Kielbasa Soup, Crockpot or Not: Gratitude Blog With Friends

Today’s post is the next in our series of Blog With Friends themed collaborations. Each month a group of bloggers get together and each publish a project based on a theme. What I love about his partnership is that it's not bloggers with similar interests or strengths but a diverse group coming up with a variety of posts. In any given month we may a recipe, sewing tutorial, crocheting, crafts project, book review, and/or technology post all related to the theme of the month.

This month's theme is Gratitude.

There will be individual project pictures and links to what everyone else has to offer at the end of my post, but here's a peek at what we all came up with:

I made Kielbasa Soup, Crockpot or Not.

Kielbasa Soup, Crockpot or Not

I don't think it's a secret by now that I often express myself through food. I believe that the thought that goes into preparing meals for others, or baking with a loved one's favorite ingredient is not the only way but certainly one way to express love. 

The same applies to gratitude. Although we are all grateful for so many things through the year, and we often express it in a multitude of ways, this time of year, Thanksgiving, gratitude is traditionally expressed over a meal. At Thanksgiving time, my expression of love and gratitude falls in line with everyone else's. We all sit around a table, big or small, look at the faces of people we love and feel grateful that they are in our lives, that we are all warm and dry, and have hot food on our plated.

So for today's Gratitude themed Blog With Friends post, I've chosen to make Kielbasa Soup. And I make it for the people for whom I'm most grateful. 

Why do I choose to share this particular recipe at Thanksgiving time? Because Thanksgiving, when you have a family member living far away, isn't just one day. I'll be making this hot, hearty soup for dinner on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. And I'll keep it warm in the crockpot all night. Because my youngest son is flying in from cold, snowy Colorado that night and if he walks in the door hungry, I'll have a hot bowl of soup for him. I'll be grateful to have him home, and he'll be grateful for a hot meal.

I've included in the recipe directions (both below and on the printed recipe option) for making this soup in the slow cooker or on a stove top, your choice. For the pictured instructions I used my crockpot. 

I started by chopping my ingredients:

I immediately got all but the vegetables heating in the slow cooker:

I then softened the vegetables in a saute pan, stirred in the flour and added them to the slow cooker:

That's pretty much it. I left it on high for an hour, then cooked slowly on low for another 3 hours, adding the zucchini for the last hour.

I chose to serve with naan.

Oh, and the leftovers, if you have any, freeze well.
  

As always, any time you make one of my recipes, feel free to post a picture of it to my Baking In A Tornado Facebook Page. I'd love to see it!

Be sure to visit all of this month's other Blog With Friends projects:



 


Tamara of  Part-time Working Hockey Mom shares Thank God for Coffee - sometimes it's the little things.



 
 


Dawn of Spatulas on Parade shares Gratitude - the list is long AND a surprise. 

 



Melissa of My Heartfelt Sentiments shares Show Your Gratitude Through a Handmade Greeting Card. 


 




Lydia of Cluttered Genius shares Family Favorites, Fun Fall Festivities.

Kielbasa Soup, Crockpot or Not

                                                                          ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
1 lg carrot, chopped
2 TBSP flour
2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
1 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup white wine
4 new potatoes, cleaned and chopped
1 (14 oz) Kielbasa, sliced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 TBSP Italian seasoning blend
1 zucchini, shredded

Directions, Crockpot:
*Grease your slow cooker. Add the tomatoes with their juice, vegetable broth, white wine, chopped potatoes, Kielbasa, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning and turn on to high.
*Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Stir in the onion, garlic and carrot, and stir until the vegetables soften, about 7 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring, for one minute. Mix into the slow cooker.
*Add the chopped potatoes and Kielbasa to the slow cooker. Cook for 1 hour. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 2 hours. Add the zucchini and cook for one more hour.

Directions, Stove Top:
*Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion, garlic and carrot, and stir until the vegetables soften, about 7 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring, for one minute. 
*Next add the canned tomatoes with their juice, vegetable broth, white wine, chopped potatoes, Kielbasa, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.
*Raise the heat to just a notch above medium and stir until the mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes, add the zucchini and simmer for about 15 more minutes, until the potatoes are soft.

