Do you love seeing magazine photos or Pinterest posts of organized closets, drawers or garages? Do you yearn for color-coordinated perfectly folded sweaters and all matching hangers? Well, today’s fashionable friend Marla Alt of 123 Organize is for you!!! Marla is the guru of all things organized. She has the best ideas and a true knack for getting things in order and helping to keep them there. If you don’t believe me…see for yourself!!!!!
As we are all on storm watch here in the North East, I am planning what we will do while being shut in for the weekend. I have lots of books and magazines piling up that I am going to tackle and we have few puzzles that we will work on, as a family, while making hot chocolate, cookies and warm soup. I tried this one yesterday and it got rave reviews from my little food critics. I think you will love it too!!!!
Quick Creamy Tomato Soup
adapted from Rachel Ray
image Food Network
Ingredients:
2 (15 oz) containers chicken stock
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 cup heavy cream (I used fat free 1/2 & 1/2)
coarse salt and black pepper
20 basil leaves cut chiffonaide, for garnish
soup toppers, for garnish: recipe follows
Soup Toppers:
4 slices crusty bread
2 cloves cracked fresh garlic optional
extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground pepper
1/2 pound shredded cheese to compliment your soup:provelone, Asiago, Cheddar, Greuyre, Swiss, etc.
Combine broth and tomatos in medium saucepan over moderate heat. When soup bubbles, stir in heavy cream and reduce heat to low. Season with a little salt and pepper and simmer gently 15 minutes, stirring occassionally. Serve bowls of soup with basil chiffonade and floating soup toppers.
Soup Toppers:
Toast bread slices in your toaster until golden. Rub the toasted bread with crushed garlic, if using. Arrange bread on baking sheet. Drizzle each slice with oil and top with a grind of pepper and a layer of shredded cheese. Place under the broiler to melt cheese until toppers are golden brown in color.
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This post is dedicated to my good friend Katie!! She taught me the beauty of saving your pennies, literally!!!!! I lived with Katie in New York City for many years after college. She was the best saver. She loved to pay her credit cards by rounding up the payment!!!!!!!! She always saved her pocket change. A few years ago, I started putting all the change I find around the house in two banks, one upstairs and one downstairs. When they get really full, we go over to TD Bank to their “penny arcade” and cash all our coins in for dollar bills and then start all over again. I encourage you to start this fun task. It is really amazing to see how much accumulates in such a short amount of time. Here are some cute banks to get you started. As for Katie, she still has those same coin jars from New York City. She never turns hers in…just loves to watch them grow!!! I am sure by now she has enough for a trip around the world -TWICE!!!! Happy Saving!!!!
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One of the best purchases I ever made was a small table top “fireplace’ for my family room. It creates a zen-like feeling while providing warmth to a small area. They run on an odor free fuel that can easily be purchased by the bottle. AMAZON has many different styles starting at just $39! I also love the fact that it can be moved from room to room!!!
I am just about to start When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi, Amazon’s Best Book of the month for January 2016. It is a moving memoir of a neurosurgeon who is diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. The story goes like this:
” At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve medical student “possessed,” as he wrote, “by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life” into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality.”
Amazon.com
You can order this remarkable book HERE.
image goodreads
Happy Martin Luther King Day!!!!
image History.com
I am constantly asked if, during our Weekend Real Estate Stalking, I come across any rentals in the Westchester area. Usually rental homes are soooo not welcoming and can really show wear and tear. I recently found something great. An updated family home, in turnkey condition. Whether you are looking to rent while renovating or are in between homes, until you find your dream home, this property is for you. For further information, please contact Enid Pinto, HERE.
