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A Hearty Sausage and Potato Soup Recipe and Angie is Just a Wee Bit Intrigued by 1950s Ford Retractable Hardtop Skyliners

10/30/2015

 
Hearty Sausage and Potato Leek Soup
from Mother Earth News.
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​Before we get into the specifics of this tasty soup, I want to talk briefly about retractable hardtops.
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So the coolest car turned around in our driveway the other day and I took a quick snapshot.
I showed the picture to Tim's dad and asked him what kind of car it was.
​
Richard said it's a late 1950s Ford with a
​retractable hardtop.
​



I be like
Picture



I say wha???????




​Richard said the car was a late 50s Ford with a retractable hardtop.






​


I still be like
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​So Richard explained what a retractable hardtop is.

​
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1958 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner Retractable Hardtop www.barrett-jackson.com
 According to wikipedia:
In 1957 Ford introduced the Skyliner in the United States. A total of 48,394 were built from 1957 to 1959. The retractable top was noted for its complexity and usually decent reliability in the pre-transistor era. Its mechanism contained 10 power relays, 10 limit switches, four lock motors, three drive motors, eight circuit breakers, as well as 610 feet (190 m) of electrical wire, and could raise or lower the top in about 40 seconds. The Skyliner was a halo car with little luggage space (i.e., practicality), and cost twice that of a baseline Ford sedan.
​


​
Apparently the retractable hard top was invented in the 1920s but not implemented until the late 30s.

Retractable hardtops were on both
​foreign and domestic vehicles.


​


I was most curious about the Fords from the late 50s.
Picture
automuseumonline.com



​
Picture




​
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madchrome.com I think this is a 1959 Ford Galaxie Skyliner
More pictures
from that first red Skyliner pictured.

Source: www.barrett-jackson.com



Picture
1958 Edsel. (Unable to locate source)


Ever
wonder how that retractable thing works???
Just click on the 1 1/2 minute video below. 


​Of course there was Ford advertising on the retractable hardtops...
Picture



​Lucy and Desi even did a commercial back in the day for the Skyliners...



​
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Okay, let's zoom on
back to
that
recipe
now,
​shall we?


​Hearty Sausage and Potato Soup...
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Mmmmmmmmmmmm.
  • Comfort food at it's finest.
  • Great for a crisp Fall or blustery, wintery day!



Here's the fixins for this yummy
​hearty soup.
Picture


​Okay, to print the recipe, just click on the link below. 

Hearty Sausage and Potato Soup via www.motherearthnews.com


​
Hearty Sausage and Potato Soup
Straight outta www.motherearthnews.com

Ingredients
:
• 1/2 pound kielbasa sausage
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups chopped leeks (about 4 medium leeks)
• 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
• 8 medium kale leaves
• 2 pounds red-skinned potatoes, cut into cubes
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and grated or pressed
• 1/2 tsp minced fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh sage
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup heavy cream


Instructions:

1. Cut the kielbasa into rounds 1/4-inch thick. Pour the olive oil into a medium skillet and fry the rounds on both sides to brown them, taking care not to burn them, over medium heat. Leave the fat in the skillet and transfer the kielbasa to a Dutch oven or heavy casserole. Trim and discard the leeks’ green tops and split the white shanks lengthwise, then rinse to remove all traces of soil. Chop into 1-inch pieces and add to the skillet along with salt. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring often and checking to make sure the leeks don’t burn or stick to the pan; add a little water if needed. After about 10 minutes, add 2 tablespoons of water, stir, and add the leeks to the sausage, scraping the skillet with a spatula to get all the tasty brown bits.
2. Strip the kale leaves from the tough stems and ribs, and then chop the leaves. Add them to the sausage and leeks along with the potatoes, garlic, thyme, bay, sage, pepper and 3 cups of water. Cover and simmer until the potatoes are tender and have absorbed the various flavors — about 30 minutes. Stir in the cream, and taste for salt and pepper.
3. Or, to serve later, remove from heat and refrigerate. Just before serving, heat the soup to just under a simmer, and stir in the cream, salt and pepper. Serve the soup piping hot.


​
Picture
Now 
I doubled the recipe,
​  so I used most of this Kielbasa.




I made sure to prep and chop everything up ahead of time to make things go smoothly,
​as I was on a time crunch.
Picture



And by time crunch, I knew my adult kids were going to be STARVING when they got to my house.
And by adults kids, I mean only one kid, my oldest.
(Begins with J, ends with A, essica makes up the middle part.)






​
Picture
So
​
I took the sliced kielbasa and sauteed both sides.



​
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Throw the browned kielbasa in a dutch oven pan.



Now cook the sliced leeks in the skillet that still has the oil and browned bits from the kielbasa.
Add a bit of water and the salt.


​
Picture

Cover
the leeks and cook on low for ten minutes or so.


​
Picture



​Add
the cooked leeks and the rest of the pan drippings into the dutch oven with the kielbasa and the kale.




​
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Throw the cubed potatoes into the pan too.
Important note: You can use HALF THE AMOUNT OF POTATOES and this soup will still be delicious, it will just have more broth and less starch. I am going to do that next time.

Do not be alarmed at the amount of potatoes...
​I doubled this recipe :)



​
Picture

G
et the chopped garlic in there...




​Add the bay leaves, sage, pepper and
3 cups of water...
​
Picture



Cover and simmer until potatoes are cooked.
​Then stir in the cream.



