<p>Help all you food smart sorts. I made an enormous batch of chicken veggie soup ( has kale corn onions carrots etc) it is boring. I love portugese kale soup but didn’t have an appropriate sausage. My soup needs rescue. Any soup secret ingredients that I would happen to have in my kitchen? I almost put rice vinegar in it. I might do that with my next bowl and see what happens.</p>
<p>It is hard to tell without tasting it but
some cooking cheat-guru from the “test kitchen” said V8 juice does magic to minestrone.
When my fridge cleaning/leftover special soup needs kick, Goya’s chicken bullion (powder is better than cubes) or saved ramen noodle’s dry powder soup packet would do.
graded or shaved parmesan cheese and drip of good olive oil would make anything passable.</p>
<p>where is everyone?
did you ask in the parent forum?
remember, you are the champion there (I broke my poodle)</p>
<p>I broke my soup. Where is everybody?</p>
<p>hehehehahahaahhheeheeheeh</p>
<p>I will eat it
freeze in the bucket and bring it with you to the pancake meeting.</p>
<p>I will spend a week in Columbus, Ohio. I got in the hotel and just finished my dinner. The hotel is nice, they have complimentary shuutle service to help shoping in grocery store. I bought some tomato, apple and drinking water and ice cream.<br>
switters, I wish I could try your soup.
Everyone started prepare for Chrismas? What kind of food are you preparing? Turkey again? ot Ham? I will have my nephew, H’s niece and her husband come to my house. For Chrismas gift, each of us will only buy a 10$-20$ item and wrap it. We will put them together and each one pick up one. I just want to make it easy and everyone don’t need to spend too much money and just buy one thing. D will be part of this but I am not sure if I need to buy her a special gift aside. I haven’t buy her gift for years.</p>
<p>But I am not sure about food. What are you planing?</p>
<p>why are you there?
is it another workshop?
Can you go check out Ohio State’s cartoon library for me?
why didn’t I go see it when I could have…
[News</a> Updates | The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum](<a href=“http://cartoons.osu.edu/]News”>http://cartoons.osu.edu/)</p>
<p>hohoho
We always made struffoli to leave for Santa instead of milk and cookies.
<a href=“https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&pwst=1&q=struffoli&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1475&bih=705&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=p37lTrLqJoOugweru9XxBQ[/url]”>https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&pwst=1&q=struffoli&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1475&bih=705&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=p37lTrLqJoOugweru9XxBQ</a>
It’s like fried dough balls covered in honey with sprinkles.
Deep frying is the must for this but I am looking into cheat recipe this year.</p>
<p>I got few books from Strand (instead of “Mr Bacon VS Monsieur Tofu” action figures -hey, does anyone else still read Cooper thread? visual aid are in there, with drae’s special input)
and museums are ripen. new gallery, new shows, free nights, cafeteria goodies: The Met, Guggenheim, NewMuseum with giant slide, Rubin, MoMA
just in time for us!! (NOT) it’s the gift. thank you thank you
happy happy holidays!!</p>
<p>Famm - Look into University of New England in Biddeford, Maine. Small campus, beautiful location, emphasis on medical majors but also has other stuff. Also, Bates and Bowdoin in Maine. I don’t know too many details about any of these, but anyplace in Maine is nice and Bowdoin is especially well known up there. My D’s friend goes to Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (creative writing/psychology major). Small campus, honors program, gorgeoous library. She got nice merit money.</p>
<p>This is from Bowdoin’s website. I’ve always said this is what college should be about.</p>
<p>The Offer of the College
To be at home in all lands and all ages;
To count Nature a familiar acquaintance,
And Art an intimate friend;
To gain a standard for the appreciation of others work
And the criticism of your own;
To carry the keys of the worlds library in your pocket,
And feel its resources behind you in whatever task you undertake;
To make hosts of friends…
Who are to be leaders in all walks of life;
To lose yourself in generous enthusiasms
And cooperate with others for common ends
This is the offer of the college for the best four years of your life.</p>
<p>Adapted from the original Offer of the College
by William DeWitt Hyde
President of Bowdoin College 1885 - 1917</p>
<p>I second redbug re: Bowdoin. We visited for S1 and had a very favorable impression. It was serious but warm at the same time with community minded, dedicated students. Lots of wholesome kids AND they are SAT optional. </p>
<p>I am in the same boat with S2. His PSAT scores were interesting. He scored in the high range for reading comp, middle for math and on the low end for writing. It reflects the split in him that we have always noticed. He is an auditory learner, very verbal and perceptive. But when it comes to details, like grammar and spelling, he struggles. I don’t know where to begin looking for him. He is not clear about a major. One day he’ll say he wants to learn carpentry and woodwork, on another he’ll want to be a journalist. It is hard to keep up with him and I get the feeling things aren’t going to come clear before it is time to apply. This would be fine if he were ok with a liberal arts education but he has told me that he doesn’t want to go to school “just to go to school”. He would rather work and explore things on his own.</p>
<p>But of course I am here researching every lead based on the things I am hearing him say. </p>
<p>Have any of you visited the University of the Arts in Philly? That fits his wish to be in a city and they appear to have a furniture/wood program. So does Buffalo State. Oregon College of Arts and Crafts looks great but I did their net cost calculator it was just too expensive.</p>
<p>Unlike my older son who is willing to take on some debt of his own for college, S2 is also clear he wants no debt. That narrows the field somewhat too.</p>
<p>Maybe it would be best if he didn’t go straight to school. Oy, I am not going to rest for the next year and a half. The not knowing really does get to me.</p>
<p>Love, make sure that you try Jenni’s ice cream in Columbus! The flavors are amazing and it is delish. I know there is one store near the University (which is really nice), but people will know where there is a store.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the well wishes. I hope that merit money will come to my dd, but who knows. She is still riding high!</p>
<p>thanks phillymom!
I will try to see if I can go there. I don’t have a car here, maybe someone in the training want to try that also. I will ask tomorrow.
Drae and famm: hope you all find a good fit for your S2,D2.</p>
<p>Switters, I have troubles with bland chicken soup – so if I make chicken soup I tend towards making tortilla soup which is much spicier and has some pizzaz. But for plain chicken noodle veggie soup, or chicken rice soup, I like to add some roasted garlic and maybe some fresh dill. There are a couple of other tricks I use – some good strong dashes of Emeril’s Original Essence (Bam!) or Jane’s Crazy Salt. We have to be carefulab out the gluten issue so most bouillion or stock cubes (or ramen spice packets) don’t work for us, but ‘Better Than Bouillion’ chicken paste stuff dissolved in your soup will enhance the chicken flavor if you don’t want to go the spicier route. With the tortilla soup, when all else fails, add chipotle.</p>
<p>We will be in California visiting relatives over the holidays so I usually am consulted about food but don’t actually cook that much… I don’t know what my sister in-law will make this year, though I was informed that the inlaws will be gathering the day after Christmas instead of Christmas day. My relatives will be going to see their inlaws, so I guess we’ll have to invent some sort of Christmas dinner for ourselves. My family traditionally celebrates Christmas on Christmas eve, so we may just decide to be perfectly happy with leftovers. Last year was the first Christmas since we lost my Mom, so we started a new tradition of having a German meal of Sauerbraten in between Christmas and New Years. Apparently I’m the only sibling who has perfected the art of Sauerbraten and diaper dumpling (that’s for you, Bears! Servietten Kloss – but we call it diaper dumpling). </p>
<p>Manga girl did very well on the PSAT. I checked that parents forum thread and was immediately reminded of why I don’t go over there much. In the end I agree with FAMMoM, the kids need to think about what THEY want to get out of college. High scores and high GPA still do not guarantee that you will be successful in college… I have exhibit A and Exhibit B in my household right now. Okay, Aspie girl hasn’t graduated yet, but she ‘could’ get into a very good college if you only looked at how she did with testing and her GPA-- but she doesn’t want to live away from home and I don’t think she’d handle the stress of a full load of college work very well (we pulled her out of the college chemistry class she started at the beginning of the school year - that plus AP bio and the other AP classes were too much) and she loves being with the horses. She will make an excellent professional student… too bad that she won’t be able to support herself doing that. Given her disability, though, we have kind of resigned ourselves to the fact that she will just need quite a bit longer in the nest than a neurotypical kid. I have no idea what will happen with D1. I hope she finds her way. She is racing the clock to ‘finish’ the incomplete summer drawing class before the incomplete turns into an ‘F’. sigh. We’ll see what happens.</p>
<p>Bouncing out…</p>
<p>Drae. My dd took a classes at University of the Arts last spring semester, although they were classes for high schoolers. She did like the professor. It is a very urban school, and does not have a true campus that I know of, although I could be wrong. There are dorms, I believe. The buildings where dd was were in a great part of town, and very safe and fun. The school has a solid reputation here and Philadelphia has a decent art scene, good music and good food too. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Nah, Bears, it’s not what you think. D1 will not be going back to MICA in January. However her incomplete will turn to an F if she doesn’t do something quick and she says that’s just not acceptable… and an F will pretty much guarantee that she won’t ever get back into any art school ever. So I think that’s the motivating force at the moment. The job still hasn’t materialized. Hopefully after the holidays. In the meantime she at least goes out with the young-man-with-issues-that-we-have-yet-to-meet, though she seems to be very very careful to not stay out so late anymore since she had her little mishap with the car and the worn-off medication. This young man doesn’t seem that he has two pennies to put together (and neither does she ^^^^ see reference to car mishap^^^) so they meet for coffee or at the diner for ‘dinner’ where he eats cake and she eats salad. My tongue has teethmarks in it (poor thing) and my lips feel lacerated from the zipper. I just can’t seem to keep the eye-rolling/scowling under control though. Maybe I need one of those Guy Fawkes masks…</p>
