Beer Cheese Soup

What do you get when you spend a cold day at an amusement park owned by a beer company? Yup, you are right- beer cheese soup for dinner!

This one was semi- homemade. You will have to cut me some slack since I did just spend 6 hours at an amusement park with my husband, a 6 year old, a (2 days shy of being) 5 year old, a fairly new 4 year old and a 9 month old grumpy baby. As usual, I made it up as I went a long. It was good BUT (and there is always a but) next time I will use more cheese and a darker beer.

I made garlic bread sticks with it and they were perfect for dipping. I would love to do sourdough bread bowls but the only ones the store sells are huge. I will have to figure out how to make them myself.

Beer Cheese Soup (the way I will do it next time)
2 cans "Cream of" something- chicken, celery, mushroom, etc (I used mushroom)
2 bottles of beer (Sam Adams Winter Ale or Oktoberfest or something like that)
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of Worcestershire
1/4 tsp paprika
a little salt, pepper, and whatever else you love
3 cups sharp cheddar
4 slices of bacon, fried and crumbled

Pour cans of soup, garlic, Worcestershire, and seasonings into medium saucepan. Slowly pour in beer, heat on medium heat until simmering. Stir cheese in slowly. Continue stirring until cheese is melted. Pour into bowls and top with bacon.

Pizza Heaven

Ansley and I made the pizza tonight. We had so much fun. I am so glad she is big enough to start cooking with me. I chopped the mushrooms and sliced the mozzarella and prosciutto and she spread the ingredients out. She said she wasn't going to like eating it because of the mushrooms and I could feel the dinner battle brewing.

Fast forward 20 minutes, we are at the table and Ansley takes her first bite. "Mother, this is the best pizza you ever made BUT Daddy's is better." Really? I guess for a mushroom hater and picky eater, it's a pretty good compliment but I could have done without the comparison since "Daddy's pizza" starts off frozen and is out of a box (a Publix one at that).

Anyways, it was an amazing pizza and I will definitely be cooking it again.

Homemade Pizza with wild mushrooms, prosciutto,gorgonzola,and both fresh and shredded mozzarella
Kristen- *****
Matt- *****
Ansley- *****

5 stars all around!!!