An Amazing Soup & A Celebration

We had a very special family dinner Saturday, to celebrate three birthdays, two anniversaries, Mother's Day, and a huge welcome back to Mom & Dad. 

Not to mention, the Kentucky Derby, of course. 

There may or may not have been a little gambling going on in my house. I'm not saying. 

My tiny dining room table got stretched to fit 12 of us. All the extra chairs were brought in out of the garage, and put to use. 

There were hugs and cheers all around, many gifts, much laughter, and a very large spiral ham. 

Which was also dinner last night, and will be for a few more nights. 

That's ok....as long as I switch things up so it doesn't get tired. 

Yesterday I spent the day in the garden. It wasn't terribly warm, but as the day went on, it got downright chilly, with snow predicted overnight. 

Yup, more snow. 

It was the kind of a day that begged for a big pot of soup, no doubt. 

I decided to make ham and white bean soup. 

It was an experiment, but I figured, how bad can it be?

I got out my big red pot, and started with a classic Mirepoix: 2 large sweet onions, 2 stalks of celery, and 2 large carrots, diced. 

I always go heavy on the onions, which may be why I may have gone just a little crazy when ordering my onion plants for the season. 

That is a LOT of onions for such a tiny little crooked garden! And there are more on the other side....and a ton more that I'm sending home with Sweetie. 

Yikes. 

Anyway, I digress. 

When the veggies were fragrant and a little soft, I made a hole in the center and dropped in a tablespoon of butter. When the butter was sizzling, I tossed in some chopped garlic. I used one clove of elephant garlic, and it was the perfect amount. 

But, of course, I love garlic and can't get enough of it. 

Which is also why this happened yesterday. 

That's about a third of the garlic that I planted - this is Music Garlic. I also planted Red German and White German. 

Music is my favorite, but I think the German varieties seem to hold better for storage. 

The reality is, I love ALL garlic, so either way I wanted to plant a ton. 

Anyway, back to the soup. 

I drained and rinsed two cans of Cannellini beans. 

I chose two chunks of ham that were not sliced to throw into the soup. I had already frozen the ham bone....that will be for another pot of that amazingly incredible split pea soup that I love so much. 

I chose chunks rather than slices as this was going to simmer for a while, and I did not want the ham to get tough or dried out. 

I used the entire 48 oz container of lower sodium fat free chicken broth. 

Note to self: it's time to make more chicken broth for the freezer. 

I tossed in the beans, the ham chunks, and two bay leaves plus a small sprinkle of dried thyme, perhaps a scant 1/4 tsp. I didn't want the thyme to be overwhelming. 

I brought it to a boil, turned it down very low, and let it simmer for about 2 hours. 

I really wanted the ham to flavor the broth and the beans, and it needed some time to really do so. 

The last thing I did was grate about a cup of Gruyere cheese and toss it in. 

Well, let me tell you something, this was one of my best soups yet!  The flavor was out of this world good, as everyone agreed. 

I served it with some warm cornbread, and we all went back for seconds!

By the time dinner was over and the kitchen sparkling again, night had fallen, and it was really cold outside. 

Inside, however, was cozy and warm. I often sit after the rest of the house is asleep without any music or TV on and just enjoy my cozy home, and the quiet. 

And the glow of the candles and twinkly lights.....you can never have too many candles or twinkly lights. 

This morning the sun was streaming through the windows, but it was cold outside! We've had flurries and snow squalls off and on all day. Thankfully, nothing is sticking. 

If it did I might have to cry. 

I think Spring is trying to hold on and win out over winter, which really tends to stick around up here on the Mountain Top. 

Meanwhile, tonight I'll use some more of that ham in a cheesy noodle casserole. It will be good to have the oven on, on a day like today. Soon enough, oven season will be over and I'll be doing a lot of cooking on the grill. 

I'm ready - bring it on!