So, this came about because we had leftover ham, which is kinda dry, and some fennel, which the husband isn't fond of using at all (yet). I ended up mashing together 2 recipes and modifying them a bit to come up with the recipe below. The kids all liked it, which is a plus, but it didn't make enough (both recipes said 6-8 servings, but they were really small servings).



Chunky Potato, Ham, & Fennel soup


3 med. potatoes, peeled, cut into small cubes, & cooked
2-3 TBL olive oil
3/4 c. red onion, finely chopped
1/2 lg fennel bulb, finely chopped*
3 TBL all-purpose flour
pepper to taste
3 c. chicken stock
1 c. milk
2 c. chopped/cubed ham
1 c. shredded kolby-jack cheese (or cheese of choice)

While potatoes drain, heat olive oil in large soup pot; add onion and fennel. Saute until soft. Add flour and stir until smooth; add pepper and stir for about 1 minute. Add potatoes, stock, and milk; stir well. Bring to boil and add ham. Simmer over low heat, stirring frequently, about 20 minutes. Pour into bowls and top with cheese.

* The original recipe that used fennel asked for a whole bulb, but, as I said, the man isn't too fond of it so I cut it down. Considering the final consistency of the soup, a whole bulb shouldn't be a problem unless you really dislike the flavor.


Now, I'm pretty sure the husband is going to either not like the recipe or want to tweak it. I know next time I make it, we need to about double the ingredients to make enough. This actually made more like 4-5 decent servings, though it covered 6 of us because 1 of us is a 2 year old and I trimmed the amount everyone else received. Soups are a pretty good winter food, though, and leftovers would have been nice. And I'm pretty sure the portion he's getting won't be enough for the man. So, next time I'm doubling. And doing whatever the hubs wants me to do to tweak it. lol

One other note: once domynoes.com moves to the new server, I'll be creating a new blog over there for recipes and food talk. I'll let you all know when it's up. :)


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whysper screwed :: journeys Not As Busy, Still Going :: booklog Heat Wave

Lots to do today & most of it isn't writing related:

* more office cleanup
* laundry :: load started
* dishes
* get psycho_meower to work
* get tsykika to work :: decided to walk
* pick up youngest from school
* move dragyncat back to the desk
* DII salvage :: more to do but did some today
* cont revising A.C.
* call Progressive & get payment moved again :: didn't exactly move it, but did help some (why is it some people can be so helpful and others say they can't help the way you need?)

Trying to get started despite a headache that won't go away.

Also, if I get the domain info, I need to get domynoes moved ASAP and I'm still working on ideas for next year's whysper layout.

Already started on moving the laptop back to the desk. Need to grab the cord for her then I'm done. Next: a load of laundry.

(And maybe that doesn't look as long as some days...well, never mind, it does; it's just most of it isn't writing related. lol)


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whysper screwed :: journeys Not As Busy, Still Going :: booklog Heat Wave

