Turkey Soup + Christmas in Maine

Its going, to, I think, be a beautiful Christmas. I can feel it in my bones.

Yesterday, I put the turkey soup in the crock pot, took a windy run, then bundled up and headed out to begin Christmas-ing. I delved into the INSANE Black-Friday-Weekend sales at the Kittery outlets (no crowds, easy parking-- yes please!) and finished more than half my Christmas shopping. On the way home, I stopped at two tree-selling stands and bought some wreaths. I have been lusting for real garland (not the plastic stuff) for years but have never been able to justify spending the exorbitant (to me) amounts of money on it. For example-- two dollars a foot at the Christmas tree stand? It was beautiful-- but to cover the twenty feet I need for my porch, that's a casual forty dollars. I'd rather a new pair of shoes. 

   But there's good news! Reliably, Trader Joes had fresh garland for just over 6 dollars for twenty feet. Amazing. I'm going back to get more today.

More pictures to come. I found the ribbon at a thrift store-- it has an almost burlap-like texture to it, and I love the simplicity and old-fashionedness of a pretty ribbon tied to fresh greenery. Anyway. After the chill and fun of decorating outside, we retired into our cozy kitchen for a steaming bowl of Turkey-noodle soup. I have finally used the last of the turkey!

A rich broth filled with tender chunks of turkey, big juicy carrots, and bits of celery and onion-- you can't beat turkey noodle soup for a healthy, low calorie comfort meal. 

    I would have loved to make a homemade stock like I did last year out of the turkey carcass. But stock takes time, and time was something that was in short supply last week, and we had to throw out the carcass before I was able to get to it. Oh well. Once again, Traders Joes came to the rescue with their premade turkey broth. 

Ingredients:

2 stalks of celery

1/2 white onion

4 cloves garlic

4 carrots

2 tbs turkey gravy (we had leftovers)

salt and pepper

herbs de provence (about 2 tsp)

2 48 oz boxes of Turkey broth

as much turkey as you desire (I had about a cup shredded)

about an 1/8 of a lb of spaghetti, broken up.

Start by chopping the onion, celery, and garlic. Saute this in a nonstick pan sprayed with a little olive oil until the onions are translucent. Put the veggies in the crock pot, (or just a regular pot) and add in the rest of the ingredients except the pasta. It's so easy it maybe shouldn't even be called a recipe...I had a ton of leftover carrots from Thanksgiving that were already cooked, and I used those. But raw ones will do just as well. Cook the soup on high, if using a crock pot, for about six hours. Add the pasta in an hour before eating if.

If you're doing it in a pot, simmer the soup for two hours and cook the pasta separate so it doesn't soak up all the broth. Add it in right before you serve it.

And there you have it. Just like that. 

Have a good Monday everyone.