Semi-Apologies, Big News, Crab and Tortellini Soup...

First of all, I semi-apologize for being absent last week and the good majority of this week. There have been some major developments among The Lady's household, and so I've been managing that.

What are these developments? Well! Frank and I will finally be moving OUT of the box! We've secured an apartment within the Country Club Villa complex in North-East San Jose. It's situated at the edge of the Foothills right near the San Jose Country Club. On February 13 (Happy Valentine's Day to us!) we'll get the keys to our huge, 900 sq ft 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment. That's right, I said it! 2 whole bedrooms and 2 whole bathrooms! I was literally lost for words when I got the call that our applications had been approved. We're planning a combo House warming/Birthday Party on April 2nd, so keep your eyes open for that!

As for the crab, well, what can I say... The January Sons of Sicily Crab Feed was amazing, as usual. Since February's feed is always so crowded and sells out quickly, January is more relaxed and roomier. Despite the crab being small, it was delicious! I'm nearly an expert crab cleaner and I didn't get one single whole piece of crab out of the shells I cleaned. I was a little frustrated with my ability, but then I realized it had everything to do with the way they were cracked, and the size of the crab. ugh! Anyway, I'm very excited about February's crab feed, because I fully intend to eat my weight in crab with my whole family. That photo is me and momma at last years January Crab Feed.

And now, this amazing creation I made for dinner I call Spicy Tortellini Soup! This soup didn't follow a recipe, rather, I'm trying to clean out my refrigerator in an effort to NOT move food. So I knew that we had a package of tortellini, some chicken broth, a can of tomatoes and a bag of onions onions. I picked up some spicy italian sausage links, spinach and green onion at the store, and used everything else from home. 

I removed the sausage from the casing and crumbled and browned it in the bottom of a heavy pot. I sauteed diced onion and crushed garlic in the renderings from the sausage. I added a can of diced tomatoes flavored with roasted garlic to the mix. I let it all simmer together and dissolved 2 chicken bullion cubes in hot water. I buy the cheap kind, it's called Caldo de Pollo. I added that to about 4 cups of water let it warm before adding it to my big pot. I also had about 2 cups of left over chicken broth from the Cream of Cauliflower soup so I threw that in as well.

After the whole pot was boiling, I added a whole 1 lb package of cheese tortellini. I salted the soup with a hefty serving of Pete's salt, black pepper, garlic powder and dried basil. As the tortellini were about done cooking, I added about 3 cups of chopped fresh baby spinach. When the tortellini were done cooking I turned the burner off and let the spinach wilt and the soup cool. I served it with plain biscuits and topped it with Parmesan cheese and green onion. Keep in mind that isn't my photo because I'd left my phone in the car and didn't take a one. Sorry! There's a lot left over and I brought some for lunch today, so I might replace this photo with my own before lunch.

The result: Wow, this soup was really good. While I felt it needed some additional flavoring, it came out really well for not having a recipe, and for never having made soup. If you have any recommendations for adding some flavor, I'd love to hear them!

Keep an eye out for another recipe coming soon, and you can be sure to expect a video tour of the empty box apartment. I might even give a "before" tour of the new apartment and one "after" when it's all furnished! In the words of the wonderful Ru Paul "I'm so excited I could just spit!"

Absolutely,

The  Lady