IT'S REALLY A MONDAY....

What an incredibly busy day it has been! I was at school before 7am and I finally arrived home tonight by 6:30 'ish' only because I cut out of a concert I had planned to attend. I was feeding this group of 22 students from Nebraska Lutheran High School before their concert and had a panicky feeling in my gut that my VCR was not set correctly to tape American Gladiator. I then made the decision to run home and check it, then I just decided to sit down and breath!

Now you may wonder why I was so concerned about recording this particular show. It just so happens that tonight one of the contenders was a home town girl that I know pretty well. Toni was on the original gladiator show 12(?) years ago and blew her knee. She did not give up on her dream to compete, and it was so fun to watch her in action tonight. SHE WON! Her time was not good enough to make it into the top group, but she did fantastic considering she is the oldest (46!) competitor they have ever had on the show. She made us all proud sitting here in our little town, thank you Toni.

Today was a nicer day, the temperature got up in the 40's and tomorrow it won't even hit 10* so we'll be living on memories. Since it's so stinkin' cold, I decided to give you my French onion soup recipe, besides my friend Kimi said I really need to post it. She also requested HoHo bars and Caramel corn...those will be coming. So without further adieu, here it is.

FRENCH ONION SOUP 2-3 servings
3 C thinly sliced onion - vidalia is my first choice (if you have a mandoline slicer use it!)
1/4 C butter
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp flour
2 cans beef broth
french bread or baguette
fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Over medium heat melt the butter, add the onions and saute for 15 minutes covered, stirring occasionally. This will turn a beautiful color as it caramelizes.

Stir in the salt and flour & bring to a boil. When this had gotten thicker, add in both cans of the beef broth and bring to a boil. Ladle the soup into oven safe bowls and top with a slice of french bread. I like to cube the slice of bread so it's easier to eat. Now top the bread with a heaping Tbsp of Parmesan or Romano cheese, and broil until it's golden brown.

If you put your bowls on a cookie sheet it's easier to get them in and out of the oven, plus if you spill it's contained! This is a fast and easy recipe, but the flavor tastes like you spent far more time on it than you really did.

I'm looking forward to sharing summer time recipes for the deck, but until then stay warm..make soup!