You Must be Joking!: Promotional pricing on my book

You Must be Joking!: Promotional pricing on my book: Checking it out: I've lowered the price on my book for November. Stay tuned, there will be more promotions coming up. Click here to vi...

You Must be Joking!: Three great jokes!

You Must be Joking!: Three great jokes!: 1. His wife had been killed in an accident and the police were questioning the old gentleman. "Did she say anything before she die...

In Utah: Dinner at Marcello's in Bountiful Utah

In Utah: Dinner at Marcello's in Bountiful Utah: Where to even begin? First of all, the setting is fantastic! Right off the corner of 4th north and main, near Bountiful Park, and at the h...

My husband is learning to oil paint

Visit his new blog and see how he's progressing.
If you are a painter too, leave a comment, a suggestion or some painting tips. He's learning quickly and it's fun to see his progress.

Here's his blog: Mile Painter

Have fun!

Tortilla soup

This is a wonderful, traditional Mexican dish.

Sometimes I make tortilla soup with chicken, and sometimes without.

We start by cutting corn tortillas into strips, cutting along the grain of the tortilla.

Set aside the tortilla strips.

Next, boil chicken breast meet, and keep the resulting chicken broth for the soup.

Add two cubes of tomato bullion to the broth.

Shred the cooked chicken breast into bit sized pieced and set aside.

Fry the tortilla strips until crispy, making sure not to burn them.

Take one large tomato or two small tomatoes and  one quarter of an onion, four cloves of garlic,  and a cup of the chicken broth you have mixed with tomato bullion and blend together.

Pour blender contents into a hot pot, preparing the pot first with just a touch of olive oil.

Let the mixture heat up. This seasons and cooks the tomatoes.  

Bring the mixture to a light bubble, and add the rest of the chicken broth.

Let soup simmer for a few minutes. Add salt to taste.

Now, prepare individual servings with soup, chicken, and on top, add the crisp tortilla strips.

Garnish with crumbled Mexican cheese, sour cream, avocado, and cilantro.

Add hot sauce if desired.

This is a light, yet filling meal. Our family loves Tortilla soup for lunch, or a late dinner.

Julie’s Steak Tacos

This taco recipe is my personal masterpiece.
I am always asked if these are “authentic” Mexican tacos. Tacos in Mexico are different from hamburgers in a fast food restaurant chain. They will all be a little bit different. Some will be better, and some worse. Some are great, some are no so great.

I think that my process for making tacos will be very familiar to anyone who’s ever had or made tacos in Mexico. So yes, these are authentic Mexican tacos.

People come to our house in hopes that I will be preparing these wonderful tacos.
I’ve been asked to make these tacos for the special dinner high school kids plan for the prom.
Whenever there is a special occasion in my family, everybody reminds me that I need to plan to make my tacos.

The meat I use in these tacos is New York Steak. I grill it, cube it, and grill it again. I only season the meat with a little salt. If the meat isn’t prepared on a grill outside, then I grill the meat in its own juices.

My salsa makes this meal complete. Making salsa is the sentimental part of this recipe, because of the smells that fill the house. My kids tell me that’s their favorite part of having tacos.

Mexican women take great pride in their salsa recipe and it is something that is very personal. Although I have taken inspiration from many special women in my life, I can honestly say that my salsa recipe is my very own.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Roma tomatoes.

Anaheim peppers

1 White onion

Limes

Salt

Good quality steaks

White corn tortillas

The tomatoes and the peppers must be grilled until the skins are black.

The onions needs the first layer peeled, and then I wrap it in aluminum foil. Then I put the wrapped onion in the oven at 350 degrees for about twenty minute.

Now take the grilled tomatoes and peppers and onion, and dice them finely. Make sure not to lose any of the juice. Put them all together in a dish, and add salt and one lime’s worth of juice.

Salt the steaks and lightly oil the pan, if you’re grilling on the stove. Grill the steaks and then cube them. You need little, smaller than bite size pieces. Then put the little cubes back in the pan for a light finishing.  

Put a handful of white corn tortillas in a zip lock bag and microwave them for a minute or two. Or, wrap them in a moistened dish towel. This makes the tortillas soft and pliable.

I load the tortillas with the cubed steak pieces, and then deliver them to the table. Two or three tacos for each person at the table. Each of us at the table spoons up as much salsa as we want on our tacos. I keep Tapatio hot sauce on the table so that people can spice up their tacos a little more if they want.

One of the keys in making these tacos is making enough.  People always want more.

My first Dog

Bruno. His name is Bruno. Bruno is a Mini Schnauzer.

I never thought we would ever welcome a puppy into our home. But now here he is. I didn’t have dogs when I was growing up, so this is my first experience with any pet.

My daughter has been pressuring us for about a year to do this. Her siblings are leaving the house one by one, and she told us that she couldn’t bear the thought of being alone.

Our other children had all asked us for a dog many times while they were growing up. We never gave in to any of their pleas.  But this seemed different. Lalli even put together a Power Point presentation explaining why she should have a dog.

I admit my emotions got the best of me, and it really seemed like the right time to do this.

We worried about a dog pooping in our house. We worried about a dog chewing up our belongings.  We worried about a dog changing our lives and limiting how much traveling we could do in the future.

Yes, there were moments that tried our patience. He wanted to bite us all the time, and those puppy teeth are sharp as razors. And yes, he did require constant supervision. We learned that we couldn’t just take the family out to dinner anymore. We went and got hamburgers a few times and at them at the park. Traveling in the future will require finding someone to watch the dog.

But it was really an amazing experience. We had studied all about what to do when you have a new puppy, and we did it all by the book. There were very few accidents in the house.  We took him out about ever y two hours, and right after he eats or wakes up from a nap. Lots of fun toys and playtime have kept him from getting bored and into trouble.

We’ve learned that frequent walks and consistent discipline are very important. He’s a smart little dog, and he seems to understand what we want from him.

I’ve got to tell you, I love that little creature. Bruno has brought a lot of love to our home. He has made a difference in our children’s lives and in my life too. There’s just something about having a dog get all excited to see me when I get home. And there’s nothing like that moment in the evening when we all sit down to watch a show and Bruno wants to curl up in my lap and sleep.

I guess I’m a dog owner now.