Last night we went and picked out our Christmas tree. I don’t mean to exaggerate but it may be the best tree in the history of all our Christmas trees. To be honest, I’m a little intimidated to decorate it because I feel that my decorating abilities may be less than a tree of this magnitude deserves. I’d show you a picture of it in all its undecorated glory, but that would involve getting up off this warm couch to find my camera.
Every year at the tree lot, P and I engage in a lively discussion over what size tree we should buy. This is largely due to the fact that twelve years ago when we bought our first tree for this house, it was so big that we couldn’t get it through our front door. In my defense, I was just very enthusiastic about our nine foot ceilings and how they meant we could buy a tall tree. What I failed to factor in was a little thing called circumference. Geometry was never really my strongest subject.
I’m not even sure that circumference has anything to do with Geometry. Maybe I could write a seven step proof to figure it out. Oh wait, I forgot that there is NEVER another reason EVER in the history of your life to write a seven step proof once you barely pass Geometry.
Anyway, I need to go make sure all my lights still work because I plan to spend the better part of the day wrapping this baby with a thousand points of light. I just hope I can make it proud.
And I totally meant what I said yesterday about my intention to discuss a soup recipe. It’s been cold and rainy here all week (rumor has it we may have snow flurries on Friday which SURE WE WILL) so I’ve made all manner of soups and gumbos to help us through the long winter.
This one has been my favorite of the week. Super easy and like a warm hug on a winter’s day.
(If warm hugs were made of cheese tortellini.)
Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup
1 pound Italian sausage, casings removed (mild or spicy depending on your preference)
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups beef stock
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup red wine
28 oz. can peeled tomatoes, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
8 oz. can tomato sauce
3 zucchini, chopped
8 ounces cheese tortellini
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 tbs. chopped fresh parsley
Grated parmesan cheese for topping
Brown the sausage in a large pot. Drain all the grease except for 1 tablespoon, then add the onions and garlic and saute for 5 more minutes.
Add the beef stock, water, wine, tomatoes, carrots, basil, oregano and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for 30 minutes.
Add the zucchini, tortellini, green bell pepper and parsley. Simmer until tortellini is cooked (about 8-10 minutes). Serve in bowls topped with grated parmesan cheese.
It’s so good and you can make it even if you know nothing about concave polygons.
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Thanks for the mental pic of you and P *birthing* that tree through the door! HILARIOUS!!!!
I, too, vowed to forget everything I ever learned in geometry, but then we decided to homeschool. Five kids. All the way through high school. I’ve done high school math five times. And you know what? I like geometry now. Last week I actually used it, when my guys hauled our well pump up out of the ground and had the flexible pipe coiled around in huge circles. Hubby said he wanted to know how deep the well was, so I measured the diameter of the coil, multiplied by pi, and then by the number of coils. (The guys all stood there looking at me like I was a three-headed goat.) 330 feet deep. It was such an I-told-you-so moment for me with the kids, since I’m forever telling them “You never know when you’re going to use this stuff!”
Have fun decorating!
Great minds thinks alike. I made this (almost) exact same soup Tuesday and it was GREAT. When my oldest son was about 18 months old, we went to a friend’s place and cut down a tree. It’s amazing how much smaller a tree looks in a field than it does when you get it in the house. We barely got it through the door and really never did find a place to put it that it wasn’t in the way the entire Christmas season. I laughed so hard I cried. When I called my dad, he laughed so hard he almost fell out of his chair. Christmas is a lot about making memories and that is one of my all-time favorites. Thanks for reminding me of it.
First, did I tell you I really like the Christmas colors. Nive, very nice. The soup sounds yummy. Yep, they are calling for snow flurries for us too, I won’t hold my breath. Probably be 85 degrees or something. How El Paso gets snow and we don’t I’ll never understand. Have a great day “lighting” the world!
It scares me that you remember that a seven step proof ever existed.
First, we had a Christmas tree once that was so big that my neighbor had to come over with his CHAIN SAW to cut off part of the trunk in my DEN. The Griswolds ain’t got nuttin on us.
Second, sausage casings gross me out. The soup sounds lovely, but I think I’ll find sausage already out of the casing. Blech.
Third, Karen (comment #2) – bravo and huh? I’m proud of you and your geometric skillz. It has just been made crystal clear to me that it’s a DANG GOOD THING that I don’t homeschool. I barely BARELY made it outta geometry, too.
Fourth, supposed to snow here, too, on Saturday. Which, of course, means it’ll be somewhere in the mid 60′s. Because when our weather people predict snow, it’s a guarantee that they’re not only off, but off by epic proportions. Wish I had a job where I got paid good money to be SO WRONG.
They’re predicting possible snow for Houston on Friday too! I don’t believe them, but everyone else seems to be content with the chance of white stuff!
I think I may need to go make some soup now. Have fun with your tree!
yummy that soup sounds really good! Can’t wait to see your tree! I’m sure you will make it proud!
I don’t eat tubed meat and my husband doesn’t eat soup. Does our love for wine and pasta make up for it?? …maybe.
