  We think it must have been wet at the time.

Our back yard was pretty this year as the yellow sweet gum and the red maple both had their best colors at the same time.

Samuel and I made spring rolls one day.  They turned out pretty good but they are a lot of work with chopping all the veggies and getting the rice paper just the right softness.

Samuel attended a theory class as Southwestern to see if he could concentrate for that length of time.  He is considering taking a class.

I also finished Samuel's advent calendar!!!  I think I will take a break from those for awhile:)

Erik has arrived back from his semester at SEA.  You can read some of his adventures at the ship's blog or look at his face book page. 

Best wishes for your Advent and Christmas preparations.

Love from the Shooks

Thankful for Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Break is here! We celebrated James' birthday on the 17th to kick it off. We'll be at the ranch outside of Blanco, TX on Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving with James' extended family. On Friday, our good friends Danny and Jerry are getting married and on Saturday we will celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary. There are so many things to be thankful for! Here are a few of them in pictures.

Awesome orchestra kiddos. Here is a bus selfie with the orchestra peeps that attended a youth concert at UT's Bass Concert Hall. Fifth House Ensemble gave a live performance of the soundtrack to the video game Journey, conducted by the composer, Austin Wintory. The game was projected on a screen and a gamer played as they performed. The musicians used iPads and foot pedals to turn the pages.

Family - Grandma and Grandpa at Kate and Tyson's wedding! What an amazing weekend. We're so blessed to have such an extraordinary example of unconditional love in Grandma and Grandpa. May Kate and Tyson find that theirs grows stronger and deeper with every passing minute.

Veggies from Johnson's Backyard Garden. We get a CSA box from them each week, so we were excited to attend their open house in late October where we got a tour of the farm on a flat bed pulled by a tractor. Our last CSA box had collared greens, spinach, cilantro, cabbage, broccoli, peppers, and beets. Yum!

Austin - a pic of downtown from the UT football stadium

Longhorn football - We've enjoyed cheering on the team this season! There have been a lot of close games.

Community performances. I took a small group to perform at Round Rock's Chalk Walk Festival. It's a fun community event in downtown Round Rock and the students had a blast!

Backyard Gardens - Giant Swallowtail larvae on our lime tree

Nephews - We took Ian (left) and Alexander (right) to the San Antonio Symphony's performance of Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique

beet hummus - easy to make and a beautiful color!

 

Kitties - Rimsky and Duncan watching for squirrels out the front window

The outdoors - James ran a 5K at a local vineyard.

Sunshine - Hook 'Em Horns!

Sending lots of love from Texas! May your Thanksgivings be full of friends and family and yummy foods. We miss you!

Hannah and James

The Chris and Theresa Givans

Since our last post, we've:

1. Moved houses
2. Stayed in our current jobs (Chris at the library, Theresa at the Cosmosphere)
3. Built and baked some things

1: We moved into what was Kate and Tyson's house on west 13th avenue since the mortgage and utilities were less than our rent in the apartment. Thanks to the parents' help we moved pretty easily and then Theresa's parents helped us repaint to match our aesthetics. Father did drop a washing machine down a set of stairs and onto me. But I turned out fine.

Excuse the lighting.

2: I think there was a job opportunity I was feeling hopeful about in our last post, but each one of those has turned into nothing so I know whatever one it was, it came to nothing. Next up is one application to the Tulsa Air and Space Museum, where Theresa and I previously met the hiring supervisor in a professional capacity; one interview at Liberal's Mid-America Air Museum because they responded favorably to my unsolicited inquiry; and volunteering at the Combat Air Museum because they appreciated a proposal we had sent them previously but could not afford us so we'll use it to improve our portfolios/resumes.

The fancy inquiries I'm sending out, because that's what I've come to.

3: Theresa's been doing lots of baking for Kate's bachelorette parties and wedding (120 cupcakes + 4 cakes!). I built a pirate ship for the library, which disguised a donation bin. It also needs a home now so if anyone is dying to own it, I'll gladly pass it along. I'm now building a cutaway of the nose of a B-24 Liberator in the basement in preparation for the interview at Liberal since they were a base during WWII—I'm using it as a demonstration of my skills, an experiment in rapid prototyping for museum content, and because the ability to cheaply build a Liberator may appeal to the museum since they don't have one of their own.

The stand is actually made of palettes from our reception. Using them also meant there's less to carry out of our basement :P

Construction of the pirate ship

Completed ship + sails

An old cutaway + 3D model of my current project

Theresa and I also went out to Denver for her father's birthday (on Oct 28th) and we saw the total solar eclipse back in August! Here's two difficult to understand pictures of that:

The eclipse at totality, poorly captured.

Instead of staring at the sun through our glasses the whole time we also had a mirror, shielded by an envelope, projecting the eclipse-in-progress on the side of the house we were visiting.