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Monday, November 19, 2007

Happy Birthdays, Soup, Holiday Walking And You

Dear Dawn...I do hope you will forgive me being so late with this wish. I feel just awful but I hope you know how much I adore you. You are a bright spirit with a sweet heart. I wish I could be there to give you this bouquet in person....please join me in wishing Dawn a happy birthday! Now, this pretty soccer ball is to honor Dawn's oh so pretty daughter Jayla! Birthday greetings are sent to her as well! She is a special little soccer star and a total sweetie. Happy Birthday to a darlin' young lady! Soup weather is here, although, to be totally honest, I love soup so much that any weather is right for me to eat a huge bowl of goodness. Our wonderful Penny recently asked if anyone had a recipe for cream of broccoli soup. I have one from my late mother in law. She loved to make this for me whenever we cam home and passed the recipe on to me. It is easy to make...well...for me to make it you KNOW it must be easy right? Penny? I don't know if this one will pass the taste test at your house but I hope you will give it a try! I know that after reading Penny's post, I decided that we should have it for dinner tonight! Grace and I did our grocery shopping (and oh how crowded the store was! I can only imagine how awful it will be over the next 2 days!), came home and made a big pot of this soup. Dan always loves it and Grace does too. It is a warm reminder of Bill's mom.
Helen's Cream Of Broccoli Soup ~~~ 1 lb frozen broccoli, 8 oz. butter, 1 cup flour, 1 quart chicken stock (homemade or boxed/canned or 4 chicken bouillon cubes dissolved in 1 quart of water), 1 quart half and half, 1 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. white pepper, ~~~ Cut broccoli in 1/2 inch pieces. Steam in 1/2 cup of water until tender. Do not drain. Set aside. Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the flour to make a roux. Cook for 2-4 minutes. Add chicken stock, stirring with a wire whip and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and add broccoli, half and half, salt and pepper. Heat well but do not bring to a boil. Enjoy with crusty bread and a nice salad.
We had a busy weekend. Our dear friends J & B came up from Tennessee and, along with our buddy T, spend Saturday evening with them. Great dinner, good conversation and happy laughter. On Sunday we picked up my mother and we all went to church. She tires easily since the surgery but was happy to get back into her favorite pew! The service was lovely and the music was especially lovely which my mother always enjoys. There was a Thanksgiving dinner at the church after services and we all enjoyed that event. Our minister and his wife sat across from us and they so enjoyed talking to Grace. I think he has a soft spot in his heart where she is concerned and gets so tickled by her giggles, her conversation and her facial expressions. Our community had a Holiday Walk along Main Street that afternoon. It was cloudy and quite cool but Bill, Grace and I had a lot of fun. All of the sweet shops were open, as were the historic stone houses, old town hall and the near by churches including our own. Lots of smiling faces passing by, carolers, dancers and horse drawn carriages. The restaurants were served hot spiced cider and baked goods, all free of course! Each shop had special sales and many fun, free giveaways. The theme this year was "It's A Wonderful Life". There was a Jimmy Stewart impersonator that was marvelous and a Mr. Stewart look alike contest. All of the shops and buildings had screens showing the film and all the folks participating were dressed to represent the era in which the film was set. After our walk we met our friend T and went to see "Fred Claus". Grace just had the best time! It was silly and sweet all at the same time. After the movie we all had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. Just a sweet, simple day and exactly the sort I love. I hope your weekend was especially nice. Have a great Tuesday! Turkey Day is fast approaching!

19 comments:

Penny from Enjoying The Simple Things said...

Just popped in quickly to say thank you for the recipe! I will let you know when I make it..
Hugs,
Penny

regina barnett said...

LOVED ALL THE HISTORIAL HOMES AND BUILDINGS. ENJOY LOOKING AT THEM. VERY PRETTY.

Tammy said...

I sure would have loved to see the wonderful Christmas festivities in person...I love things like this! And It's a Wonderful Life is one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies, so I would have been in my element!
Thank for sharing the photos!
(And for stopping by today, too!)
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Anonymous said...

What an awesome tour!! Thank you Sue! I loved seeing all of it - my kind of tour!!
I'm just stopping by to wish you and your sweet family a very Happy Thanksgiving!


xo,
Kim

Mockingbird Hill said...

What a great way to spend an afternoon...and everything looks so beautiful! We have a similar walk here, and the homes are done in all of their holiday finery, but somehow doing it in shorts just doesn't seem quite the same! Thanks for giving us Florida girls a special start to the season...

Cassie

Rose of Sharon said...

What a neat place! I want to live there!

You have a very neat blog! I found you through Brenda and I will come back to visit! Please come and visit me at my blog too!

Happy Thanksgiving! Sharon

Alice said...

Thanks for sharing your busy weekend with us. I loved all the pictures of the homes and especially the one of the kitchen.

My broccoli soup recipe is made with fresh broccoli and that's an extra bit of bother and cooking time. I'm going to try your mother-in-law's recipe. I'm sure it has the same great taste in less time with less effort.

Janet said...

Sue,

What a lovely town! May I come and live there? I love the stone buildings; very different from our clapboard ( and vinyl and aluminum, but sshh, we won't mention those). Of course I love "Its a Wonderful Life"!

Janet

Nina Diane said...

thanks so much for sharing those pictures...absoutley beautiful!

Sandra said...

I loved this and thank you for the recipe :)

Mom2fur said...

First, Birthday Greetings all around!
Second...I wanna live in that town! I really, really do! It's so pretty!
Third...I loooove cream of broccoli soup and might just have to try this recipe.
And last...thanks for the nice comment on my apron tutorial. This should be super easy for Gracie to do, and she can add her own personal touch!

Colleen - the AmAzINg Mrs. B said...

I am sooooo thanksful for Bolggers! That's how I found you - and it's really nice because we all seem to enjoy similar things, ideas, decorating and fellowship! I see familiar faces, names and old "new " friends!
Colleen

Sandi @the WhistleStop Cafe said...

After that holiday stroll~ I am ready for a bowl of yummy soup!

Dawn Bibbs said...

Awww, Sue, you're such a sweetie. Thank you SO much for the wonderful birthday greetings. Jayla LOVES that soccer ball :-). And the flowers are gorgeous. And for the record, I just "pretended" that you were handing them to me...and I thank you :-).

What great pictures you shared. Looks like fun!!!

Thanks again, my friend and have a Wonderful Thanksgiving.

Gill said...

That does sound like the perfect day~!
I am glad you were able to get such amazing photos on your walk.
It all looks so Christmassy!
Enjoy your upcoming Thanksgiving!
xo
Gillian

Anonymous said...

So glad to have you back in full force! this is my kinda susie Q.Glad you had a great time,love the walk.

Jolene George said...

How beautiful everything is!!! Thall shalt not covet all the pretty things Susie gets to see.

Sandy said...

Your town is charming! it looks so romantic and cozy, lucky you. This makes me want to take a look at my own little corner of the world. I get so used to seeing it that I don't see it through new eyes, think I'll take another peek of appreciation. Thanks!
Miss Sandy

Meggie said...

Thanks for the soup recipe, SusieQ. I'll be sure to try it. I LOVE broccoli soup at any time of the year.