• 09:40 Something is going through the house. Youngest caught it Thurs, is finally feeling better but now oldest has something. Give me a week or 2. #
• 10:05 More office work, dishes, more DII salvage. Should finish my DII list today, leaving only one Admin's list left. #
• 10:06 Trying to get the girls started on their tasks is proving to be a bit of a job as well. :P Off to start dishes. #
• 10:30 So here's a stupid quandry: what do I do with all the software and documentation for the 98? I'm actually afraid to throw it out. #
• 10:53 Forgot I told @psycho_meower she could use the desk to set up her desktop. Have a nice workable space for dagyncat that we won't be using. #
• 10:54 Wish my site hostess would contact me with new log in info for the domains & start moving domynoes. Can't do anything over there right now. #
• 11:53 I am soooo stuck on my whysper 2010 layout. I have 2 lovely backgrounds that I'm not quite sure how to use. *sigh* #
• 12:37 My FFX-2 is toast. Fortunately, it's still available and it's cheap. Just might have to wait a bit to get it. #
• 13:21 I need a shower but pur house is too damn cold. Going to brave jumping in any way. *sigh* #
• 15:19 I have an outdated website & TWO blogs (an LJ & Vox). The LJ is kept the most updated. I have some resources on the website. #writechat #
• 15:20 I figured when I started taking my writing seriously that building my presence on the web, even if early, was not a bad thing. #writechat #
• 15:24 @SCRIBEREGLYPH I've just been too distracted of late to do any updates, & I haven't been sending out many shorts, & my novel isn't done yet. #
• 15:28 I put extras on my sites: writer's resources at alden.nu, The White List on LJ. & I run DII. I figure it all helps or will 1 day. #writechat #
• 15:31 I remember flailing about when I started writing seriously; I like helping others do less flailing than I did, lol. #writechat #
• 15:32 @Kaiberie Places like LJ, Vox, and a few others make it easy to create a blog. The hard part is content. I just keep mine "real". #writechat #
• 15:59 Was following #writechat but am still trying to clear DII threads, which means checking links etc before copying/pasting into notepad. #
• 16:03 Next section has over 100 topics to decide what I'm saving. *sigh* Wish FFX2 wasn't trashed—not that it would help me get this done. #
• 21:46 DII forum done. I have a couple of boards left, but none as big as the one just finished. Splurged and ordered FFX2 & a few things for hubs. #
• 21:47 The rest of our remaining $ needs to go into the gas tank. All $ coming in next week is taken. #

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• 11:14 Back is a little better. Taking it easy: DII salvage & revisions today. Having a nice breakfast 1st. Might cont cleaning the desk. NO TRIPS. #
• 11:53 The tedious part of salvage? Broken links. One person even protected all her LJ entries on agent info, making them useless to DIIers. #
• 11:53 Course, that does mean a little less to post when we get the new boards up. lol #
• 13:42 Another board gone. Going to work on the desk a bit. Need to reorganize a little now that the 98 & the sucky printer aren't here anymore. #
• 14:51 Dishes done. Still sorting out my desk. Missing stuff. #
• 17:10 STILL sorting out the desk but probably going to stop for the day. Need to do another load of dishes then going to see what made it to hulu. #
• 17:12 Today is a bad day to browse through TasteSpotting. I'm all ready hungry! :P #
• 18:32 Desk kinda sorta done. Still have stuff missing, but I can actually use it. Now what to do with this box of unpacked office supplies.... #

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Snagged from fairmer.

You know how sometimes people on your friends list post about stuff going on in their life, and all of a sudden you think "Wait a minute? Since when were they working THERE? Since when were they dating HIM/HER? Since when?" And then you wonder how you could have missed all that seemingly pretty standard information, but somehow you feel too ashamed to ask for clarification because it seems like info you should already know? It happens to all of us sometimes.

Please copy the topics below, erase my answers and put yours in their place, and then post it in your journal! Please elaborate on the questions that would benefit from elaboration. One-Word-Answers seldom help anyone out.

NAME: Denyse Loeb, but pretty much doesn't answer to Denyse any more. Mom works for the right person; most everyone else calls me domynoe or domy

AGE: 40ish

LOCATION: Lawrenceville, GA.

OCCUPATION: mom / writer. I'm a stay at home mom mostly for my autistic son's sake. He can't be home alone and I can't make enough to cover in home care for him. Even if I could, we're very careful about his care: he's progressed very well over the years here, and I won't risk that progress for anything. Used to be a substitute teacher; stopped that a couple years ago when it started making me physically ill even thinking about going into a classroom and we realized we were paying for me to go to work. will probably soon be helping the husband with putting together a catering business. He has a few more classes he'd like to finish first, though. ;)

PARTNER: Saxykam (saxykam), Soon to be Chef Chris or Chef Loeb; married 12 years this New Year's Eve, knew each other MAYBE a year before tying the knot.

KIDS: (oldest to youngest) tsykika, psycho_meower, Taz (our autistic son), and Froggy. All from a previous marriage.

BROTHERS/SISTERS: Half-brother with whom I no longer speak. Long story behind it.

