One Day at a Time: November 2008

The weather we've been having lately is perfect for soup. Unfortunately, I feel like death warmed over. I'd post a picture to prove it, but I wouldn't want to discourage you from returning to my blog in the future. I did, however, muster up enough energy to prepare a nice soup for supper tonight. It's one that I don't really have a recipe for, I just add stuff and taste...but I'll do my best to walk you through it.

Warning....this makes ALOT of soup!!!

Ingredients

5lbs russet potatoes
3 stalks of celery
1 medium onion
4 large carrots
2 garlic cloves
2-3 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. butter
10 cups water
3 chicken bouillion cubes (I use Knorr)
2 cups milk, half & half, or heavy cream....whatever you like
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions....Okay, here we go. First, rough chop the carrots, onion, and celery and put them in the food processor. Using the pulse button, chop the vegetables to very small pieces. Don't over chop, you don't want juice. In a hot soup pot, add the olive oil and butter (yes, both)..then add your veggies you just chopped. Stir that around and add a pinch of salt to sweat the veggies a bit. While that is going, peel and chop the potatoes into bite size pieces. When the veggies have begun to cook down, add the chopped garlic and stir. Your house should smell heavenly by this point!! Add the chopped potatoes, water, and bouillon cubes, another heavy pinch of salt and some pepper. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Just when you can't stand it any longer, test the potatoes. They should be really mushy before we proceed. When they are nice and mushy, drain off some of the liquid. Ladle out big chunks of the potatoes and return them to your food processor. (You could blend them in your pot if you had one of those fancy hand held thingies...I don't.) Blend the potatoes until creamy and return them to the pot. Add the milk or cream and adjust seasonings to your taste. Heat the soup through and enjoy. Sometimes I like to add crushed red pepper flakes and hot sauce (after I take some out for the kids.) Also sour cream, bacon bits, and cheese are really good toppings.

I hope you can decipher through my babbling and attempt this soup...it's really good and hearty on a cold night. Some crusty bread and a salad make it a perfect meal. Or....skip the bread and salad and have it with grilled cheese sandwiches....that's what I did!

Don't hit the panic button, yet...I'm still here!! It's been a very busy month for us in the Bonini house, and unfortunately the holidays won't give us a chance to slow down anytime soon, either. Josh has started basketball and the girls are going full force with cheerleading. They have their first competition this Saturday in Sarasota. Ty is doing well, too. He's having a great time in preschool. They recently brought horses to the school as part of their farm unit. Ever since, Ty has been reminding me daily that we don't have a horse.

My brain has been so foggy lately, I don't really have anything to write about....so how about some recent pictures??

Ty as Thomas the Train......he's so cute!