YUM!
Yum girl! This sounds so good! I still use your meatball recipe on a regular basis, and I’ve even made it for other people, so I totally trust that this will blow Campbell’s out of the water. Post as many recipes as it takes to forget about geometry!
I’m sure the soup is delicious, and if you ever want to make me some, you know where to find me. I just have a rule: If a reciped includes the word “chopped” more than twice, its NOT for me.
By the way, I made your monkey bread recipe on one of my “Fat Girl Friday Nights.” (You know, rent chic flicks alone and eat ice cream for dinner.) Anyway, I had no idea how much the dough would rise, and I guess I wasn’t paying attention, and then I had to remove it from the grooves in the wire rack above it. And I’m considering emailing you a pic of the super burn mark on my arm. It gave me flashbacks to Thanksgivings when I actually cooked it all by myself.
Please remind me that I am NOT domestic and that I should just stick to crunching numbers.
Do you have an idea how many servings that soup recipe makes? Will it feed six people?
I’m not much of a soup maker or eater, but I do love gumbo. My favorite recipe is to buy a frozen pan of it from Sam’s, preheat the oven and put the pan in. I make some rice and cheddar garlic biscuits and an hour later we have authentic Louisiana Gumbo. It’s only $10 and is enough for 2 family meals!
The picture of you with the big tree 12 years ago reminds me of Christmas Vacation when he cuts the ties on the tree…and everything explodes, LOL
Sounds like a great recipe! I’ve been making soup a lot, so I’ll have to try this.
-FringeGirl
I’m with you for the whole “bigger is always better” concept with Christmas trees, I will be trying that soup recipe soon, and barely passed the hated geometry as well. Looks like we have a lot in common!
“Oh wait, I forgot that there is NEVER another reason EVER in the history of your life to write a seven step proof once you barely pass Geometry.”
LOL–you just described my 9th grade year. Ha!
So-what happened with your nephew? We want an update!
The statement that MADE my day?
“Maybe I could write a seven step proof to figure it out. Oh wait, I forgot that there is NEVER another reason EVER in the history of your life to write a seven step proof once you barely pass Geometry.”
YES! THANK YOU! I totally had an argument with my Geometry teacher in high school about how I would never use proofs in the real world (she was all like “yes you will!”). I can see using the LOGIC skill but not the proof itself.
This post cracked me up. Thanks for the laugh!
Shut UP. I had forgotten all about proofs until you said that! Let me live in my oblivion! Ignorance is bliss!
That soup sounds like bliss, too… thanks for sharing!
I am so glad that you have a ridiculously wonderful tree this year. I’m sure that you will do it proud. As for myself, my tree is ridiculously pathetic this year.
AGH! The seven step proof! So glad that’s over.
Soup sounds delish!
You lost me immediately after the word, “circumference” because my eyes glazed over and I was back in ninth grade math, drooling over Joe Scorgie sitting ahead of me. Didn’t learn a darn thing, and nearly flunked math. It happens.
But then you brought me back with food… Isn’t that always the way of it?
I thought for sure it said “like a warm hog on a winter’s day”…guess I better get my eyes checked
I loooove tortellini soup, but I’ve never tried it with sausage. Great recipe!
I almost failed Geometry too. I now fail to see how I would ever use it in real life. Except maybe in buying our Christmas tree. I made T go out and get one yesterday, even though he wasn’t feeling the best. I justified my shrewishness in the fact that I had asked him to get a tree the day earlier and he said, “I don’t feel like it, I’ll wait until tomorrow.” A promise is a promise.
I so totally agree with your title. We are getting our tree on Saturday and I can hardly wait. I love a tall tree, but the circumference issue gets us every time. We need a tree that is 12 feet tall and 2 feet wide. I don’t think Nature makes that kind.
We too had a Clark Griswold Christmas Tree the first year we moved into our house with super tall ceilings…it’s the joy of a tall tree that clouds the diameter factor.
We had to cut off a good portion of the bottom of that tree and then trim up the sides to re-shape it because it just about took up our entire living room! I think we cut off as much as we left.
Here’s to wonderful Christmas memories!Glad you found a great tree this year, I can’t wait to get ours!
Made the soup today for lunch and it got rave reviews from the family!! This will definitely be added to the recipe stash.
I too had a ginormous tree one year. It was sooo large in circumference (and the cats so wild as they ran up it) that I had to wire the tree to the window sill to keep it from CONTINUING to topple over all Christmas season. LOL. Had forgotten that, until your post. Thanks for the memories.
My mom has been making this soup for years and you are right…it is yummy. Seriously, every ingredient is the same except we’ve never added green peppers.
And I barely passed Geometry too. Why was it necessary to prove that a triangle was a triangle? It just was.
Great posts on both Thursday and Friday.
Have a good shopping weekend!
I made this soup on Sunday. So yummy! Thanks for a great recipe! I’m so glad my husband is great with left overs because it makes a ton! Also, I barely passed geometry too. Maybe if I brush up on my math skills I could half the recipe. Or not… It freezes well!
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