Try to imagine the sound of a hundred little lady-bugs on a marching line playing snare drums, slightly out of sync.  That’s what the rain sounds like when it hits the awning outside my window.  I wait for that sound because when I hear it, that means it’s time to get cozy.  I woke up to the lady-bugs drumming this morning and thought I would love to have some soup to accompany the musical rain.  The problem is that I just don’t have the time today to put hours into making one.  I was a little bummed but then I remembered I had a few packs of Bertolli’s soup in my freezer.  Thats right, I said soup in the freezer…. and they’re yummy.  

• Two Tasting Certificates for Bertolli Premium Meal Soup for Two
• Stainless steel soup ladle
• Woven oval bread basket
• Bertolli reusable freezer bag

2.)  Leave a comment on your thoughts of frozen soup.

Make sure to leave a comment below for each of your actions.  This will give you the opportunity to have two entries instead of one. 🙂

  I find it interesting when my Mom recounts the days of her youth.  She tells it in a very matter of fact tone.  For the most part it was an unfair childhood, but the way my Mom paints it you can tell she never felt sorry for herself.  I’m the one who gets crushed for her when I hear what she lacked.  One of the things I remember her telling me was that she never had money to eat in the cafeteria at school when she was a little girl.  She says they use to serve a rice dish with meatballs and gravy on top and it always smelled delicious, but not once did she ever try it.  When I started cooking I decided it was time for my Mommy to have her meatballs and gravy over rice.  Thank the cafeteria chief for making a simple child-proof dish that I jumped all over and vamped into an adult plate.  I added Wonderful Pistachios to the meatballs and rice to give it an extra bite of flavor.  My Mom use to love this dish before she became a vegetarian, but my man and our son think this is one of the best things I make. 🙂  Enjoy!

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley and Mando Lopez

Ingredients for meatballs: 

1 – pound ground beef

1 – pound ground pork

1 – egg

1/4 – cup chopped green onion

1/3 – cup Wonderful Pistachios (shucked and chopped)

1 – heaping tablespoon of minced garlic

1/4 – cup fresh cilantro leaves

1/3 – cup chopped mushrooms

1/4 – cup bread crumbs

Salt and pepper to taste

Using your hands, mix all ingredients in a bowl. Then grab a small handful of meat mixture and roll into a ball. Repeat until done. Set to the side.

Ingredients for pistachio rice:

 4 – tablespoons butter

1 – tablespoon minced garlic

1/2 – cup onion

1 1/2 – cup long grain rice

1 -tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

1/3 – cup Wonderful Pistachios (chopped)

1 -teaspoon salt

1 -teaspoon black pepper

3/4 – cup peas (optional)

3 – cups chicken broth

Over a medium high flame add butter and garlic to a sauce pan with a lid. Melt butter, then add onion and rice. Mix until rice starts to brown. Then add sesame seeds, chopped pistachios, salt & pepper and mix well.  Add peas if you like. Wait until rice is very golden brown. Then add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Once broth starts to boil, lower flame to low, and put the lid on the rice. Cook the covered rice for 20 minutes. Then remove from flame and set to the side.

While your rice is cooking, let’s start the gravy.

Ingredients for gravy:

4 – tablespoons butter

1/2 – tablespoon minced garlic

1/2 – cup chopped onion

1/2 – cup chopped mushrooms

2 – cups beef broth

1 – tablespoon corn starch

1/8 – cup water

In a small sauce pan over a medium flame add butter and allow to melt.  Then add garlic, onion and mushrooms.  Saute until onions are soft.  Then add beef broth and bring to a boil.  Once broth is boiling get a small cup and fill with water then add corn starch and mix until corn starch is completely dissolved.  Now add corn starch water to boiling broth onion mixture.  Mix well.  Broth will thicken and remove from flame.

Lastly… over a medium flame take a large frying pan and add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, and allow to get hot. Then add your reserved meatballs and cook on each side for 5 to 7 minutes or until cooked all the way through.

That’s it your done. I like to add a piece of pineapple to the plate for the perfect touch of sweetness! You could enjoy this dish either way!

No compensation was received for this post. I was provided with a sample of  Wonderful Pistachios to aid this recipe. The recipe and opinions are my own.

