Month: October 2012

I’m getting ready to head out to Quilt Market in Houston tomorrow.

I’ve been busy. Can you see what I’ve been busy with? It’s something totally new and totally cool that will premiere at Market…in the Moda booth ; )

I’ve been sewing and videotaping and typing and copying and folding and stuffing and shipping off teaching supplies to New Hampshire for A Quilter’s Gathering, where I’ll be teaching for 4 days, November 1-4th.

Then I’ll head to Morris Plains, NJ to teach for 3 days at  Aardvark & C. Quilt shop — sound familiar? It might be because it’s Mr. Mark Lipinski’s ‘home’ quilt shop, and he surprised me a few years back when I was teaching and did a short video.

After that, I’m heading to Chapel Hill, NC to Thimble Pleasures to teach what’s in the suitcase… on November 15th.

Then I get to visit with these two little monkeys:

and celebrate their birthdays with them!

Then, He:

is going to come home — HOORAY!!!!

Then these two kids:

are going to get married!

If you’ve known me for long, you know it’s either feast or famine — and the FEAST is under way!

About the the things that are in the suitcase… I’ll be sharing that with you later this week. That, and I will be doing a Quilt Market review like I used to, and share all kinds of cool things that are hip and happening at Quilt Market. So please Stay Tuned — podcasts to come!!

©2012  Annie Smith   All Rights Reserved

…where I’ll be teaching in the future, just click on the SCHEDULE link above.

Or, CLICK HERE.

Hi Friends–

Yes, I am thinking about you and you will hear from me shortly.

In the meantime, and because it’s finally Fall (hooray!), I thought I would give you my Chicken-Vegetable Soup recipe. We’re all eating a little more sparely to get in shape for Kirsten’s Wedding, so cutting out flour and sugar. This recipe is super healthy and anything but bland. Just look at the list of ingredients and you will probably find that you have most of what you need in your fridge and pantry. It takes about 30 minutes to prep and it cooks in about 30-45 minutes and makes the house smell divine.

Enjoy!

Annie’s Chicken-Vegetable Soup

I use a large Stock Pot and then I freeze leftovers into individual containers for quick lunches later. (Freezing allows them to be transported to work or school without spilling all over the place. Just 5 minutes in the microwave refreshes it.)

I just dump everything in the pot as I go, and nothing is precooked:

1 large can DelMonte Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic and Oregano

1 small can tomato paste

1 can of rinsed Kidney beans (just because I like them)

3 Zucchini or Summer Squash, quartered and sliced

3 stalks celery, sliced

1 head of cabbage, quartered, then sliced into 1/2” pieces — this takes the place of any pasta or macaroni in the soup and it looks like noodles when the soup is done. You may, of course, substitute the cabbage for noodles.

1 large bag of baby carrots (no chopping!)

1 onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, chopped small

1 lb. sliced mushrooms

2 quarts of Lower Sodium chicken broth

2 T. Knorr powdered chicken buillion

salt and pepper to taste

1 Bay leaf

1 1/2 t. thyme leaves

1 1/2 t. dried Basil

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces so there is a bit of chicken in every spoonful

Cook on high until soup begins to boil. Turn down to simmer and let simmer for 30 minutes or however long you can stand it ; )

The soup will be super-hot, so after ladling it into your bowl, let it sit for 5-10 minutes.

You can substitute anything you don’t like (one son doesn’t care for mushrooms) or add anything you DO want.

Now, I’m going to hunker down for the evening and watch the 2nd NLDS play-off game between the Giants and the Reds and have some soup. Gooooooo Giants!

oh…

Here’s a little peek at ONE of the things I’ve been working on for Quilt Market… (!)

©2012 Annie Smith    All rights Reserved