Luck and Winning: Secret Subject Swap

Welcome a Secret Subject Swap. This month 7 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. Read through mine and at the bottom you’ll find links to all of today’s other Secret Subject participants.

My subject is: Have you ever won anything?
It was submitted by: Rena of Wandering Web Designer.

I'm not the luckiest person on the planet, but then I'm not the unluckiest either. When the boys were little and the powerball jackpot would get high, Hubs and I would each play a ticket and we'd let the boys pick numbers too. Inevitably the payout would be small, but wouldn't you know it would be one of them who had picked the winning numbers.

I think I told this story once before, but when I was working in the buying office for Zayre, I once won the grand prize at our holiday party. Well, I might not have won really, but I got the prize anyway. I think I may have told this story before on this blog, or parts of it anyway, I'm not sure. Between age and the number of years I've been blogging sometimes it's hard to remember what stories I have and haven't told. 

Anyway, Rena, since you asked, I'll tell it. We, each of us who went to the party, each were given a numbered ticket for a drawing later on in the night. The rules were, you had to be there to win, ensuring that most of us stayed until the end of the party. It wasn't all that hard to do, there was dancing, fun, socializing not just with coworkers but with significant others, booze, good food and sweet desserts.

Crockpot Pineapple Balsamic Chicken

I was at a table with a group of my immediate coworkers. I don't remember everyone who sat with us, but I know my friend Kathy was there. She was from California but was living in the Boston area with her boyfriend (now husband) who had come to go to MIT. And there was Ken. He was our boss, and a bit of a putz. He wasn't mean or difficult, just, well, I don't know, putzy. He was older and married, we were young and carefree, so we didn't have a lot in common with him, but we didn't dislike him either. 

Anyway, Ken decided to leave. And he gave his ticket to Kathy. You see where this is going, right?

So time for the drawing came. The first number chosen for the grand prize was Ken's. Of course. Putz. So Kathy, being an honest person, said that she had the winning ticket but it was Ken's and he had left. The rules were well known, they drew again. The winning number? Mine. I had won a trip for two to Hawaii.

Later, Kathy told me she was not happy, she should have just claimed the prize. I thought she was upset with me maybe thinking I should give her the trip, but we continued our friendship to this day (well, on FB anyway, she moved back to California a few years later) and she now tells me she doesn't remember being upset with me at all.

Ken, well he's another story. He was definitely unhappy with both Kathy and I. He thought Kathy should have claimed the prize for him (as if) and I should give the trip to him (yeah, right). Anyway, I took my sister to Honolulu and we extended the trip ourselves jumping over to Maui for a few days before returning. 

I have to mention here something I know I've talked about here on the blog. Years later, I went through infertility treatments, surgery and IVF attempts each with a 20% chance of ending in pregnancy, suffered a miscarriage after one, a chemical pregnancy after another, lost my older son's twin, yet somehow ended up giving birth twice. I can tell you without reservation that was the biggest lottery win of my life. Twice.


Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

Wandering Web Designer 
Spatulas on Parade 
Our Prime Years 
Sarah Nolan 
Part-time Working Hockey Mom 
Climaxed 

Crockpot Pineapple Balsamic Chicken

                                                              ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe


Ingredients:

3 large boneless, skinless chicken halves
salt, pepper, garlic powder
1 (20 oz) can pineapple chunks in juice
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 green onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes 
1 cup snap peas 
1 carrot, shredded or thinly peeled

OPT: cooked pasta or rice for serving

Directions:
*Grease your slow cooker.
*Trim the chicken breast halves and cut each into 3 - 4 pieces, season with salt, pepper and garlic powder, then place in the slow cooker.
*Drain the can of pineapple chunks, reserving the juice. Place the pineapple chunks in the fridge for later.
*Whisk together the pineapple juice, balsamic vinegar, green onions, garlic and red pepper flakes. Pour into the slow cooker and turn on to low. Cook for 4 hours. 
*Add the pineapple, snap peas and carrot. Cook for another hour and a half.
*OPT: Serve over pasta or rice.
 

