Zuppa Toscana
Oy…it’s been a long time since our lives changed. It seems like three hundred YEARS already. I’m trying to make some changes and put some structure back in my life. I’m having a problem with my days and nights being mixed up. I go to sleep later and later and get up later and later. Yesterday morning, I woke up, took a cursory glance at my phone to see what time it was…7:23am. I turned over and went back to sleep because it was probably 4:00 before I even settled down to sleep in the first place. The next time I look at my phone, it was 1:37 in the afternoon! Good grief!
I got up and padded into the living room, my hair all tousled, and Mr. FixIt smiled.
“Good morning, sleepyhead!”
“You mean, good afternoon!”
I made my coffee and toasted a bagel and sat cross legged in my super duper new recliner.
“Anything new in the world?”
My sweet husband just stared at me with that curious grin.
I felt like Sleeping Beauty…just not quite as beautiful.
I pulled my fur throw over me, set my laptop on my nifty little lap desk, and continued copying my posts from Facebook to my blog. I have now entered the beginning of 2016. A lot happened in that year, so I’m really looking forward to reading as I copy over. That’s the year I lived at the river, took my camper everywhere, visited Colorado three times, worked out like crazy and got really fit, went to my 45th High School Reunion, moved into my grandma’s farmhouse, and by the end of the year, started dating Mr. FixIt. I just have a few month’s worth of writing to copy over then I’m done with this HUGE project I started in December of that year!
As the world simmers on a hot plate of violence, I am turning inward and putting my focus on what I can control. I’m not saying I’m ignoring what’s going on because I’m definitely not. But there are so many other places where the ugliness is the focus. I admit, I dipped a toe in that from time to time over the last year. It isn’t helpful here because that’s not what we’re….I’M…here for. I’m here for the respite from the harsh parts of life.
I’m sure I’ll be focusing on a lot more recipes, and projects, and stories and a lot less on what’s going on outside my door. Maybe that’s good for you, too. In the meantime, I’ll share the best soup recipe in the world!
The other night, Mr. FixIt wanted Potato Soup. My mom used to make really good potato soup. I never have quite gotten the hang of it. I told my sweetheart, what I was really craving was Zuppa Toscana from Olive Garden. His eyes lit up. I told him I was sure I could find a copycat recipe and sure enough, I found one that is very nearly identical but with a lot less sodium!
You can find the recipe for this amazingly great soup HERE.
I cut back on the red pepper flakes to only one teaspoon and I added a couple of tablespoons of Wondra Flour to the cream before I added it to thicken the broth a little. When I make it again, I’ll add a little more flour as it wasn’t quite as thick as I wanted. This recipe made enough for three meals for the two of us…one of which Mr. FixIt had a second helping. As with many soups, it tastes even better the second day. Add a tossed salad and breadsticks and you’d be hard pressed to think you weren’t sitting in that famous restaurant in town!
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“Give us this day our daily bread.”
Matthew 6:11 KJV