Merry, Merry.

Puppies, a lack of a husband, and the general Christmas season have interrupted my blogging.  I apologize.  I must say, I'm enjoying Christmas much more than I did last year (interpret--I am grateful for stability!) and my house is all decked out.  This weekend I plan to snap a few pictures to share with everyone, once I *hopefully* get my outside decorations up, and of course, my husband gets back with his snazzier camera.  While he's been gone I've been making things merrier.  Present purchasing is almost complete, I'm working on Christmas cards and wrapping, and I'm trying to get some baking done before he gets home on Saturday.  I've also gotten a little adventurous while Mr. Whit's been away and tried some new recipes, mostly ones that I know he'll never eat.  My husband is a meat, potatoes, and bread man--seriously, that's ALL he eats--so when I make meals that are mainly veggies and cheese, he normally eats McDonalds for supper.  In order to help him keep his physique semi-normal, I try to limit his McD's intake as much as possible.

Today I want to share my new favorite recipe.  It's not very Christmasy, but I think it's absolutely delicious and I've made it twice since Whit's been gone (because when I give you the ingredients, you'll see that he wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole).  It's asparagus soup.  Cold weather get me more excited to eat soup anyway, so I figured there was no better time than the present to try it.  Now, I cannot say that I'm so awesome I made this up on my own, I did actually get the recipe from a combination of Food Network stars, but I have tweaked it and made it my own.

1 bunch of fresh asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/4 onion, diced
1 green onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp butter
3 c. chicken stock
basil & parsley to taste
salt & pepper to taste
Generous dollop of sour cream

Garnish:
mix together equal parts of goat cheese and sour cream (I recommend using an herbed goat cheese)

Melt the butter in a saucepan, saute onion and green onion ~5 minutes, until translucent.  Add garlic and saute an additional minute.  Add asparagus and cook for 5 more minutes, then season with herbs, salt & pepper.  Add chicken stock, bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat and let simmer for 10-15 minutes until the asparagus is very tender.  Remove from heat and let cool about 5 minutes, THEN bring out your fun immersion blender (or pour this into your regular blender) and puree until smooth.  Mix in sour cream.  Serve with a dollop of the goat cheese/sour cream mixture in the middle to enjoy with your yummy soup!

The most fun part is getting to use my fancy immersion blender when I make this.

Try it, if you like asparagus I promise you'll like it, and let me know what you think.  If it's absolutely rotten for you, it's all the more for me!