Her Time. Chapter Four: Destiny

Today is a bittersweet day. I'm publishing the final chapter of the latest in a series of writing collaborations we call the Progressive Story Project. Each story, told in a few chapters, is written by a number of bloggers, each building on the segments of the story submitted by the previous authors. The result is always a fun read.

I want to say again that I am so grateful to the friends who participated in crafting this current story. They each gifted me with their thoughts, their imaginations, their time and their words.

Here are the links to the previous chapters in this story. Be sure you're up to date before reading today's conclusion:
Her Time. Chapter One: Out of Focus
Her Time. Chapter Two: Leader of the Flight
Her Time. Chapter Three: Take Off

As always, for each segment in this chapter, I've listed the author of that portion in the top right corner.

Her Time
Chapter Four: Destiny

Kimberly of When I Grow Up

"Do you trust her?" 

The voice in his ear startled him. Michael had forgotten about the other woman who was now close at his side, so close that he could feel her breath on his neck.

"Of course," he said. "Almost from the day I met her, I knew we'd be together forever."

The woman, who he was now sure was Camryn's great great grandmother reached for his other hand. A sharp floral scent hit him. It smelled of spring. It was that flower that Camryn loved so much. He had always thought the smell overpowering. What was it called? He looked at the woman who so resembbled his wife and it hit him. It was a hyacinth which was also her name. Why had he never made the connection before?

Camryn and Hyacinth grasped his hands and they both turned and looked questioningly at him. Without even thinking he said, "Yes, yes. I am with you. Of course I couldn't let you do this alone." He still wasn't sure what "this" was, but knew that it was what he had to do. Perhaps he was under some sort of spell, but now that he had committed, he felt free, almost as if he could float on air.

The trio moved down the middle of the street, toward a faint light. He noticed a fog creeping in from the outside edges of the street. The woman began to sing.

Jenniy of Climaxed

Michael couldn't be sure what was going on, but he also couldn't leave his wife to do whatever this was alone. It was terrifying. Stark naked in the streets? Glowing lights? A crowd of chanting, yelling, stomping strangers and a long dead relative burned for being a witch holding his hand? If he hadn't seen it for himself, he would have laughed in her face had she told him. No wonder she'd gone sneaking around in the night.

Their song grew louder while the crowd followed and joined in. He still couldn't understand the words . . . it had to be a different language. That was the only explanation.

He heard a low bark and glanced beside them to see Shelby padding along as the fog thickened and drew closer. That dog . . . he'd always shrugged off the intensity of her connection to his wife even while knowing it was a bit out of the ordinary, so the least surprising thing of the night was her presence, and he found comfort in that. There was no way possible Shelby would be here walking along like this was any other night if something was seriously wrong. Shelby would know, and she'd protect Camryn at all costs. She always had. 

The four of them and the crowd behind them were drawing nearer to the light. He could now tell that it was coming from the cemetery in the oldest part of own - the one with the unmarked graves where the witches were rumored to have been tortued, burned and hidden away, unfit for Christian burials. It made sense, he guessed. All sorts of strong, capable women like Hyacinth had met their ends unfairly here. Perhaps they were meant to be recognized and laid to rest finally after all this time? But what did that have to do with The Flight? And Camryn's being the Chosen One? 

The trio (and Shelby) stopped abruptly in front of the cemetery gates, and he watched in fascination as the glowing lights he'd seen took shape and stood before him as women just as real as the ones holding his hands.

The crowd behind him kept their chanting but his wife and her great, great grandmother began moving through the growing group of women. He watched on in fascination just as bewildered as ever, but he wasn't scared anymore He should have been, but whatever was going on had given him the greatest sense of peace he'd ever known. 

All the while, Camryn herself was more driven than she'd ever been. The only problem was that she wasn't sure what she was being driven to do still. 

Espresso Layer Bars

Karen of Baking In A Tornado

Carly took another bite of her Espresso Layer Bar and looked up at her mother. "Go on, Mom."

