A Day of Firsts

Yesterday was quite remarkable for me.

It wasn’t the first day the Twin Cities ever got to 44 degrees on a March day.  However, since we’ve had a very long, brutally cold, and snowiest winter, 44 degrees seems wonderfully remarkable!  🙂  And, we had a sunny day to boot!

The other first had to do with my culinary skills.  Except for a very few dishes, I always follow a recipe.  Yesterday, however, I threw all caution to the wind!  I made Sarah’s Tuscan Soup (in the March issue of Stanton Sunshine magazine – see http://stantonsunshine.net/2014/03/02/sarahs-tuscan-soup/) and followed the directions exactly – which was to use your own discretion for the amounts of each ingredient.  So how did my experiment turn out?

First, I should give you a little background on my husband’s tastes.  He adds spices and more pepper to almost everything I make — right at the table.  You should know that in this experiment, he did not.  And it was spicy enough for him!  Which means, since I got a little carried away with the red pepper flakes and fresh garlic I threw in, I needed to drink lots of milk to calm down the fire in my mouth.  So….the recipe done Mrs. Stanton’s way, received thumbs up AND thumbs down.

I must say that I think this soup is a nice balance of protein, starch, and lots of healthy vegetables.  Try it!   🙂