St. Stephen's Day Soup

What's Cookin'?

In honor of Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr, we ate St. Stephen's Day Soup today for dinner.  Mine ended up being more like a "souped" up potato soup because I used mashed potatoes left over from Christmas dinner instead of cut up boiled potatoes- but much better than my planned potato soup.  Also in his honor we made a point to pray for our enemies at our mealtime prayer... [You can read more about Stephen in Acts 6:1-15 and Acts 7:54-60]

Here is the jump-off recipe:
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/recipes/view.cfm?id=1339

And another:
http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/2Kitch/rSoups.html

I used:
1 large yellow onion
2 C leftover roast, cut into very small bite-size pieces
3 Quarts homemade beef bone broth (more or less - I simmered a big pot with a grass-fed beef bone before making the soup)
2 T butter
1/3 flour
1 C leftover mashed potatoes (these were originally skin-on and whipped with butter/milk)

First I made the beef bone broth (super easy - just tossed a big bone in a pot of water with a squirt of lemon juice (couldn't find any apple cider vinegar) and lots of Real Salt.  This simmered for several hours.  30 minutes before serving I cooked the chopped onion in some palm shortening, then added the chopped beef roast leftovers.  When they were ready I scooped them to one side of the pot, put 2 T of butter in the cleared part of the pot, and added the flour to the melted butter.  Once the flour and butter were mixed together I started ladling hot broth in and thoroughly blending it into the butter/flour mixture.  Once all of the broth was incorporated I added the mashed potatoes.  Then I let it simmer for about 5 minutes before serving.

Oh, this is corny, but instead of stones we had scones with our soup... just because it rhymes...

I hope my adjustments make sense!

Garden Planner

What's Gardenin'?

Spring will be here before you know it!  Here is a cool online garden planner page:

http://www.gardeners.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-Gardeners-Site/default/Page-KGPJS

When you click and drag a plant into one of the squares for Square Foot Gardening it shows how many you should plant per square.  It also puts planting/care info below the diagram.

Enjoy! :)

Thanksgiving Joy

This picture of our dog at the beach during Thanksgiving break sort of says it all.  Unbridled joy :).

 

 

.

Decorative Bread Link

What's Cookin'?

I love this woven apple "pie"!  If you scroll down in the comments there are more ideas.  At least once in life I have to try making the "bread basket." :)

https://www.facebook.com/Stylisheve/posts/1033859666654614

Enjoy!