The Groundhog told the truth.

Sucker for some snow!

We woke up this morning to about 6 inches of snow!  Actually, we woke up to Owen saying, "The snow is here!"  Last night he was having some troubles settling down and falling asleep so I told him that the snow couldn't come until he fell asleep - it worked until midnight when he wandered into the room and snuggled in with us.  Who is the sucker really?

Owen loved this random puddle and was throwing everything from snow balls to himself in it.  He was SOAKING WET when he came back inside.

Owen and Jer had a great day playing in the snow.  In fact, when Daddy didn't get him up from his nap, Owen asked if Daddy was playing in the snow.  Yes, Daddy is playing int the snow by himself.  I love the way little minds work!

Sledding down the hill behind our house!

While the boys were out playing in the snow, I made the BEST minestrone!  My sister highly recommended Ina's new book ("Barefoot Contessa Foolproof"), specifically her Winter Minestrone with Garlic Bruschetta.  Holy moley, she was SO RIGHT!  It was DELISH.  It took some time to put together, but I think that is because I was manning the littlest Stephens while the big boys were outside sledding!

He loves his puffs - when he can get them in his mouth :)

Winter Minestrone & Garlic Bruschetta
~ Serves 6-8 ~ (So either these 6-8 people are having thirds or she meant to say 16-18 people.  It makes A LOT.)

{Ingredients}
Good Olive Oil
4 ounces pancetta, 1/2-inch-diced (Trader Joe's sells the exact amount but in 1/8-inch dice.  My sister used bacon and said it was a bit overpowering.  So if you use bacon, maybe drain the pan a bit before tossing in the veggies)
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions
2 cups (1/2-inch) diced carrots (3 carrots - I had to use 5, so Ina must have used enormous carrots)
2 cups (1/2-inc) diced celery (3 stalks - ditto from above)
2 1/2 cups (1/2-inch) diced peeled butternut squash
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves (I used 1 teaspoon dried)
26 ounces canned or boxed chopped tomatoes, such as Pomi
6 to 8 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (15 ounce) can cannellini (or white kidney) beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups cooked small pasta, such as tubetti (I used orzo.  For what it is worth, my sister said not to add the full amount, but only after I had already added it.  The orzo apparently never stops expanding and tends to take over the leftovers.)
8 to 10 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves (seems like a lot, but it wilts WAY down)
1/2 cup good dry white wine (don't skip this, it gave amazing depth)
2 tablespoons store-bought pesto
Garlic Bruschetta (recipe follows)
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (oops, forgot this part but didn't miss it!)

I got crafty with this one and took it standing on top of my chair :)

{Instructions}
1)  Heat 2 tablespoons of EVOO over medium heat in a large, heavy pot or Dutch oven.  (I don't know why you need this much olive oil when you are tossing in pancetta...next time I might cut it back a bit.)  Add the pancetta and cook over medium-low heat for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned.  Add the onions, carrots, celery, squash, garlic, and thyme and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, until the vegetables begin to soften.

2)  Add the tomatoes, 6 cups of the chicken stock, the bay leaf, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper to the pot.  Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

3)  Discard the bay leaf.  Add the beans and cooked pasta and heat through.  The soup should be quite thick but if it's too thick, add more chicken stock.  Just before serving, reheat the soup, add the spinach and toss with 2 big spoons (like tossing a salad).  Cook just until the leaves are wilted.  Stir in the white wine and pesto.  Depending on the saltiness of the chicken stock, add another teaspoon or two of salt to taste.  Serve large shallow bowls of soup with a bruschetta on top.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, drizzle with olive oil, and serve hot.

Elliott enjoys eating much more than Owen EVER did.  Thankfully we are passed all that and Owie LOVED this soup!  He kept telling me, "Good soup Mommy!" and singing "soup, soup, soup, soup..."

Garlic Bruschetta
1 baguette
Good olive oil
1 garlic clove, cut in half lengthwise

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Slice the baguette at a 45 degree angle in 1/2-inch-thick slices.  Brush both sides of the bread with olive oil and bake for 6 minutes, until lightly toasted.  Take the slices out of the oven and run the surface of each one with the cut clove of garlic.

Bon Appetit!

Philly Foody Fun!

Footie jammie picture!

 We met some seriously amazing people when we were living in Arlington.  We are so blessed to be able to maintain those friendships - especially now that we are on the East Coast and are able to visit in person!  Four kids and five moves later, we finally were able to get together with our dear friends the Andersons.  Liz and Walter led our small group for two years and were such a blessing as leaders and friends.  I miss our weekly get-togethers!

This was the summer we met the Andersons and the rest of our wonderful small group.  Here's to a reunion this summer!  (Not pictured: the Andrews!)

Sometimes I wish we could all just move to the same cul-de-sac (maybe the one the Andersons live on?) and pick up where we left off.  Sigh.  Maybe in heaven??

Elliott and the Polar Bear at the Philadelphia Zoo in sub-zero weather.  Just kidding, it was 32*.

The Andersons took us the Lancaster Farmers Market where we had a very traditional lunch of hotdog pretzel rolls - AMAZING.  Seriously, delish and I kind of want one right now.  And we bought the goods to make Philly Cheese Steaks for dinner!  Philly Food is so up my alley!  But before we got to make the cheese steaks, we had quite the adventure at the Philadelphia Zoo in rather frigid weather!

Owen taking in the Polar Bear exhibit with is bear mittens.

 All-in-all, amazing weekend and I can't wait for our next visit - hopefully in this Summer!

Now for the cheese steaks!  Liz said she has only seen this particular meat:

i.e.: super thinly sliced, in Philadelphia area meat markets...I have yet to look for it here in Cville, but my next trip to the butcher shop I will take a look.

So, what you need is one green bell pepper and one white onion thinly sliced.  Start sauteing those bad boys in a big pan with a little EVOO until they are just tender.

Then you will just start adding the very thinly sliced meat to the pan on top of the peppers and onions. 

Give the meat a stir until it is browned.  Add a little salt and pepper to season the meat at this point.

Then start layering the provolone on top - yum.  Seriously, yum.

Then give it a good stir so the meat/onion/pepper mixture is good and provolone cheesy.  Then pour the mixture onto a cutting surface and chop it up a bit as it will be easier to load up the sandos.

Toast some delish deli rolls (apparently the rolls make all the difference and you want to get "good" rolls...) and stack them full of the cheese steak mixture.  DELISH!!

While Liz was cooking and I was taking some very poorly balanced pictures, Elliott thoroughly enjoyed the show in his bouncer.  This bouncer, I might add, I got from the "pass it along table" at my MOPS group.  Yay for free things!

Thank you Liz and Walter for teaching us the finer points of Philly Fine Dining!  Can't wait to do it again!