I have my theory about salsa.  I don’t know how closely you follow my blog but a couple months back I posted a salsa recipe and talked about the crazy stinginess that surrounds salsa recipes.  I’m the polar opposite, if I come up with a salsa I’m proud of I want to scream it into the blog-o-sphere with a post/share.  I’ll start by telling you…. This yummy Green salsa is nothing like my Salsa for the ages, it’s just as good and it is worthy of five SCREAMS.  Try it out on your friends or family and you’ll quickly have a house full of noise. 🙂

Photos taken by: Nicole Presley and Mando Lopez

Ingredients for green salsa:

1 – tablespoon vegetable oil

1 – onion (remove outer peeling)

4 – garlic cloves (remove outer peeling)

1 – cup water

5 – tomatillos

1 – serrano chile

1 – jalapeno chile

1 – guero chile

1/3 – cup cilantro leaves

1 – large half of avocado (remove pit)

1 – teaspoon of white vinegar

1 – tablespoon Kikkoman Ponzu Citrus Seasoned Dressing & Sauce Lime

1 – tablespoon Kikkoman Soy Sauce

Place vegetable oil in a small frying pan over a medium high flame and allow to get hot. Then add peeled onion and peeled garlic cloves.  Fry till brown.  Set in the blender along with the rest of the ingredients and pulse till smooth.

Pour salsa out of blender into a bowl or pour into jars and refrigerate.  Serve with your favorite dish or simply place a bowl of tortilla chips by it’s side and watch them disappear.  Enjoy!

No compensation was received for this post. I was provided with a sample of  Kikkoman’s Ponzu and Soy Sauce to aid this recipe. The recipe and opinions are my own.

I woke up today and realized the month of September was coming to an end….  I smiled at the thought of fall and all my jacket wearing days that lay ahead.  Then for a brief moment I started to panick thinking with the warm weather sneaking out the back door my beloved strawberries would be taking a leave of absence as well.  Oh the horror!  As soon as the thought entered my mind it was rescued with the realization that California strawberries are grown all year long , and could be picked up fresh or frozen.  Either way I’m going to celebrate my california strawberries this fall/winter wearing a jacket!

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley 

Ingredients for strawberry cream hand pies:

2 1/4 – cups flour

1/2 – teaspoon baking powder

2/3 – cup sugar

6 – tablespoons cream cheese (room temperature)

1 – stick butter (room temperature)

1 – teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 – large egg

Mix flour, baking powder and sugar in a bowl and set to the side.  Then put cream cheese and butter in an electric mixer and mix for 3 minutes or until fluffy.  Add vanilla and egg in and mix well.  Then slowly add in flour mixture until combined.  Divide dough in half and pat into two disks.  Wrap with plastic wrap and place in fridge for an hour or over night.

Preheat oven 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line cookie sheets with wax paper or a non – stick baking mat.

Take one disk of dough of of the fridge.  On a lightly floured surface roll dough about 1/4 inch thick.  With a round 2 1/2- inch circle cookie cutter cut as many circles as possible. With the scraps re-roll and continue cutting until you’ve cut all the dough.  Then place your circles on prepared cookie sheets and place back in the fridge for 15 minutes.  Grab your second disk and repeat process.

While you are waiting for your dough to chill, let’s make the filling.

Ingredients for the filling:

6 – tablespoons cream cheese (room temperature)

3 – tablespoons confectioners sugar

1/3 – cup strawberry preserves

3 – strawberries chopped

Mix cream cheese and confectioners sugar with an electric mixer till combined, then set to the side in a small bowl.  Chop strawberries into tiny pieces and mix into perserves in another bowl.

On half of the pie circles place 1/2 teaspoon of cream cheese mixture in center of circle, then place 1/2 teaspoon of strawberry mixture on top.

Now on the other half circles take a small cookie cutter and barely imprint the center with the cutter (I used a strawberry cutter, this step is optional) make sure not to push all the way down.  This is purely for decoration.  Then place pie circle on top of circle with cream cheese and strawberry mixture to make your pie.  Press around the edges with your finger to seal, then take a fork and indent all around.

Place in the oven and bake for 7 minutes then rotate cookie sheet and bake for another 7 to 8 minutes or until edges are golden.  Remove from oven.

Ingredients for topping: 

1/2 – cup sugar

1 – teaspoon cinnamon

Mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.  Then dip each hand pie in sugar mixture while still warm set on wire rack to cool completely!  Enjoy.  Should make 15 pies total.

Strawberries wrapped in warmth!