Pictures of the Cheddar and Broccoli Soup!

Sorry it took so long to post the pictures, but here they are! It was so much fun making this soup, easier than I thought and it tasted absolutely DELICIOUS! Better than Panera!! :)

The Ingriedients and Recipe

I had to chop onions, my eyes were watering the whole time...

Voila!!

First Blog

For my by-hand blog, I've decided to take on cooking. It took me a while to figure out what I really wanted to learn and what would be useful in my everyday life. I love shows like Top Chef and Ina Garten on the Food Network Channel. They are my inspiration to be a fabulous cook. I also took a cooking class senior year at my high school, but it was kind of a joke and we never really cooked much. But I did learn chopping, measuring and baking techniques that could help me out.
I realized that I want to learn something that others can enjoy as well, and cooking is perfect! I have two roommates that love to eat, so I think they will definitely take advantage of me cooking for them. My cooking abilities right now consist of making break&bake chocolate chip cookies and macaroni&cheese. So I'm hoping to expand on what little recipes I know. My theme is making food that I usually buy from the store or restaurants. Some examples are homemade pizza, french fries, broccoli and cheddar soup, homemade pasta, fried rice etc.
I've already browsed several recipes sites, looking at what particular things I want to learn how to make. I plan on starting out fairly easy with sides, desserts and soups. My plan is to gradually be able to make more difficult recipes and eventually entrees with different sides! I'm really excited to start.
I've already planned on my first cooking experience to be broccoli and cheddar soup. I've been craving this soup, I usually go out and buy it from Panera Bread. Here's a link for the recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Broccoli-Cheese-Soup/Detail.aspx it seems fairly easy. I'll have to chop some vegetables, and measure various liquids but I've done this before. I need to go grocery shopping for the ingredients (which is also another part involved with cooking- planning ahead.) I'm going to make this soup tomorrow night, so after I do I will post pictures of how it goes! Wish me luck!