Creamy Parsnip Soup

This is a recipe from Martha's Everyday Food, so thank you (again) Martha Stewart!  It's really tasty, very easy, and only takes about 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. butter
1 lb. prepared leeks, sliced (2 cups)
1 lb. parsnips, trimmed, peeled, and cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
2 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium baking potato (about 1/2 pound), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 can (14.5 ounces) reduced sodium chicken broth (or homemade stock is even better)
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Leek garnish (see below)

Directions:

1. Heat butter in a large pot over medium heat.  Add leaks (reserving 1/2 cup for garnish). Cook, stirring, 5 minutes.
2. Add parsnips, apples, potato, broth, and 4 cups water.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until vegetabels are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Working in batches, puree soup in a blender until smooth (or use an immersion blender).  Return it to pot; stir in cream.  Season with salt and pepper.  Serve with leek garnish.
4. To make leek garnish, in a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high.  Add reserved 1/2 cup leeks; cook, stirring, until golden brown, about 3 minutes.

Halloween!

We had a very nice Halloween.  Our son had two projects to work on over the weekend, so he spent most of Saturday and a good part of Sunday getting those done.  His baseball game (the last one of the fall season) was cancelled because the other team wasn't able to get enough kids together to play.  Hopefully they'll be able to reschedule it, but it did make the day easier overall.  Our older daughter went home with a friend after mass, so they had a fun time carving pumpkins and playing together.  Our little one spent a long time playing outside since it was an absolutely gorgeous day.  A few of the neighbor kids came out, too, so they all ran around in the driveway and in and out of each other's houses for a long time.

After picking our daughter up, I fed the kids and they got into their costumes.  The Saints and Giants were both playing, so Mike stayed home to keep the candy bowl filled (he put it out on the porch instead of answering the door) and I took the kids and the dog out trick-or-treating.  Our neighborhood was a madhouse (as usual), but the kids had a good time and brought home tons of candy.  The girls stayed up long enough to hand out the last of the candy and then they all went to bed.

They claimed it was the best Halloween ever - although they do tend to say that every year.

Pictures from our little one's Halloween party at school:

Our Little Girl Is Seven!

Opening gifts the night we got back.

So excited it's finally her birthday!

A few pictures from our daughter's birthday.  We didn't do parties for her or her brother this year, but we had a lovely celebration as a family.  Sometimes quiet is really nice!

Matching PJs for her and her American Girl doll

The doll desk she'd been really hoping to get.

  

Family Reunion - Sunday

Our older daughter's birthday was today!  She was very excited to FINALLY be turning seven, but was a little disappointed that she'd be spending the day on a plane.  She knew that she'd be able to open her presents when we got home, though, so that seemed to make things better.

We had to be out of the house by 10:00, so most of the morning was devoted to packing.  Mike's sister made a breakfast casserole the day before, so we all had a very tasty breakfast before leaving.  We took a few last pictures outside and then everyone headed out in their various directions.  We went right to the airport to catch our flight to Atlanta.  The flight was oversold by a lot and we tried to get bumped since they were offering $600 per person in travel vouchers, but they weren't able to get all of us to San Francisco on other flights.  I did offer to send the kids on their own, but the woman at the desk declined - I wonder why?

The flights were fine and the kids did really well even though we didn't have the individual TV screens this time.  We found out that the first officer on the flight was also celebrating his birthday that day, so he made sure to wish our daughter his best as we were getting off of the plane. 

We grabbed a quick dinner and then let our kiddo open her gifts.  There were a couple that had been delivered to Mike's office while we were gone (the one she'd really been hoping for), so she got to open those the next day.

It was a fantastic vacation.  None of us were ready to leave, which is always a good sign!  We are already talking about where to go and what to do for our next reunion, in two years.