Goodbye flipflops

It's much cooler now and I am having trouble with putting away my flipflops. I have had difficulty finding a pair of shoes that my toes didn't rebel against, and so far, thanks to the daily warmups, I have been able to continue wearing my faves. I was forced to wear my Sketchers today and I didn't notice any pain or discomfort, so I guess I'll be able to endure the winter shoes. I suppose there might be a silver lining to global warming--flipflops the year 'round! We had some of the soup I made yesterday tonight, along with another pan of cornbread. My cornbread habit has been known to cause another type of discomfort--tight pants. But there is nothing better with soup. Speaking of soup, here is the recipe for the modified turnip green soup I created. The ingredient list is long, but it is easy to make. Try it tonight, with a pan of cornbread.

Root Vegetable Soup

2 pounds smoked sausage, sliced thinly. Brown in a pan until some of the grease is rendered out of it.
1 pound bag frozen turnip greens, chopped
2 cans great northern beans, drained
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
3 carrots thinly sliced, or a half bag of the shredded kind(I used those)
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed small-may use irish potato, but why???
6 tsp. chicken granules, or more--makes it richer
6 tstp beef granules--makes it even richer
1 onion, or more chopped.
1 envelope Knorr's vegetable soup
6-8 cups water, more or less
1-2 tbsp sugar
Cajun seasoning, black pepper and salt to taste-the granules tend to be salty.

Sweat the onions until soft, then add all the other ingredients in a large boiler. Stir to combine and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to med low and cook for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the potatoes are done.Taste it--does it need seasoning? Add some, then. If you use hot sausage, be careful with the Cajun seasoning.
Be sure to serve with cornbread. It is delicious and the broth is wonderful.

Just do it--it will be really tasty, and will be a change. Leftover peas or beans would fit into this recipe just fine.

Just do it.

I have been thinking about starting a blog about my favorite hobby, cooking, for a long time now. So today, I took a recipe, modified it, and after we devoured more than we should, I decided I wanted to share my "experiments" that are worthy of a second meal. When I was a new bride, more than 3 decades ago, I had to call my mother nearly every night, to be sure I was on the right track with a dish. Mother was a fabulous cook, but when I was still at home and wanting her to show me how to cook, she always put me off because she was tired and just wanted to get finished with the evening meal and relax. So I learned to cook through alot of trial and error, thanks to a very patient and supportive husband. Fast forward about 25 years and the Food Network, and I became a student of some of the best. The teacher (me) became the student (me also)!  This blog will allow me to share some of my favorites, and maybe inspire some non-cooks to put aside their fears of the kitchen.