PARENTS: Know nothing about my biological father except a name and a few pics; step-father is dead; mother is alive, but we're not in contact because her mental illness is more than I can deal with when I have 3 girls with ADHD, a son with autism, and a husband with hyperlexia. I've dealt with her illness since I was 15 or 16, and the responsibility people try to put on a teenager in reference to a mentally ill parent can be astounding. For my own sanity and the peace of our household, I distance myself from it and her.

PETS: The zoo: Ororo (cat, 9); Vagner (cat, 7); Logan (cat, 4); Rogue (cat, 2); Kisses (psycho_meower's cat, 1); Gypsy (retired service dog, 8); Lillandri (ferret, ?)

LIST THE 5 BIGGEST THINGS GOING ON IN YOUR LIFE:

1. Saxy in culinary school & finally following a dream he's add for YEARS; So proud of him
2. Unfortunately, Saxy is also unemployed &, with the money we put into a house we needed up not getting, we're now frantically trying to avoid being evicted while keeping the lights on and food on the table.
3. Am on the last revision of a book that has taken me years because I was too busy listening to everyone else's advice on how to write instead of finding what works for me.
4. Moving 2 domains to a new server this month. Making sure I have everything.
5. Ummm...unpacking from the attempt to buy a house, had 2nd oldest daughter move in with us...basically trying to survive right now. Does that count? lol


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whysper screwed :: journeys Not As Busy, Still Going :: booklog Heat Wave

• 05:53 Set dragyncat up at the desk. I think working on the bed makes it easier not to do actual writing & has been part of the problem w/my back. #
• 05:55 Going to bed early helped, but back is still a little sore. Would take it easy today, but have $ stuff to deal with; which = running around. #
• 06:12 I will have to replace the sinking chair of doom as soon as we can afford to though. & the stupid printer that no one's comp likes anyway. #
• 06:51 Since I have to be up in 2 hours to run to the bank anyway, just going to stay up & do some more office clean up & revising. 1st, breakfast. #
• 06:57 have to admit, wondering how long this industriousness will last. Back is starting to ache a bit again, so I suspect not long. :P #
• 08:03 Time to do a little more office clean up, an LJ entry, and maybe some DII salvage. Have an hour before I get oldest up to go to bank. #
• 08:36 Energy starting to wain a little. :( But half the desk set back in order. Well, a little less than half considering it's the smaller half. #
• 09:23 Just ealized that we haven't seen any of the strays that normally hang out here in quite awhile. Wonder what happened? Pound pick up maybe? #
• 09:53 Getting ready to take off. Now to survive the girls who are already bickering. *sigh* #
• 15:25 That trip took far too long and my back is bitching at me again. *sigh* Working on the office anyway. Might unplug dragyncat to work on DII. #
• 16:09 It's a bit late, but I need to go lay down. To the point where I can't even pick up paper off the floor. Rest will help all around. I hope. #
• 18:42 Back WAS feeling better. Then I had to do dishes. Not sure what's going on, but tomorrow I don't have to go anywhere. I'll take it easy. #
• 18:47 Going to move the cookbooks down 1 shelf so I have space for the magazines we have & thin out & filing receipts. I can do both sitting down. #
• 20:34 Did some file trimming. moved books. Haven't done DII or revisions, but think I'll go play FFX2 a bit. I'll come back when hubs goes to bed. #

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Wasn't quite so busy after all yesterday. First, psycho_meower forgot she has a $30 copay for doctor appointments and didn't set aside the money. Then, one the way home from the farmer's market, my back started spasming. While I was driving. Yea, not good. Got home, set the girls to work doing some of yesterday's tasks (dishes, books), picked up youngest, had her make the bed, then I pretty much crawled into bed and stayed there. Did eat with the family, but was back in bed and ASLEEP by 9:30 or 10. Definitely was under the weather because I don't go to sleep that early otherwise.

