Gnocchi ! ! !

Hi everyone, how is your night going??? Funny how we plan things for the evening and then it never turns out the way we planned. I had all the intentions of going downstairs and making some Father's Day cards for Hospice.......did I make it down there???? Nope, I ended up doing some cooking, not such a bad thing.....I suspect JP will be thrilled and surprised too!!!

 

So tonight, I fried some bacon in the oven. I buy bacon in bulk at Festival Foods. I place the bacon on a cookie sheet with a layer of parchment paper so it does not stick. Lay the bacon side by side and put in the oven @ 400 degrees. As the pieces brown, I take them off and layer some more bacon on the cookie sheet till it is all cooked up. When there gets to be too much bacon grease on the sheet, I pour the grease into a can and either save it to cook with or throw the grease out. You can have just so much bacon grease in the refrigerator and then you need to seriously do something with it. What do I do with all that cooked bacon??? Freeze it, when I need some, just take it out of the freezer and stick it in the fry pan with the eggs....perfect.

 

Next on the agenda was chicken soup. I started boiling the chicken thigh and leg, then added the celery and onions, chicken bullion and a few seasonings. Took the meat out and deboned it. Then I thought...instead of noodles, I think Potato Gnocchi sounds good for the soup. I have been wanting to make gnocchi, so tonight was the night!!!! I boiled the potatoes then mashed them, added the flour, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and egg.  

Mixed it all together, kneaded the dough 5 or 6 times on a floured  board and then rolled the potato dough out into a rope about  1 1/2 inches in diameter. I did this in sections.  Then....

...cut the rope in 1" or less segments. Here is where you can lay them on a plate, cover them with plastic and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Or, place them in boiling water, when they came to the surface.......

I transferred the "Parmesan Potato Gnocchi" into the soup.



Very tasty soup....JP will probably say, did you write the recipe down??? Well, kinda, but my chicken soups never turn out the same. Guess that is why I enjoy making chicken soup....I can always change it some way and it always tastes good and heals whatever is ailing you.

An update on our basement and backyard flooding....the water went down in the backyard.....does not look like it did on Monday. The basement is still a little wet, the dehumidifier has been running 24/7. Probably won't lay the carpets down for a couple of weeks yet. It doesn't usually get that wet down there, not sure what the cause was. I am thinking the gutters must have backed up and need to be cleaned.

Well, time to close, JP will be home soon, have to get his dinner cooked. He'll have soup, eggs and bacon, cucumber salad, fruit and toasted bagles. Sounds good to me. Have a great rest of the evening, what's left of it and a good day tomorrow. Keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise