Hi, I'm Macy Fisher the Mifflin County Dairy Princess.
The last week and a half has been very hectic for me. That is why last week I did not have an article. I am very sorry to all my readers, but after you read this article you will understand why I just didn't have time to get my article submitted.
Well, it all started two Wednesdays ago. We had an FFA meeting after school. Then after the meeting, we had square dance practice. At practice, I noticed that everyone was a bit slow and tired looking. The next day I found out why. We were supposed to have practice after school, but half of our square was out sick. We were also waiting on our new skirts. We made new skirts this year and wanted them to have a FFA emblem on the edges so we had to send them away to be stitched. Friday we finally got the skirts back and we had the entire square back to have a real practice. We also had practice Sunday night, the last practice we would have before we danced at the Farm Show.
Monday morning the FFA chapter and the square dance team were off to the Pennsylvania Farm Show. Most of the that morning Amanda and I were shopping at all the different stands there and then at 1:30 I had to go and get ready for the Mid-Winter Convention. That was where I was recognized for receiving my Keystone Degree.
Right after the convention was over I had to go and get my hair French braided for the square dance competition. We all got into our uniforms and got lined up. Our square went out there and danced our hearts out and ended up winning a red ribbon. Most teams would have been crushed, but we were proud of that. We have had a very hard year. One of our dancers was in an accident, Amanda had a leg brace on for half of our practices, and there were many other problems. We were all happy that we even got to dance; for a while we were short some dancers. So we were all very proud of our performance!
After the Farm Show on Monday, we all had to go back to school for the rest of the week. I had to come back to two mid-terms and a quiz. I think I did well on all three of the tests, but I won't know now until the grades are put in the computer.
Friday I took off school to go back to the Farm Show, but not for any fun and games. Sam Bliss, the Huntingdon County Princess, and I went down to work in the Dairy Princess Booth. We worked in the game booth and got to work with the kids all day. I had fun doing it, but it was a long day. I got something to eat afterward and came home. That is, after I got my picture taken in front of the butter sculpture. Did you know that there are 76.7 million pounds of butter produced in Pennsylvania each year? That is a lot of butter!
This week's recipes don't contain a lot of butter but they will have a lot of nutrients in them, well, at least nine. They are all different recipes for soups. January is soup month, so I thought that I would give you some new recipes that will warm you up this month.
Oven Cheese Chowder
1/2 pound zucchini, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 medium onions, chopped
1 can (15-oz.) garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14.5-oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (11-oz.) Mexican-style corn, drained
1 can (14.5-oz.) chicken broth
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 bay leaf
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup grated Romano cheese
1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
Additional Monterey Jack cheese, optional
In a 3-quart baking dish, combine the first 11 ingredients. Cover and bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour, stirring once. Stir in the cheeses and cream. Bake, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Remove bay leaf. Top with additional Monterey Jack if desired.
Beef and Bacon Chowder
1 pound ground beef
2 cups chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 cups milk
3 cups cubed peeled potatoes, cooked
2 cans (10 3/4-oz. each) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
2 cups chopped carrots, cooked
Salt and pepper to taste
12 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
In a soup kettle or Dutch oven, cook beef, celery and onion over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink and the vegetables are tender; drain. Add the milk, potatoes, soup, carrots, salt and pepper; heat through. Stir in the bacon just before serving.
Crab Bisque
1 celery rib, thinly sliced
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
3 tablespoons butter
2 cans (14 3/4- oz. each) cream-style corn
2 cans (10 3/4- oz. each) condensed cream of potato soup, undiluted
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
3 cans (6-oz. each) crabmeat, drained, flaked and cartilage removed
In a large saucepan or soup kettle, saute celery, onion and green pepper in butter until tender. Add the next nine ingredients; mix well. Stir in crab; heat through. Discard bay leaves.
