Soup of the week

Italian Wedding Soup
Skill Level: Easy (even easier if you don't make the meatballs)
Time: 20+ minutes (depending on how long you let it simmer)
Serves: 8

1 lb lean ground beef
2 eggs, slightly beaten
4 tablespoons breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon onion powder
12 cups chicken broth
4 cups chopped escarole or chopped spinach
1 cup orzo pasta, uncooked
2/3 cup finely chopped carrot
grated parmesan cheese

~In medium bowl combine, meat, egg, bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, basil& onion powder; shape into 3/4" balls.
~In large sauce pan, heat broth to boiling; stir in spinach, orzo, carrot& meatballs.
~Return to boil, reduce heat to medium.
~Cook at slow boil for 10 minutes or until orzo is tender. Stirring frequently to avoid sticking.
~Serve with additional Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

Result: SO yummy! One of my most favorite yet! I was a little sad that Brent took all the leftovers for lunch today. The crusty seeded baguette we had on the side was a perfect addition.

Adjustments: Didn't feel like making meatballs so I ignored the first 6 ingredients and sliced up 400g (roughly 1lb) of Italian sausage. Also I let the meat, broth and carrots simmer on low for about an hour before adding in the spinach and pasta for the last 15 minutes. I couldn't find orzo so I just used whatever the smallest past I could find was. I don't remember the name but it was about the same size and was oblong like orzo. Also, I added some onion and had it simmer with the meat/carrots/broth.

Thanksgiving - A Day Late

We were in Lisbon and flying back to London on Thanksgiving this year so we had our big dinner on Friday. Brent, Charlotte and I cooked literally all day except for a 30 minute break in the middle while the roll dough was raising. It was fabulous fun. Brent moved the computer to the kitchen table and we played Christmas music (kind of wrong but technically *after* Thanksgiving).

The Guests:
Brent and Me (of course)
Charlotte
Calvin and Carike

The Menu:
"Churkey" (Ok, it was 2 chickens but we couldn't get a turkey due to a grocery situation and the local butcher shop which carries mallard, wild pheasant, hare, pigeon and other various strange sounding wild game but requires a pre-order for turkeys which we did not do. Living in a foreign country is weird sometimes.)
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes & gravy
Yams with apples and marshmallows (I combined both of our mom's recipes to create the yummiest, most unhealthy yams you'll ever have)
Strawberry apple jello
Veggie tray with herbed onion dip
Wheat rolls with honey butter
Pumkpin and apple pies (with homemade pastry crust and all)
Wassail (B's mom's recipe is the *best* wassail recipe ever)

Everything except the cranberry sauce, gravy and ice cream was homemade. It was my first time to cook and host an entire Thanksgiving meal and it turned out great and everything was done at 7:00, just like we had planned. When does that ever happen?

Assignments:
Brent was in charge of procuring the meat, putting together the veggie tray, making the honey butter and the mashed potatoes.

Charlotte helped me with the rolls, pies, setting/decorating the table and made the yams.

I did the meat, stuffing, gravy, jello, wassail and the other stuff that Charlotte helped with.

After dinner, we played Pirates of the Caribbean Life and had pie and wassail.

It was really fun to once again share one of our favorite holidays with our international friends. They were all so excited to experience a real Thanksgiving. I hope we delivered.

Giving Thanks

**Since we're out of the country (both our own and the one we currently live in) on Thanksgiving, I've scheduled this to post. Hope it worked.**

I saw this video on the church website (you should check out this particular page) and it made me laugh and smile and cry a little bit. I love some of the answers, especially the ones who are obviously struggling with life right now but still found something profound to be thankful for. Even if it was just the hope of something to be thankful for sometime in the future.



What are you thankful for? My answer: A truly amazing husband who wows me everyday at his capacity to love crazy ol' me.

Soup of the week

Chicken Noodle Soup
Difficulty level: Super Easy
Cook Time: 10 mins of chopping, 20+ mins of cooking depending on how long you let it simmer
Serves: 6

2 teaspoons butter
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 small potato, diced
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
4 (14 ounce) cans chicken broth
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon
4 ounces egg noodles
2 cups cooked chicken
parsley

Melt butter in large pot.
Sauté the celery, carrot and onion for 2 minutes.
Add potato, thyme, poultry seasoning, chicken broth and bouillon.
Bring to a boil.
Add noodles and chicken and cook on low for 20 minutes.
Sprinkle with parsley

Results: Best chicken noodle soup I ever had. Seriously. I think it's because there's no water, just broth. Charlotte had never had chicken noodle soup before (What?! How do Brits get through a cold with no CNS?!) and was pleasantly surprised. I guess she had been picturing something completely different when I was explaining it to her a few days before.

Adjustments:
•Left out the potato
•Substituted herbs and seasonings (they don't make poultry seasoning here) for 2 tsp "mixed herbs" which is thyme, marjoram, parsley, oregano, sage & basil
•Used veggie broth instead of chicken broth
•Used more veggies than called for (not much, just 1/4-1/2 cup more than written)
•Let broth, veggies and chicken simmer on low for 2 hours then added the noodles 20 minutes before serving.
•Oh, and I put in way too many noodles because I didn't measure, I just dumped. I suggest measuring.