Today is another busy day. Need to take both tsykika and psycho_meower in to pick up checks so we can get the money order for the rent. We're going to try to finish office clean up today, which means finish unpacking books and actually cleaning up the mess that piled up while we were waiting on the house and then while we were waiting to see if we were getting evicted. I've also moved dragyncat into the office thinking it would be a good idea for me to go back to doing my writing in there. I've been working from my bed, and that seems to be bad for both productivity and the back. As soon as we can afford to do it, though, we need to replace my sinking chair of doom. And the dead printer that would cost more to repair than to replace (and doesn't speak to any of the computers in our house anymore any way).

And I still have the DII salvage and A.C. revisions to do.

So, running around, cleaning up, salvage, and revisions on today's list. Also need to pick up youngest from school and get her and boyo started on chores later. Leaving for check pick up and money order buying in about an hour. Between now and then, I can do a little more on the desk. A little later, a nap will definitely be in order.


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whysper screwed :: journeys Not As Busy, Still Going :: booklog Heat Wave

• 09:26 I am about to leave the building. Making sure oldest girl is up & second girl is ready to go. 1st up: doctor's office, followed by shopping. #
• 15:14 Back has decided to be uncooperative today & is spasming in the most painful manner. *sigh* #
• 16:16 @Mer_Blackwood Thanks. It figures it would be on the 1 day I want to get a lot done & the cat peed on the bed: can't work, can't lay down. #
• 16:53 bed finally made & am laying down. want the hurt to go away. #

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Just have had a lot on my mind. A.C. progresses slowly but progresses. We've not heard anything from the landlords yet and are going to assume at this point that's a good thing. Yesterday I started unpacking books because I can't stand the office in the condition it's currently in. And I'm trying to find some particular books. Since we didn't list titles on the boxes (or even authors)....

Yea.

Today's plan was to get up early and take youngest in to school, shower, then goof off for a bit before taking psycho_meower (daughter #2) to her doctor appointment. Good thing because kitten chose to use my shower time to pee on the bed again. None of the usual triggers around as far as I can tell. *sigh* Anyway, being up anyway meant I could take care of the bed. Yay. (So thrilled; can you tell?)

The rest of today's plans include: taking psycho_meower to her doctor's appointment, running to the farmer's market for 2 whole chickens for the man to fabricate for dinner tonight, going to Kroger for sugar and a few other things, picking up youngest from school, more A.C., dishes, continue the salvage operation at the DII forums, and unpack more books. Whew!

That's the plans, anyway. With the way things have been going, FFX-2 just might take over. :P

The man is working a construction job today. Won't see that money until next week, and it makes it so he can't go apply for a job he's probably under qualified for anyway, but we could definitely use the money. Friday the plan is to send $6-700 of our November rent in to the landlords. That leaves $275 for November and all of December to pay for. Plus utilities. And food. Hopefully the help the ex plans to give us later this month will get the rent caught up, and then we're back to being late all the time but paying in the month we owe. The money he earns today can help pay our internet bill.

I'll be glad when this crap is over and I can sleep again. :P

Anyway, I'm alive, well, stressed but okay, trying to be positive about having a place to live, and have a lot of other things I'm taking care of. Thus the only break in my radio silence these days is my Twitter updates. Once we're in a more stable pattern around the house, I should be able to get back to normal posting. One hopes anyway.

One piece of good news: I did blow away my goal for my year end word count last week. At least some of my goals for the year have been met. Sorta. lol


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whysper screwed :: journeys Not As Busy, Still Going :: booklog Heat Wave

• 12:02 Another late day. Wish I could get some uninterrupted sleep so I could get up at a decent hour. It would help if rent were taken care of. #
• 12:29 Getting some domestic stuff done & unpacking. Going to be positive that the landlords will give us some time to clear this mess up. #
• 12:30 Besides, stuff I want is in boxes and boxes are all over my house. I hate that. :P #
• 14:05 Several boxes unpacked. Nothing that I'm looking for yet, but we got stuff unpacking. Office looks like a disaster. lol #
• 15:52 Picked up youngest. Boiling the last 2 sweet potatoes for sweet potato pie. Will play FFX2 while I wait for them. :P #
• 17:42 Minnestrone started. Need to wait for it to boil, then lower the heat and give it an hour before adding the last ingredients. #
• 23:27 I have to be up early for a busy day. Hubs is working a construction gig so I'm taking youngest to school. This means a 5:30 wake up. Night! #

