Wedding Soup

Having lived away from our extended family for most of the past nineteen years, the responsibility of holiday dinners has been almost entirely mine. Only on a few occasions have we spent a major holiday away with family.

It's been especially fun when my parents have come for Thanksgiving or Christmas. I love working in the kitchen with the two best cooks I know!

As the children have grown & become more adept in the kitchen, my work load has become lighter.

This year, the work of Christmas meal prep was even lighter - for me, at least.

The children did almost all of the baking. I only made one batch of lemon sugar snaps (from Martha Stewart; my first time; marginal results).

We were invited to share Christmas dinner with The Cousins, with "instructions" to bring whatever we wanted.

Nice!

The girls made a couple of quiches and some desserts, and I got over easily.

I decided to make soup, and the girls made a special request:

Wedding Soup.

Being from Pittsburgh, I learned about Italian food (and Polish food and German food) before I ever learned about "soul" food. In fact, growing up, my exposure to "soul food" was relegated to a mere handful of basic options (although, with my parents, even ordinary foods are extraordinary):

Fried Chicken

Ribs 

(I'll ONLY eat my dad's.)

Collard Greens

(I ONLY ate my dad's until Craig learned how to make them.)

As I've already mentioned, my parents are the best cooks I know, and this is true even with Italian food.

However, I never had wedding soup while growing up in their household.

I don't even know anyone else who makes it at home, except for a lady I once met in an Italian market. As a visual learner, I didn't remember much of her verbal recipe sharing that day. So, when I was ready to make it at home just a few years ago, I had to search online for a recipe.

I ended up finding two recipes that seemed promising. Each one lacked something that the other offered, so I combined the best of the two.

For the past several years, this has been a favorite, not only for my household, but also for friends and relatives who've tasted it.

On Christmas Day this year, though, I decided to wing it, and it ended up being the best yet! The Cousins don't eat much beef or any pork; so to be safe, I made turkey meatballs.

Here's what I did:

Turkey Meatballs = ground turkey, crumbled bread (a slice or so of something good - I used my homemade wheat bread and grated it manually), chopped onions, herbs, salt, pepper, egg, milk.

Don't make them too large. I used a tablespoon to scoop mine, and that's about as large as they should ever be.

Cook the meatballs in the bottom of the soup pot you plan to use. Add chopped vegetables when the meatballs are sufficiently browned:

(It'll be necessary to push the meatballs to the sides of the pot & add a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.)

fennel

(I was out of celery, and I'm SO glad! Fennel is the way of the future. For sure.)

carrots

onion

garlic

spinach

(Confession: I use frozen spinach.)

I keep a cute little covered dish of coarse salt next to my stove. I always feel more chef-like as I pinch and sprinkle while cooking. Don't be shy, but don't overdo it. That goes for pepper, too. It doesn't hurt to add a bit more herbs and other seasonings along with the vegetables. I added some ground celery seed, as well.

OK, I can hear your question. 

("Which herbs?")

I used rosemary, thyme, sage (all fresh), and dried oregano. I may have thrown in a little savory, but I can't recall for certain.

NOTE: This soup got rave reviews, even from The Cousins (who, surprisingly, had never tasted Wedding Soup before). So, if yours turns out bland, don't blame me. I am a seasoner. I just can't direct you on exactly how much. You'll have to sample as you go.

My only caution is that it is possible to use too much oregano, and it doesn't take much to cross the line. That stuff is powerful, unless it's fresh.

Cute little covered dish (gotta love Polish pottery, eh?)

 When the veggies start to get a little tender, go ahead and add chicken broth. Now, I'm leaving this up to your discretion. It really depends on how many meatballs you have, whether or not you add a mini pasta (I usually don't), and how brothy you like your soup. It's totally a matter of personal preference, but at least use enough broth to cover the ingredients and leave room for evaporation as it simmers.

That's it. That's how I made my wedding soup. It's all in how you season it - and your meatballs really make a difference, too. Please - whatever you do! - DO NOT cheat by buying frozen meatballs. Seriously. It's worth the effort to make them yourself. If you decide to ignore my advice, just don't tell anyone where you got the recipe, OK?

;-)

The girls said that this photo makes the soup look more like swamp water (the camera is still in the shop); but I assure you, it is far superior to that.

Two Decades & Still a Rookie

This is late, but blame it on Christmas.

Twenty years ago, on Christmas Day, Craig & I embarked on a grand and fabulous new journey...

of parenthood.

One would think that two decades and five children later, we'd be the go-to people for how it's done.

Au contraire,

we are not.

But we strive to "bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4)

Each new day, season, experience, etc., of parenting is just that: new.

Thus, we remain rookies.

This is exactly as it should be, lest we deceive ourselves and assume that we no longer need to depend on the Lord for wisdom and guidance.

With fear and trembling, we seek counsel from the Word of God and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit as we aim these children in the "way they should go".

We are fully dependent on the mercy of our gracious Heavenly Father, from Whose hands they have been given.

I'm grateful for the twenty years I've had so far as Caelyn's mom. She is a true blessing, always eager to serve joyfully, humbly, quietly.

