Second attempt at a blog

Once upon a time (no not the beginning of a fairy tale) I started a blog. I encouraged my husband to also start a blog, needless to say he blogs quite frequently, while my other blog, well, died. It was created originally to be a outlet for my teacher creativity.

So, I will try this again. Writing is not a huge hobby of mine, though I used to journal quite a bit in college, old school with pen and journal.

The goal of this blog is to document my "hobbies," baking, cooking, painting and running.

The hobby tonight: Cooking

Tonight's dinner: Zuppa Toscana (very much like the Olive Garden special)

Recipe:

Ingredients

• 12 links spicy pork sausage, sliced
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup diced onion
• 1 1/4 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons chicken soup base
• 4 cups water
• 2 potatoes, halved and sliced
• 2 cups sliced kale
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
2. Place sausage links on a baking sheet and bake 25 minutes, or until cooked through. Slice into 1/2 inch slices (I like them chopped up a little more).
3. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute onions until translucent; add garlic and cook 1 minute.
4. Stir in broth, water and potatoes; simmer 20 min or until potatoes are soft.
5. Reduce heat to low and add sausage, kale and cream; simmer until heated through and serve --I tend to like my kale soften than crunchier so I let it simmer for about 4 minutes.

If you want to thicken it, add a little more creamer, or add some corn starch.

I also mashed up some of the potatoes to give the soup a little more texture and added some hot pepper flakes for a little more heat

Add grated parmesan cheese

Serve and Enjoy!