​A pot of hearty, savory goodness
​right here.
Picture



​Dish up a bowl with that spicy andouille sausage,
​the potatoes, some broth...
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​
Picture
Such a nice alternative to stew on a fall or winter day.
My adult kids loved it, everyone ate two bowls!
4 year old grandson even ate a bowl full!

Now this doesn't have a ton of broth.
If you want more of that delicious broth and less starch or carbs, just halve the amount of potatoes. The dish will be just as delicious!





Okay, that's all I gots for today!  Just thought I would throw in a picture of a quick display I threw together
​
 
for Halloween. 
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The display was then dismantled so it could go home with our favorite person in the whole wide world...
​
Little Boy Blue...who showed up at our house in his cutie patootie Spiderman outfit.
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So it's been a while since I last posted but rest assured, I hope to post more often.
I've been cookin' and a cookin' and of course eatin' too!


Hope everyone has a great weekend,
stay warm (let's hope for sunshine too!)
​and we'll talk at ya soon!  

Thanks for checking in!!!!






​

Salted Chocolate Chunk Cookies and Pictures of a Boy with a Dimple

10/17/2015

 
Salted Chocolate Chunk Cookies!
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Cutie Patootie Little Boy Blue
(our one and only grandchild). Look how big he's getting!!
Picture




Stacked Chocolate Chunk Cookies.
Picture




Closeup of our Favorite Person in the Whole Entire Universe.
Picture



​

Here's the fixins for these deeeeelicious
Salted Chocolate
​ Chunk Cookies!!
Picture

This recipe is from the
Smitten Kitchen website!

Just click on the Smitten Kitchen link there and it will take you to the recipe and I think you can print the recipe off from there!

​

Salted Chocolate Chunk cookies
Straight outta www.smittenkitchen.com  Check out her website, she's engaging and gives a lot of great information including on how to freeze the dough.

Yield: Approximately 18 to 24 cookies


1/2 cup (4 ounces or 113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons (25 grams) turbinado sugar (aka Sugar in the Raw; you can use more brown or white if you don’t have this, but the subtle crunch it adds is delightful)
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (165 grams) packed light or dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
Heaped 1/4 teaspoon (or, technically, 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon) fine sea or table salt
1 3/4 cups (220 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 pound (225 grams) semi- or bittersweet chocolate, cut into roughly 1/2-inch chunks with a serrated knife
Flaky sea salt, to finish
​

Heat oven to 360°F (180°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars together with an electric mixer until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add egg and vanilla, beating until incorporated, and scraping down the bowl as needed. Beat in salt fine sea or table salt and baking soda until combined, then the flour on a low speed until just mixed. The dough will look crumbly at this point. With a spatula, fold/stir in the chocolate chunks.
Scoop cookies into 1 1/2 tablespoon (I used a #40 scoop) mounds, spacing them apart on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle each with a few flakes of sea salt. Bake for 11 to 12 minutes, until golden on the outside but still very gooey and soft inside. Out of the oven, let rest on baking sheet out of the for 5 minutes before transferring a cooling rack.

​

Picture
Now,
​ I used these

Enjoy Life Mega Chunks brand of chocolate.


​S
o I took these chocolate chunks and cut them into pieces
(although it doesn't look like it.)

Next, I put everything out on the counter, ready to go.

​If you know me, you know I HATE baking...HATE IT! And I'm TERRIBLE at it!!!
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So by having all the baking stuff ready to go on the counter,

I can concentrate on just getting tortured by putting it all together instead.



​
Picture

​Brown sugar.

Sugar.

​Butter.



​
Picture


Mix

'er

all up.



​
Picture


​Throw the eggs and vanilla in!





​
Picture

Throw in the baking soda, salt, and flour and mix 'er all up.
​
Don't over mix though, just until all is combined.



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Toss the chocolate chunks
​in.



​The batter should look like this.
Be still my heart.


Picture

D
rop the batter onto cookie sheets...



​
Picture

sprinkle each cookie dough mound with
​
sea salt BEFORE you put them in the oven.​


THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!
DO NOT SKIP THIS PART!



​Bake these babies up in a 360 degree oven for
​11-12 minutes. Don't let them get too brown, just slightly golden.
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​
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I've
​got to be honest,


these cookies taste even better than they look!



​
Picture

Y
ou'll notice there is a cookie missing on the bottom left hand side.


​
Shocking.




​
Picture

​There
is something special about this recipe. 

EVERYBODY loves these cookies! 
​They're soft and gooey on the inside, crispy on the outside, and that bit of sea salt added on top of each cookie dough ball....perfection!


​
​
Picture


​T
hese cookies freeze really well too!


​
So I made these cookies up one weekend when our favorite person in the world came to visit us.
Picture


This
is
​Grandpa Tim entertaining Little Boy Blue with old childhood pictures.



 Little Boy Blue is pointing to his Grandpa in Tim's high school football team picture.
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And one last picture because I can't get enough of
​this little bug...

Tim and I were missing Little Boy Blue and Tim texted daughter to send a picture of The Best Person In Our World.
Little Boy Blue happened to be playing outside in his front yard.

In his fireman uniform. 
​

Picture
We plunked over from the adorableness. 



Okay, that's all I have for now!!!
I really have been cooking up some great dishes off recipes so I hope to post another recipe soon!!
Have a great Saturday y'all,
enjoy the 
beautiful weekend and we'll talk at ya soon!





​



    Author

    Angie Madsen
    One half of a team that blends their work and personal life together
    in fun ways.





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