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• 11:42 @trishaleighKC I gave up trying to be a morning person YEARS ago...unless you mean 2 in the morning which is when I'm most creative. lol #
• 11:48 Took my "you will sleep: pain pill last night. Slept wonderfully (and late!) and feel so much better today. Waking up pain free is so nice. #
• 12:25 Okay, really, need food and to take my meds and to start some revisions before hubs and I run around a bit. #
• 12:47 Hubs had a very busy but very good day yesterday & made a couple contacts for possible (future) employment—I'll let him tell about it on LJ. #
• 13:16 Okay, tasty brunch finished. Time to get back to my read through revision of A.C. & hope that my mood about it improves over yesterday. :P #
• 17:14 Back from running around. Hubs ordered simple biz cards, I failed at a calendar, but we got him some cultural cookbooks, so it was all good. #

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• 11:43 It's going to be a long day. #
• 12:05 Need to do more DII clean up (which is going much faster than I expected) and some A.C. On my own today: hubs is volun cheffing until 11:30. #
• 12:14 Everyone else is busy today, so Harry Potter mini marathon with the grandbaby as I work. Assuming I get the gumption to actually work. #
• 12:36 1 girl out the door. The other leaves around 2 for work. Lunch: salad w/chicken a little later. Dinner: leftover ham. Not sure what else yet #
• 12:40 Hubs called. He's busy & Chef told him to tell Chef for tonight's class he needs him so hubs can stay & work through w/o losing attendance. #
• 12:41 Not losing on attendance is important. 100% attendance gives him an extra $100 for next term, & he has to buy 2 books for next term. #
• 12:50 My brain is thinking hub's restaurant...which is quite a few years away. *head desk* #
• 13:05 Switching from Harry Potter to Collective Soul "Home" concert. CS plays w/Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. We went to the show: it rocked! #
• 13:08 Yep, this is definitely better. Still want to play with ideas for the restaurant, but the energy is rising, motivation can't be far behind. #
• 13:09 Any of you DIIers missing the forums and stuff already? lol #
• 13:29 Wow! forgot to mention it last week, but I made my end of the year word count goal! Total words processed this year: 385,036. Goal was 375k. #
• 13:30 @feywriter Did you get all your criuts? Double check in case anyone posted a new one & let me know; I'll clear out your forums for you. #
• 13:57 @feywriter Yep. and getting emptier every day. Come January, though, we'll be back to fat and sassy! ;) #
• 14:08 More forums removed from the DII boards. Starting to look pretty sad over there! lol #
• 14:23 Okay, really, time to get to A.C. I am such a food whore. lol #
• 15:14 Just love it whent he house goes crazy...NOT. lol Both girls off to work though; boy home but upstairs, youngest catching up on chores. #
• 15:17 Grandbaby is refusing her nap. Stubborn toddlers. :P #
• 15:35 Grandbaby finally asleep! Can only give her an hour though. She'd never sleep tonight if we let her go any later. #
• 15:35 And the cats FLEEEEEEEEEEE the vacuum cleaner! lol #
• 16:38 In about a half hour we're going to experience adventures in cooking with domy. I am sooooooo not the chef in this house. lol #
• 16:46 @DLStephenson Mine is just learning the cheffing stuff, but he's a damn good cook. I make only 2 meals/yr, & this yr he took o/Thanksgiving. #
• 17:02 Time to clean up the kitchen and start supper. Leftover ham with noodles and sauce and honey glazed carrots. Hope it all comes out. lol #
• 18:09 I really suck as a cook. *sigh* Hopefully the kids will eat it anyway. :P #
• 18:23 Kids say it's good, so that's something. I'm becoming a snob and my own food doesn't make it. lol #
• 19:19 Apparently I'm just in a "I suck" frame of mind tonight: recisions seem to be sucking to em as well. *sigh* #

