"Of all the months of the year
there is not a month one-half so welcome to the young,
or so full of happy associations,
as the last month of the year...."
"All the Year Round: December"
All the Year Round: A Weekly Journal Conducted by
Charles Dickens, 1887 December 10th.
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I am hoping our 80 degree temperatures are over,
but I'm not willing to place a bet!
Today the high is expected to be 68
and by the weekend highs will be in the 50s.
On the Texas Gulf Coast -- that means sweater weather!
It also means:
Oatmeal in the mornings
Slipper socks to keep the feet warm
Gloves for my morning walk
Hot chocolate several times during the day
and soup making!
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Today I'm making Turkey Vegetable Soup.
Have to use up the turkey and stock from Thanksgiving.
The recipe is from one of my favorite cookbooks:
CAMPBELL'S GREAT AMERICAN COOKBOOK.
Amazon does have used copies.
I use this cookbook a lot.
I like all the "home" style cooking and stories that are included
and not a can of soup anywhere!
TURKEY-VEGETABLE SOUP
"Today's improved transportation and preservations techniques
make it possible to have virtually any combination of vegetables
available any time of year in almost every part of the country.
Enjoy this turkey soup with its spring peas and summer tomatoes
during any season."
(We've come a long way, baby!)
Makes 6 servings
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, sliced
(I love carrots so I always put extra.)
1/2 cup slice celery
1/4 teaspoon thyme leaves, crushed
5 cups chicken or turky broth
1 can (8 ounces) tomatoes, cut up
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
1/2 cup diced yellow squash
1 cup diced cooked turkey
1/4 cup raw regular rice
1. In 5-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat, in hot butter, cook onion, carrot, celery and thyme until just tender, stirring occasionally.
2. Stir in broth, tomatoes, peas, squash and turkey. Over high heat, heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low. Cover, simmer 20 minutes.
3. Add rice. Cover; simmer 20 minutes more or until rice is tender.
I hardly ever make a recipe as it is written.
In this case, I used olive oil instead of butter.
I didn't have squash, so I added more peas and corn
and brown rice instead of "regular" white rice.
Sometimes I add a pinch of green or red chili powder ... in this case red!
Some soup with sugar cookies for later.
Snowman cookies on the list to make when these are all gone.
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Speaking of snowmen --
I like snowmen.
They can stay out when the holidays are over.
And, they make me smile.
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Oliver is ready for Christmas.
He wore his fancy new collar for all of three minutes.
