Firsts

We had our first snow fall of the year this week. Most other neighboring towns had their first snow fall a few weeks ago, but for some reason it never snowed at our house until this week. All day long, Clara kept wanting to make a snowman. She was so sad when she discovered there just wasn't enough snow to build one. She sure had fun tromping through the snow though!Clara received some new bows for her hair. As soon as she saw them, she had to wear all 4 new ones at once. I'm glad she likes them so much!
Another first for this week is a new recipe. I love homemade soups. With the cold weather, I figured I should try out a new soup recipe. Jeremy loved it, which is a big success as far as soups go. So if you are wanting to try a yummy warm meal, here's the recipe:

Sausage & Spinach Soup

5 Tbs unsalted butter
1/4 lb fresh mushrooms, washed, dried, trimmed, and diced
1 scallion, chopped
5 Tbs all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
black pepper (preferably freshly ground)
ground nutmeg (optional)
1/4 lb cream cheese, softened and cut into cubes
1 cup grated Swiss cheese
3/4 lb fresh spinach, washed, trimmed, cooked, and chopped
1/2 lb Italian sausage, cooked and crumbled

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. In it slowly sauté the mushrooms and scallion until tender. Add flour and stir just until flour is cooked, a couple of minutes. Whisk in first chicken broth and then milk, stirring until thickened. Add salt if desired, pepper, nutmeg if desired, cream cheese, and swiss cheese; stir until melted. Then stir in spinach and sausage. Heat and stir very gently. Season to taste. Serve hot.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Clara loves to wear hats. We got a few cute pictures of her trying some on this week. I've posted them for your viewing pleasure. :)