Zoopa!!!

One of my all time favorite soups is the Zoopa Toscana you will find at Olive Garden.

 One of my co-workers found the recipe but of course I modified it and I think it's even better.

 I've made it twice and shared it and everybody agrees!!

 My version is even heartier than the original with a nice little kick of heat!

More of the goods and less liquid!

It's so good I just have to share my revised recipe.

• 2 b ground Italian Sausage (I used 1lb hot and l lb mild)
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper
• 2 large diced white or yellow onion
• half lb bacon
• 2 heaping tbsp garlic puree
• 1 qt chicken broth
• 4 cubes of chicken bouillon
• 2 cups heavy cream
• about 2-3 large russet potatoes
• 1/2 to 1 bunch of kale

1. Saute Italian Sausage and crushed red pepper in a large pot. Drain excess fat.
2. Saute bacon, onions and garlic over low to medium heat for approximately 15 min. or until onions are soft.
3. Add chicken stock and bouillon cubes and heat until it starts to boil.
4. Add sliced potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour.
5. Add heavy cream and cook until thoroughly heated.
6. star in sausage and kale, let all heat through and serve.

I am not a very precise cook, I probably didn't do this exactly in the order listed above, you just can't go wrong with this one. The first time I made it I put it all in a crock pot and it cooked for a couple of hours and it was still delish! It creates almost more of a stew than a soup, you can certain add more water or chicken broth to your taste and you can easily cut the recipe in half. This will make about 15 servings and creates yummy leftovers!

Here is the Original Recipe I adapted for my recipe above.

I also made these super yummy and super easy Mini Garlic Muffins!! A perfect compliment to the soup!

I wish I had pictures but I was cooking for company last night and didn't have a chance to photogragh any of the process. The muffins are all gone and 4 of us put quite a dent in the soup! I'm sure my husband and I will finish it off today!

ENJOY and please let me know if you make it!

Kristi

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was in the mood to bake yesterday and poured through my cookbooks. Funny thing is there was this cookbook in there I don't remember seeing before. It has an inscription in it from "mom" but neither my husband or I have seen it before. It's absolutely chock full of recipes...no pictures, just recipe after recipe.

I poured through them and found several I wanted to try but when I searched the cupboard I was missing 1 or 2 key ingredients and did not want to make a run to the store.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies!

So I settled on Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. I've had store bought and they were pretty good so I thought these were right up my alley. Anything with Pumpkin and anything with Chocolate Chips so the combination seemed a sure thing, I was not disappointed. I rarely use a recipe without tweaking it so I've included my tweaks in italics, you can use them or not. So without further adieu...

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/2 Cups (3 sticks) butter, softened

2 cups packed brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin

1 egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract (I doubled the vanilla)

4 cups all-purpose flour (I used about half ww flour and half all-purpose)

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon (I also added a teaspoon pumpkin pie spice)

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups (12 ounces) chocolate chips (I used 3 cups)

Beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated suger in a bowl until light and flutty. Add the pumpkin, egg and vanilla and mix well. Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and mix well. Stir in the oats and chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart on to a cookie sheet. (I always make gigantic cookies so I dropped them with a large spoon, probably at least double what the recipes suggests.) Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. (because my cookies were so much bigger they cooked for at least 15 minutes, but I kept an eagle eye on them. I also decreased the temp to about 325.) Cool on the cookie sheet for 1 minute. Remove to the wire rack to cool completely. Yield: 10 dozen cookies. (I got about30 gigantic cookies from this recipe, it's quite a big recipe.)





We're melting!!!!

BIG cookie!!!



Good enough to EAT!!! Grab a glass of milk!!

I hope you enjoy these as much as we did!

The name of the cookbook is

Sweet Endings published by Favorite Recipes Press.

And don't forget my After Christmas Give Away!!
 Last day to choose your favorite,
 tomorrow I will randomly draw the winner!

Kristi

http://dreamsome.etsy.com/

http://www.artfire.com/users/KristiBowmanDesign

Merry Christmas!