French Onion Soup

As the weather is getting cooler I find my self craving soup … So thought today I’d  share a recipe that I love and that’s my ultimate comfort food!  Although this is a very easy one it actually takes a lot of time. I don’t mind though because my family loves it… I have adapted this one from a few recipes I’ve come across on pinterest.

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Here we go:

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup butter, unsalted
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 pounds yellow onions, cut in half lengthwise and sliced ¼ inch
  • 1 teaspoon sugar or sweetener
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
  • 2 tablespoons Cognac or Worcestershire Sauce
  • 3 ½ cups organic beef broth
  • Sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste
  • French baguette, sliced ¾ inch thick along a diagonal
  • 1 ½ cups (or more) Gruyère, swiss and fontina cheese.

Instructions

  1. You start by caramelizing the onions
  2. Melt the butter and olive oil in a Dutch oven or something similar over medium-high heat, keep stirring.
  3. Add the onions, stirring to coat. Spread them out in as even a layer as possible, sprinkle with sugar and cook, stirring as needed to keep the onions from sticking. Continue to cook until the onions are soft, deep golden brown and smell fragrant and sweet, this takes about an hour!
  4. Once your onions are caramelized sprinkle them with the flour and stir to coat. Add the thyme, Cognac or Worcestershire sauce, two large pinches sea salt and a few grinds of pepper. Stir again and allow to cook on low for a few minutes.
  5. Add your beef broth and simmer over low heat for 30-40 minutes. This allows the flavors to develop and your kitchen will smell devine!
  6. While your soup is simmering, toast your bread on a baking sheet under the broiler. Watch it carefully! Toast until brown on each side. I sometimes rub a bit of fresh galic on the bread but not always.
  7. Ladle the soup into small broiler-safe, bowls. Top with several bread slices and then top with ¼ of the cheese mixture or more if you like. Broil on a baking sheet until the cheese has melted and has started to bubble and brown.
  8. Serve immediately.

 

Note

Add a bit more water or broth if you feel this recipe is too thick!

 

Book Of The Week: Pro/Con Kid’s Journal

Ok, this isn’t technically a book…. But I thought it might be useful for parents like me to know about it!!!….This Pro/Con Journal is supposed to be a great tool for introducing the concept to kids. It says that it could enable them to make right choices!!!…hmmm let’s see…. I’m ordering a few copies right now… and I’m hoping that the journal is everything it says it is!!! 😉

Via Kid Crave.

London 2012 Olympic Games Film

The Olympics 2012 has just started and I assume that everyone is going for the gold!!!…The athletes have worked so hard to get here…. How hard do you think they worked to get here? Is being an Athlete a hard job? If your answer is no, then what is the hardest job in the world in your opinion?!!!

I would like to share with you a short film about the London 2012 Olympic Games that might help you with the answer!!!…. I thought that this film was beautifully made…. it touched me so much I just had to share it!!!

The hardest job in the world,

Is the best job in the world!!!

L0ve you mom!!!

xxx

Book of the Week: Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

This post is dedicated to my 3 cheeky little monkeys!!!… This is one of their favorite books!!!

xxx

Former Sesame Street writer Mo Willems’s Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! is the first in his pigeon series and received the prestigious Caldecott Honor.

The story begins with the bus driver asking the reader to watch the bus for him while he takes a break. Our favorite part in this book is the hilarious double page spread of illustrations showing all of the pigeon’s techniques to convince us to let him drive the bus…”How ’bout I give you five bucks?” is my son’s favorite line and “joke” at home!!….. Every time I’m upset or say something like “I will tell your Dad”, my son goes “how ’bout I give you 5 bucks?…. he gets me every single time!! lol

Willems is a master of comic timing; each page anticipates the reader’s response and moves the story along in the pigeon’s emotional journey….

I think that the genius of the book is that the kids recognize themselves in the pigeon, but at the same time they get a chance to reverse the roles and play the “grown up” and say “No!”….I highly recommend this book (in fact the whole series) if you have cheeky little monkeys like mine because it’s just great for demonstrating expressive reading.

Via Amazon.com

Ferrari World Abu Dhabi

We took the kids to Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi the other day. Wow, I was really impressed!… It is the largest indoor theme park in the world…. and even though the weather wasn’t too bad, we were just grateful to be indoors at 2 o’clock in the afternoon!…. (I must say, however, that it was a bit chilly inside so don’t forget to get a jumper with you!!!)….The kids (even our little one) had a great time….. My personal favorite part was the Ferrari museum … I just fell in LOVE with this Ferrari 330 GTC from the 1960s… Isn’t she gorgeous?!

Celebrating The National Day At Home!

 I wanted to make sure that the kids were as excited as I was about our National day today so I got some miniature cup cakes with little flags on them to have while watching the parade on TV… they looked so cute and the kids loved them! 

Even little M thought that they looked cute!