About Me

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Recent retiree--35 year's experience teaching reading, English, adult basic education and volunteer leadership skills. Started this blog to exchange ideas and commentary with friends and others having an interest in joining the discussions. Greatest life accomplishments include: 1.organized my 3rd grade class to check out library books for me to get around librarian's weekly limit--Amazon.com, the Mullins Elementary 3rd Grade Class of 1956 is still waiting for "thank you" notes; 2. volunteered in the Peace Corps, island of St. Kitts, West Indies; 3.taught adults to read, earn their GEDs., and speak English as a second language; 4. bought a border collie puppy for $6, got evicted rather than give him up, and began a life-long love affair with all things "Dog"; 5. joined a physical fitness boot camp in my mid-50s--don't mess with someone who's been doing regulation pushups in wet grass at 5:30 a.m.; 6. walked across Northern England with best friend Sally--over 80 miles from the Irish to North Seas; and 7. travelled to many foreign countries for pleasure and work.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Two Weeks in Autumn Photo Challenge - Day 4 "Soup Weather"


September 26, Day 4 Subject - "Soup Weather"

This Taco Soup recipe has an interesting
origin. I first had it from a lunch buffet set up on a flatbed truck in the middle of an Arkansas rice field during September harvest. At that time I was working in leadership training for a large farm organization. A couple of colleagues and I took about 15 young farmers on a tour of some major farming operations in southeastern U.S. We saw cat fish farming in Mississippi, cotton and beef operations in Tennessee, and rice production in Arkansas. Our Kentucky farmers were hosted by a group of rice farmers out in their fields at harvest time. Taco soup was on the menu. If you like all things taco, you'll like this soup. Here's the recipe:

Taco Soup

In a large saucepan, brown 1/2 lb. ground beef and 1 medium chopped onion. Add the following,undrained: 15 oz. can chili beans(or ranch style), 16 oz. can dark red kidney beans, 11 oz. can shoepeg corn, 10 oz. can tomatoes and green chiles, 1 oz. pkg. dry ranch style dressing mix, 1.25 oz. pkg. dry taco seasoning mix, 6 cups of water, and 1 cup cooked brown or white rice. Bring to boil and then turn down to a simmer. Simmer on low for about 25 minutes. Serve with tortilla or taco chips. And, if you want to gild the lily, add a dollop of sour cream, chopped avocado, and cilantro. Yum! (Note: previously people asked about the "shoepeg" corn. It's white with kernels that look like pegs or small baby teeth! Comes either canned or frozen.)


If you'd like to participate in the Two Weeks in Autumn Photo Challenge--and I hope you do--it's simple. Just grab your camera and take a photo of your interpretation of the day's subject. Post on your blog and then leave me a comment so I can visit you and include your link on the player's list below. Also, since some of the photo subjects may take a bit of planning thought I'd give you a few of them ahead of time.

September 27, Day 5 Subject - "Fall Decorations"


September 28, Day 6 Subject - "Fall Reflections in Water"


September 29, Day 7 Subject - "Harvest Moon"


September 30, Day 8 Subject - "Fall Fun"


______________________
Here are today's possible players:

Pamela @ The Dust Will Wait
Janis @ As Jan Sees It
Joangee @ Musings n Waffle

4 comments:

Jan n Jer said...

How neat to ride on a flat bed. Sounds like a very interesting tour! The soup looks delish.
I wasn't sure how to do this post...evidently I have a different perspective! Nice shot Faye!

Faye said...

Janis - you and Pamela are on the same wavelength. I'm the odd one. That's what happens when you try to be clever with titles! :-) I quit doing that with my blog because after all these years of blogging realized that people search for info and a clever title may not get them to my site.

Pamela said...

a church we used to attend -- always had soup potlucks. Taco Soup was one of the most popular. (And so was my chicken tortilla soup)

Sayre said...

Oh, that looks so good! I'm going to write that one down too and try it out. I think Pamela also had a recipe for taco soup on her blog. I will try them both!