<p>Drae - D2 and I toured U of the arts a few years ago. They do indeed have a dorm, at least a freshman dorm, and it’s in a wonderful old Frank Furness building. It’s all very walkable to everything downtown, maybe a slightly longer walk to South Street. I remember hearing on the tour that they don’t usually give advanced placement so everyone goes through the same foundation program courses (depending on their major). That bothered D2 but I think it would make for a better, more comfortable situation for someone who had less experience coming in. </p>
<p>While we were there, we saw an exhibit of senior illustrator’s work and it was very good. It turned out that I have a distant cousin whose work was being exhibited that day! Isn’t that funny? I saw her work on another cousin’s facebook post. </p>
<p>Carrot soup anyone? I have too many carrots and I’m wondering how to make a good soup that isn’t bland without relying on the usual standby of adding tons of pepper. I have a few leeks I could throw in too.</p>
<p>Greenie – try fresh ginger with the carrots for a little oriental twist, maybe with some frizzled sweet onions (vidalia or maui) on top… but if I had a lot of carrots I’d opt for gf carrot cake or muffins…</p>
<p>philly, greenwitch…thanks for your feedback. I will take him to visit. I read a few reviews on “that other site where kids talk about colleges” and they were not very favorable but then one recent student wrote a clear rebuttal to everyone’s complaints and strongly defended the school. </p>
<p>He is going to take a woodworking course at SUNY Purchase this spring. That might help him define his direction a bit and at the same time get to know Purchase. </p>
<p>Thanks for your good wishes loveblue. And gmom, I needed the reminder. This kid is sooo different from the first. When he was a baby, I used to say to him “How did you get to be xxx(his name)?” because even then he was a mystery to me. It is like he came from a far away planet to shake my world up, but in a wonderful way. He makes me look at things from new perspectives and challenges any staleness I have in me. And he definitely reminds me that I am not in control, no matter how much I would like to believe so.</p>
<p>mmm… carrot soup. The ginger is a good suggestion.</p>
<p>I see we had a little sweep of the hundred acre woods this morning. I think there was a hefalump stomping around, shaking the leaves off the trees.</p>
<p>Gmom - just curious… how do you frizzle onions? And what happened to purge the ranting? It all seemed like a tempest in a tea pot, I was thinking of just letting it float on by.</p>
<p>Frizzled onions are super thinly sliced onions (1/16th inch) that are deep fried and then drained on a paper towel and used as garnish. Toss the sliced onions in a little bit of flour with salt and pepper and fry until golden; then drain on paper towels. The sweet onions would go well with the carrot/ginger and would add a little crunch surprise to the soup. I’ve made frizzled onions for butternut squash soup.</p>
<p>I have no idea why my references to heffalumps and woozles were worthy of a moderator’s notice. I don’t know how or why a moderator got involved. Frankly I was a little creeped out that a moderator was even watching what I was writing. I was never involved in the original discussions in the parents’ forum and I (rather mildly) suggested that this thread was hijacked. </p>
<p>But… back to soup… this is the time of year that I usually make a pot of soup every week. I just haven’t figured out what the flavor of the week will be for this week. Switters did chicken and you’ve got carrot… I tried to get the kids to go along with corn soup last week but they balked and I think we ended up with tomato. Maybe this is a minestrone kind of week. I was intrigued with Bears suggestion of V-8 juice in the minestrone, and I have some gf noodles to throw in at the last minute. Actually any gf noodle soup is a pain if you want to have leftovers. You kind of have the best luck cooking the noodles separately, putting them in a bowl and adding the soup. Otherwise they kind of dissolve and the result is not so pleasant. But, mmmm, minestrone sounds good to me today.</p>
<p>My soup was much better on day two. Quite tasty with a little hot sauce and shredded cheese.</p>