Nostalgia, Shopping and Yummy Food

I remember my getting my very first cookbook. It was in 9th grade and I got it as part of the curriculum for the Home Economics class I had to take. I think that might have been the beginning of my addiction to cooking and baking. Part of the class required hosting a dinner party, a tea and a brunch as well as learning and being tested on table etiquette (i.e. where the water glass goes in relation to the dinner plate and which fork is used for salad as opposed to shrimp). I haven't touched the cookbook in a long time in favor of newer, glossier and less-worn cookbooks but I recently came back to it out of pure nostalgia while looking for a dessert recipe. I've been craving lemon and my husband has been craving anything rich and decadent, since he lacked anything halfway decent while deployed. Tonight, we settled on lemon pudding. I'll be honest, I've always shied away from traditional custards and puddings due to a fear of scrambled eggs floating in a thickened, sweetened milk sauce. Cooking show hosts always stress carefully adding the hot liquid to the eggs to avoid cooking the eggs. Most likely due to the fear induced by these strong warnings, I managed. If you've never made a custard or pudding before, I'd suggest having a friend or family member their to help you, especially if you're as nervous as I felt. Definitely don't plan on multi-tasking since the saucepan needs constant attention and stirring while cooking. Without further adieu:

Lemon Pudding
Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker's New Cookbook: Everything You Need To Know To Cook
1/3 cup of sugar
4 TBS flour
1/8 tsp salt

2 cups of milk

2 TBS lemon zest
2 TBS lemon juice
2 large egg yolks
2 TBS butter, softened
2 tsp lemon extract (optional)

Lightly beat the two egg yolks in a medium bowl. In a medium saucepan, stir together sugar, flour, salt and lemon zest. Slowly whisk in milk, cooking on medium heat until mixture boils and thickens, stirring constantly. Stir in lemon juice. Boil and stir constantly for 1 minute. Very slowly and carefully, whisk half of the milk mixture into the bowl of egg yolks. Whisk the egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining milk mixture. Boil and stir constantly for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in butter and lemon extract. Pour into a bowl or dessert dishes, cover and refrigerate until serving.

I, personally, thought the pudding had a wonderfully light lemon flavor without the lemon extract but Luke wanted something a little stronger. You could also add more lemon zest instead of extract for a heavier lemon flavor.

I recently decided that I will no longer write up a meal plan each week based on what I feel like eating but, instead, will use the grocery store websites and coupons to determine what is discounted or on sale and will make meal plans based entirely around those items. This week, Luke and I ended up buying only 1 item that wasn't discounted or on sale! I was excited. I need to get better at couponing but I managed to get two weeks worth of food for what it usually costs us in groceries each week. AND we impulse-shopped a few items (read: Luke impulse shopped. It's okay, he was deployed, deprived and what he wanted was on sale anyway). Thanks to our local grocer, I was able to try my hand at Carrot Soup. There was a  pretty amazing sale on carrots and College Inn brand chicken broth this week and I had some fresh dill leftover from a few weeks ago (I was on a dill-kick prior to the lemon kick and bought and froze a ton of fresh dill). Normally, I'd suggest homemade chicken broth for any soup recipe but I used my last container a few weeks ago when I was sick. Also lucky enough, the grocer had an awesome sale on whole roaster chickens so I bought one to double for dinner AND chicken stock! Anyway, back to the carrot soup. I'm not actually a huge fan of carrots but this soup changed my mind entirely. I'm so glad I still have more carrots and broth so I can make it again in the next two weeks, the next time adding a few more carrots.

Dilled Carrot Soup

Recipe adapted from the 2006 Edition Taste of Home Cookbook
4 cups Chicken Broth (I suggest College Inn brand)

6 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks

4 TBS lemon juice, divided

3 TBS dill, chopped and divided
1/2 cup heavy cream
Black pepper, to taste

Combine the carrots, 2 TBS dill, 2 TBS lemon juice and chicken broth in a medium saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. Cover and simmer until carrots are tender enough to be pureed. Remove from heat and puree carrots (we used an immersion (hand) blender but you can also use a food processor or standing blender). Return saucepan to medium heat, stir in cream, remaining dill and lemon juice. Cover and simmer 10-15 minutes. Add black pepper to taste and serve.

I'm a big fan of the brightness of the dill and the clean flavor the lemon adds. The soup tastes very mildly of carrot so I definitely plan to make it again using a few more carrots next time. If you want a strong carrot flavor, I'd suggest cutting the amount of lemon juice in half and adding 2-3 more carrots, though I haven't yet tested this theory.

Now, go eat!