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• 09:28 Today: start clearing out DII threads I need to save; dishes, make soup, and chauffeur for older girls. The first will keep me fairly busy. #
• 09:44 Ug, have to complete recreate the member page for the site because we won't be using the WP stuff for the site once it moves. Meh. #
• 09:46 Going to work on dishes: need to start working on my soup in a little over an hour. :P #
• 11:48 Makin' soup! #
• 13:17 Good soup, but not good enough to put on the make again list. Hubs wants to make shrimp bisque but that will have to wait. Minnestrone Weds. #
• 13:41 @vg_ford Still waiting on that zucchini bread recipe, sweetie. #
• 14:49 And now to go play chauffeur. Yay. Blea. #
• 16:15 So apparently you can resub at TasteSpotting for fixes. Got the BlogChef cranberry bread up on the 2nd shot: new photo, new caption. Go me. #
• 16:16 @vg_ford Woot! Thanks! Now to go find it , write it down, then get back to my forum work. #
• 16:24 Showered, dishes done, hubs and my laundry started, soup made & eaten (w/leftovers!). Back to work on DII. So much to do, so little time. :P #
• 20:50 We're eating smaller meals, but I'm okay with that. Somehow hubs makes them more filling. Go figure. :) #

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• 09:19 Getting ready for the last kid to move in...again. It's going to be crowded and crazy and full of...conflict. I might hide under a rock. #
• 10:13 I just realized: I haven't done any more work on next year's whysper. o.O & I'm moving 2 domains on top of everything else! Crazy net time. #
• 10:16 Oh, and now I have an idea for a new blog too. lol But it can wait until the domain is moved. #
• 10:22 Need to work on my A.C. read through revision, my whysper layout, &, um, I'm sure there's something else. Oh, yes, dodging the cranky girls. #
• 10:57 & yet here I am, still exploring TasteSpotting and favoriting recipes. Course, still waiting for middle girl and her chaos to show up too. #
• 11:01 Writing w/someone moving in? Not happening until she's in. All the back & forth, being crazy about furniture, etc would be too distracting. #
• 13:32 Girl's stuff here, but she's off w/friends until tonight. Store run also done: Minnestrone next week! Should get to writing/revising, right? #

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• 08:00 I crashed very early last night (in a lot of pain from o/doing it: all that baking in one day was a bit much), so now I'm up too damn early. #
• 08:18 @shade53 Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwww! #
• 08:21 Starting read through revision of the last section of A.C. It's nice & quiet (no one else is up) so no distractions. Won't last long though! #
• 08:41 Three pages in and I want to go back to sleeping all ready. Okay, the number of pages have nothing to do with it: it's just too early! :P #
• 11:58 Hubs is making a VERY late brunch—his classic hash browns, omelet, muffins. Once he's out of the kitchen, the kids get sandwiches for lunch. #
• 12:02 @shallowend I want a Christmas tree but have to wait&see if we still have a place to live before we put it up. I missed doing it last night. #
• 15:48 TasteSpotting annoys me. Newest image/recipe was sharp & pretty; they rejected it as "not sharp". I've asked what that means, no response. #
• 16:28 @tastespotting All I want to know is what "Not sharp" means. I can't fix it if I don't understand it. I've had 2 subs rejected for this rsn #
• 16:42 Hubs just renamed Tidus in FFX Risotto! LOL! #
• 17:31 More b.s. in the quest to receive unemployment. Company provided the Dept of Labor paperwork hubs has never SEEN & claims he refused to sign #
• 17:43 We are sooooo screwed. #
• 22:38 Up a bit late tonight to clear dishes so hubs can fabricate a chicken tomorrow morning. Also have 2nd girl moving back in. Going to be busy! #
• 23:37 Okay, off to make PB cookies and do dishes then bed. Need to be up at a reasonable time earlier than 11 AM. lol #

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