Her quick wit, inherited from Craig, lightens the mood of our home and offers us the much-needed "good medicine" of laughter.

Caelyn loves people and has a knack for making anyone feel welcome in her presence - from the elderly, all the way to babies and toddlers, and anyone in between.

She is a true friend who "loves at all times" (Proverbs 17:17).

This is the purse I made for Caelyn's birthday, using this pattern that I first saw at the Houston Quilt Show. I knew right away that I must make it for her. I started it in the afternoon on Christmas Eve, and finished it around 1 a.m. on Christmas morning. I'd change a couple of things about the construction in the future, but overall, I love the design! I kept thinking, "These people are so clever!"

Festivities

I haven't owned a water globe in my adult life. I was so pleased to receive this beautiful one from our friend, Peggy, who joined us for breakfast recently.

We've been invited to share Christmas dinner this year with The Cousins, so we've had a low-key preparation period. In the meantime, we've enjoyed some opportunities to extend hospitality.

Our friend, Jon, visited from Pittsburgh for a few days last week. While he was here, we invited a few friends to join us for breakfast on Saturday morning.

Breakfast is arguably our favorite meal, so it was a pleasure to plan and prepare for a great time of morning fellowship.

Sue and I were excited for our daughters to finally meet. Allie is a sweet, outgoing young lady who loves the Word of God, and the girls had lots to share during the visit.

I'm pretty sure this is the best candle I've ever owned. The scent is Amber & Bergamot, and it's addictive, therapeutic, soothing... I highly recommend it. (Thanks, Sue!)

Yesterday, Morgan and I helped Gabriela prepare for her First Annual (maybe) Cookie & Ornament Exchange, with some of her friends.

Caelyn was away at her nanny job, and the boys helped around the house as we prepared.

For Gabriela's ornaments, we used Vanessa's tutorial.

These were fun and easy to make, but a little hard on the fingertips (with the hot glue).

I helped with stitching the circles and did a bit of hot gluing, but Gabriela did most of the work on these. I think she did well for her first project of this sort.

The girls, (l to r), Emily, AnaLisa, Gabriela, Sarah, & Chloe, had a delightful time playing games, exchanging goodies, and, of course, giggling.

AnaLisa's cookies were so adorable! Sadly, I didn't get to sample one.

Chloe spent the night at our house the night before the party, and made chocolate chip cookies with Morgan. Gabriela opted for kiss cookies, which Morgan volunteered to make for her. (Happiness is having a really amazing older sister!)

Sarah & Emily brought these yummy pretzel-Rolo sandwiches. My mom makes these with a pecan on top, and we make them with an M&M on top. Either way, these go quickly!

For the record - and I feel that my word should suffice - homemade peppermint patties (brought by Sarah & Emily) are far superior to the name-brand option.

On a superficial note, I'm still trying to be patient as I await the return of my camera from the repair shop. I'm no photographer, but I look forward to sharing better-quality photos in the hopefully-not-too-distant future.

How are you preparing for Christmas?

Advent Calendar for a Friend

I have a penchant for over-tasking myself, and I use the excuse that I work better under pressure. The truth is that I just procrastinate until I have NO CHOICE than to produce something under the pressure of lacking time.

I love it, though! 

My white board makes me crazy and happy. I'm one of those weird people who let out a little "mad scientist" giggle, as I cross off an item from my list.

Recently, my young friend, Kelly, sent me this link and asked if I could make something similar for her.

We've been friends with Kelly's family for nearly twenty years. She was a little girl in the youth group that Craig helped to lead back in the early 90s, when we lived in California; and she's now married and expecting her second child.

How could I say, "No"?

This ended up being a really fun project, and I'm so glad that she trusted me to give it a whirl.

I spent a couple of days thinking about what to use for the main background, and I remembered this old sweater of mine that had been added to my "recycle" stash.

This sweater is too big for me now, as I wore it in the "old days" (read "pregnant-and-nursing-days") before I took charge of my health and fitness.

Once I got over the fact that PART of a garment that used to FIT me could be used to make a WALL HANGING,

I was free to proceed.

It took several moments of soul-searching before I finally cut into the sweater.

Some of the details of the original sample that Kelly had sent just didn't sit well with me. She's a really special friend with really great style, so I wanted to pay closer attention to some of the details, without losing the rustic look that she was aiming to achieve.

In my heart I knew that the numbers should be embroidered, rather than "markered". Still, Morgan had to stand by me and help to build my confidence.

Embroidering the numbers made the project take about three times as long as if I had simply written them, but I'm so glad that I took the time.

Morgan helped with the placement and color choices, but we tried to be intentionally random with them.

I went for a "wonky" placement of the numbers.

For some reason, "3", "15", and "17" just wouldn't cooperate in the hoop; but I persevered.

Soon, Lord willing, my photos should improve, as I've finally taken my real camera to be repaired. My phone just doesn't cut it; but at least I have a record, albeit fuzzy.

Many thanks to Gabriela for scavenging in the back yard for a stick. I used twill tape to hang it.

I got lots of "oohs" and "aahhs" from my girls - especially Gabriela, who hinted around to wanting one for our family to keep.

I've had practice saying, "No", to her, though.