Sunday, Skies and Recipe

 

We awoke yesterday morning to this gorgeous sky! At first it looked like wide black brush strokes across the sky, as soon as the sun started to rise, those black clouds looked like this!! I know there is a message in this...such as when things seem the darkest, just know there will be one of life's beautiful moments will appear. 

 

I also found this quote the other day:

"Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud." Maya Angelou

 

Our yard men came  and  power raked the yard Sunday. They also cleaned around the house, and deck etc. They even took our Christmas lights down. (Off the bushes..not a big deal..) ha..ha... I couldn't believe how beautiful the day was. Windows were all open, the birds were singing. It was just so lovely.

 

 

 

Remember the Clam Chowder I told you we made? We had leftovers yesterday, (actually it was better than the first day!) Soups and Stews always are, aren't they??

 

Here is the recipe:

Clam Chowder

4 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into ½ inch pieces

2 large onions, cut into medium dice (about 4 cups)

½ cup flour

8 6.5-ounce cans minced clams, with clams and juice separated

4 8-ounce bottles clam juice

2 cups water

6 medium boiling potatoes, cut into medium dice

2 large bay leaves

1 tsp. dried thyme leaves

2 cups heavy cream

½ cup chopped fresh parsley leaves (I substituted with dry parsley)

Salt and ground black or white pepper (to taste)

Oyster crackers, to serve 

Fry bacon in a large soup pot over medium-high heat until bacon is crispy, about 5 minutes. Transfer bacon to a small bowl; set aside.

Add onions to the pot; sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add flour; stir until lightly colored, about 1 minute. Whisk in clam juice (from both the drained clams and bottles of juice) and water. Add potatoes, bay leaves and thyme; bring to a simmer.

                Reduce heat to low; simmer, partially covered, until potatoes are tender; about 10 minutes.

                Add clams, cream and parsley, bacon and season to taste with salt and pepper; bring to a simmer.

                Remove from heat and serve immediately with oyster crackers.

Makes 4 quarts, 10 servings.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Hope you're having a good week.

The Good Son

 

I took this photo the other day when we were out and about. This is a beautiful church! (I played with picmonkey to make it look like this..smile..) Do you use picmonkey or other photo editors?

 

 

And here is the original one! It was an amazingly warm day. We are so lucky to have such nice weather, during this time of the year.

 

 

Yesterday, my son came by and carried our softener salt down to the basement. (sweet!) And while he was here I had him change some light bulbs. He is such a good son...

 

I hope your day has been nice. We had a lovely one! The house is finally cooling down tonight. The wind laid down and it got pretty warm. And tomorrow they are talking about getting in the 80's, then a cold front will be moving through, dropping our temperatures 30 some degrees. BUT that is still okay, as it is March in Iowa.

 

We made clam chowder for lunch. It was very good. I forgot to take a picture, maybe tomorrow. And I'll put up the recipe. We've used it before. This is one of Karen's favorites. I like it, but love oyster stew better. Do you like either one of these soups/stews? If so which is your favorite?? 

 

Time for bed, hope you have a wonderful week!