Haylie looked at her beautiful daughter. Twenty one years old yesterday and just about to graduate college. She couldn't be more proud. "I really don't know much more, honey. My mother never told me because she never knew herself. I know you didn't know your grandmother, Carly, my parents disappeared before you were born. It's one of the reasons I keep her picture on the wall of the study."

"And that's why Camryn's picture sits alongside Hyacinth's," Carly added.

"Yes," Haylie interjected, "along with Hyacinth's".

"Hyacinth is my . . . ?" Carly asked.

"My 3 times great grandmother, your 4 times great grandmother."

"The trunk you mentioned in the story, Mom, it's the one in our attic now?"

"Yes. And some day it will be in yours."

"If your parents disappeared, how can you know all of this? Who told you?"

Haylie steeled herself, this part of the story remains the most painful. "When they first vanished, we were terrified, heartbroken, lost. The police did a lengthy and in depth investigation," she began, "in fact, as far as they are concerned, the disappearance of Camryn and Michael remains an open missing persons' case."

"But you know more."

"Years later your aunt and uncle and I did some DNA testing and ancestry research which lead us all the way back to the Salem Witch trials. We took a trip to Salem where a museum there dedicated to the trials had personal journals dating back to the 1700s. The name engraved on the front of one of them was Forsight. We knew that our 3 times great grandmother used this last name so we got permission to view the journal, apparently kept by one of her ancestors. That's where we learned what little we know about our family history, a recurring event intertwined in that history called The Flight, and that some of the women of our family are called upon, when needed, to be the Leader."

Haylie sighed and continued "I can't prove all of the details of the story I've told you today. We three, the children of Camryn and Michael, talked at length after that visit to Salem. We've added details we can't know of course, but based on what we have always known of our parents and their relationship, and what details we learned about our family history, this is exactly what we believe happened. All of us."

"Why are you telling me all this now, Mom?"

"Because you're 21. You're old enough to know. Camryn, my mom, was taken by surprise, even ended up in the hospital, that much is fact. If I disappear, or if I'm not needed but you're called on to be the next Leader of the Flight, I want you to know as much as I do and to not be afraid. Whatever the Flight is, whatever the Leader does, I can promise you this, it is noble and honorable and right and that your grandmother loved me with all of her heart. Wherever she is, she still does. And she will have nothing but love for you. Go with her or not, that's your choice, but know that she would never hurt you."

Carly stood up and wrapped her arms around her mother, hugging tight. "Thank you, Mom."

Haylie looked at her daughter with tears in her eyes. "And if it does turn out to be you, I want you to do something I wish I could do myself."

"Anything, Mom."

"Kiss my mom and dad for me. Tell them I am so grateful to them for my childhood, that I adore them, I always will." 

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Below is a list of the talented bloggers who joined me in authoring this story, along with links to their blogs ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 

Sarah of Sarah Nolan
Jenniy of Climaxed
Lydia of Cluttered Genius 
Kimberly of When I Grow Up
Jules of The Bergham Chronicles
Dawn of Spatulas on Parade
Diane of On the Border
Tamara of Part-time Working Hockey Mom
Rena of Wandering Web Designer and The Blogging 911 


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Links to past Progressive Story Projects ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

2014: A Holiday Story

2015: Storm Past

2015: A Holiday Story (picked up where the original left off)

2016: Sincerely Sarah

2017: Take Aim

2017: Skin Deep

2018: Mystery at the Castle

Espresso Layer Bars        
                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
3/4 stick butter, melted
1 1/4 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup toffee baking chips
1/2 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
1 cup espresso baking chips
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk.

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 X 13 baking dish.
*Mix together the melted butter and the chocolate graham cracker crumbs. Press into the bottom of the prepared dish.
*Layer the toffee baking chips over the crust, then continue to layer the ingredients, the macadamia nuts, then the espresso baking chips, then the white chocolate chips. 
*Drizzle the sweetened condensed milk over the top. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the edges are browned and the center is bubbly hot.
*Cool. Run a knife around the edges and slice into 24 bars.