Holiday Parade

Today I took the kids to the Holiday Parade in Newton, NJ. It's not the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade but it was nice and the kids had fun. Next year we know to bring a bag with us to collect the candy! We got so much candy it was falling out of our pockets! And to think we had almost finished all our Halloween candy!

My Favorite soup ever!

I got this recipe in the news paper sometime last year and I have made it several times. I've improvised it with left over (homemade) Mac & Cheese and also with leftover mashed potatoes.

Vermont Cheddar Bisque


1 1/2 Cups peeled potatoes cut into cubes
2 Cups Chicken broth
1/4 Cup butter (the original recipe says unsalted, but I never have that)
1 Cup finely chopped onions (or in my case, generous amount of onion powder instead!)
3 TBSP all purpose flour
1 1/2 Cups Milk
2 tsp Mustard (original recipe say Dijon, but again I never have that so use what you got!)
1 1/2 Cups shredded EXTRA SHARP Cheddar cheese


1. Combine potatoes and broth in a large stockpot. Cover and bring to a simmer. Cook until potatoes are tender about 8 minutes. Remove from heat.

2. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions and cook, stirring until translucent, 6 or 8 minutes. (for onion power, I just add it to the melted butter) Add flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir into Potato mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring until thickened.

3. Add Milk and cook, stirring, about 8 minutes. Do not boil. Remove from heat and stir in mustard and about half the cheese. Stir until melted and then add remaining cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste.

So good!