minestrone soup: a perfect snowy day lunch

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Was it just a couple of weeks ago that I blogged about spring like weather? Well, as expected, it was short lived. It snowed here on Saturday. We had lots of fun playing in the snow (for about ten minutes and then I was done). When it is cold all I want to eat is soup. Using what I had on hand I made this recipe up and it was DELICIOUS and easy!


erin's minestrone soup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small to medium onion, diced
4 carrots, cut into half moon shapes
2 zucchini, diced
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed (puree half the beans before adding to the soup, this is a great way to thicken the soup. it is cheap, easy and healthy)
2 14 ounce cans diced tomatoes, not drained
4 cups water
1/2 cup tiny pasta (orzo, acini di pepe or similar)
1-2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
parmesan cheese for garnishing

1. saute garlic and onion and butter and oil, 2 minutes. add zucchini and carrotts. continue to saute until vegetable are just starting to get tender about 10 minutes.
2. add seasonings, tomatoes, beans, water and pasta. bring to boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

serve, topped with parmesan cheese.

I made this bread recipe to go along with the soup. It was easy, quick and yummy!

***The book, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was a gift from a dear friend. It is a fantastic book, I highly recommend it.

potato soup and biscuits

Today was cold and rainy. I was craving soup and bread. Not having time to make bread I found this recipe and decided to give it a try. I usually make a great potato corn chowder recipe that I got from a friend but I haven't been grocery shopping this week. I made up this soup with what I had on hand. It was delicious. The older kids didn't love the soup (they are never excited about soup) but they ate it anyway. With only a few threats from me! They went crazy for the biscuits though.

this picture is misleading. the biscuit looks hard a dry like a giant crouton. not so! they were actually soft on the inside and a little crispy on the outside and very flavorful.

Potato Soup
3 T butter
1/2 large onion
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
4 T flour
1 t kosher salt
1/2 t dried basil
1/2 t dried thyme
4 cups water
4 t chicken soup base (or bullion)
6 small-medium yukon gold potatoes, chopped into bite sized chunks
1 cup half and half

saute onion and garlic in butter until translucent. add flour, salt and herbs, cook on medium heat for a couple of minutes. add water. bring to a boil, add potatoes. boil for 15 minutes. remove from heat. add half and half. optional: for a thicker, less chunky soup partially puree the soup (leave some chunks of potato) using an immersion blender.



Parmesan-Herb Pan Biscuits, Cafe Johnsonia
1/3 cup butter
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh herbs
1 Tbsp. sugar
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup milk

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Place butter in a 9" square baking dish and place in the oven to melt. Remove pan from oven until ready to use.

Combine dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and add the milk. Stir until the flour and is just moistened and starts to form a ball. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead ten times.

Roll the dough into a rectangle that is 12" by 4". Cut the dough into twelve 1" strips. Dip each strip into the melted butter in the pan. Arrange the biscuit strips in the pan.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Makes 12.

*I used dried herbs instead of fresh about 1t each rosemary and thyme.