You requested it: Soul Food Gumbo

Thanks to my good friend, Kim Riggs, I now have the recipe (along with her permission to share) for Soul Food Gumbo Bowl Sunday luncheon we cooked at that I mentioned earlier in the week. It was part of our SouperSonRise Baptist Church for donations to our Benevolence fund. All of the soups were amazing but this one really stood and and as soon as I posted it, I had requests for the recipe, so here goes.

Soul Food Gumbo

1 large onion, chopped (I use 2 onions)
1 lb. smoked sausage
2 cans navy beans
1 can Rotel tomatoes (I use 2 cans)
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 large can greens, (I prefer collards)
48 oz. chicken broth
1 cup elbow macaroni pasta

Cut the sausage into quarters, and slice. Cook until sausage is browned. Add onion and cook until tender. Add broth and other ingredients, except pasta. Bring to small boil, reduce heat and cook for app. 20 minutes. Add pasta, cook for 8-10 additional minutes.

I usually use Eckrich skinless sausage. I have used other kinds and it is fine, I just kinda like the skinless. Sometimes it's harder to find at the grocery store. I also use 2 cans of Rotel tomatoes because we like it with that extra flavor. Some may not want that extra heat. I usually cook mine a little longer too but I don’t know if it really makes a difference. I think it’s even better left over.(Kim is a wonderful cook.)

Top Hotels Gallery

Top Hotels
Top Hotels
Top Hotels
Top Hotels
Top Hotels

Top Hotels Gallery

Top Hotels
Top Hotels
Top Hotels
Top Hotels
Top Hotels

Memphis Hotels Booking

Memphis Hotels
Memphis Hotels
Memphis Hotels

Memphis Hotels

What are the best in West memphis hotels?-hotel
If you travel to Memphis, TN, you will understand, this is only a ten minute walk from downtown Memphis. They offer affordable rooms and an ideal place for all visitors.

Plenty of parking is available in the rooms and the rooms are in good condition and clean. Staffs devote all its efforts to satisfy their customers.

Hotels offer amazing facilities for entertaining guests feel comfortable and relax. Almost all hotels have their own restaurants and a lively bar

The rooms are equipped with high speed Internet access. So it is also on vacation, guests stay in touch with your friends or business partners. This is a flat-screen TV in the suites.

Some famous hotels in West Memphis are:

Days Inn West Memphis Pyramid: Located 18 miles from Memphis International Airport. You can find the way to the Brooks Museum of Art, Beale Street Historic District and many other attractions.

http://www.daysinn.com

Ramada West Memphis, Arkansas: E 'located at the intersection of Interstate 55 and 40 years and ten minute walk from downtown Memphis.

http://www.ramada.com

Americas Best Value Inn: Guests are treated only with the utmost care and attention from hotel owners and their employees.

http://www.americasbestvalueinn.com

Memphis Hotels Booking

Memphis Hotels
Memphis Hotels
Memphis Hotels

Memphis Hotels

What are the best in West memphis hotels?-hotel
If you travel to Memphis, TN, you will understand, this is only a ten minute walk from downtown Memphis. They offer affordable rooms and an ideal place for all visitors.

Plenty of parking is available in the rooms and the rooms are in good condition and clean. Staffs devote all its efforts to satisfy their customers.

Hotels offer amazing facilities for entertaining guests feel comfortable and relax. Almost all hotels have their own restaurants and a lively bar

The rooms are equipped with high speed Internet access. So it is also on vacation, guests stay in touch with your friends or business partners. This is a flat-screen TV in the suites.

Some famous hotels in West Memphis are:

Days Inn West Memphis Pyramid: Located 18 miles from Memphis International Airport. You can find the way to the Brooks Museum of Art, Beale Street Historic District and many other attractions.

http://www.daysinn.com

Ramada West Memphis, Arkansas: E 'located at the intersection of Interstate 55 and 40 years and ten minute walk from downtown Memphis.

http://www.ramada.com

Americas Best Value Inn: Guests are treated only with the utmost care and attention from hotel owners and their employees.

http://www.americasbestvalueinn.com

Truffles for my Valentine

My husband's favorite candy is truffles. He likes them plain, no fruit flavorings -- just plain chocolate/chocolate. I used to buy him a box of truffles every Valentine's Day but they changed the recipe and now he doesn't like them. I thought this year I would try to make my own.

I looked at the Bakerella website and used the basic recipe there for truffles. First I made a devil's food cake from a mix.


The next ingredient is a can of cream cheese frosting. I didn't use that because I don't like to use products with trans fats so I made a half recipe of homemade cream cheese frosting. 1/2 package of cream cheese, 1/4 stick of butter, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla flavoring and 1/2 box of confectioner's sugar. I mixed it all until it was creamy.

I then crumbled up the cake mix into the frosting -- looks pretty messy. I put this mixture into the refrigerator until it was chilled and firm.

OK. So far, so good. That was easy. This is where it does get a little harder. I didn't show you the next step because it was too messy and I just don't like to show embarrassingly messy things. I took around a teaspoon of the cake/frosting mix which is the filling and rolled it into a ball. I then melted two bags of chocolate bark. You can get this where you find candy making supplies. It comes in wafers and I used two bags. I microwaved it on medium, one minute at a time until it was melted.

I then dipped each ball into the melted chocolate and place it on parchment paper until the chocolate was hardened. If I missed a place, I re-dipped it. I had to microwave the chocolate a number of times because it kept getting too cool

After they are nicely covered and hard, I decided to decorate them.

I placed melted pink, vanilla-flavored candy into a piping bag and drizzled a little pink candy onto the top. I then allowed them to dry.

I loved the boxes I found to give away the truffles. I plan to tie on a pink bow. I hope my husband loves them. These weren't that hard but a little time-consuming and messy when dipping all the truffles in chocolate.

Sprouts and a souper sunday

My sprouts were wonderful. I gave them an extra day because I wanted them to stay on the windowsill for the only sunny day we have had recently. Sometimes sprouts can have a musty flavor. These were mild and delicious. It is better to eat them when they are as fresh as possible and you can't get any fresher than this.

After they drained, I stored them in a plastic container and immediately made a fresh green salad. They were great!

This past Sunday was a great Super Bowl Sunday but at our church, SonRise Baptist Church, it was a Souper Sunday. Our home group at church sponsored a soup luncheon to raise money for our benevolence fund.

The soup above was particularly great -- it is Soul Food Gumbo. A great southern treat in a bowl with collards and sausage. Delicious.

And this Santa Fe soup was very popular.

We had two tables filled with soup. There were Vegetable Soups with beef, Potato Soup and Chicken Corn Chowder. We planned to feed around 300 people and I think we fed close to that number. We also served cornbread, crackers and for dessert, cookies and brownies with tea and lemonade to drink. I couldn't photograph everything because some of the soup was cleaned out before I got to it!

There was a Game soup.

And a couple of pots of chili.

It was a very successful luncheon. No one actually "paid" for the food. It was all donated and we accepted donations for the benevolence fund. We made a substantial amount that will help a number of people. We all agreed it was a great time to be helpful and I think not only was it a success but everyone had a great time.