Turkey Noodle Soup

We baked up a good tasting turkey the other day. The only problem with baking a yummy turkey is what do you do with all of the left overs? Well, I decided to make some homemade soup and it was yummy in my family's tummy.

TURKEY NOODLE SOUP
turkey stock (see below on how to make it)
4 C carrots, chopped
4 C onions, chopped
4 C celery, chopped
turkey
5 garlic cloves, chopped
a 16 oz. bag of bow tie pasta
grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

First, you need to take the left over turkey bones and the meat stuck to the bone and put it in a large pot. Cover the turkey bones with water. Add a bunch of cut up carrots, onions, and celery to the pot. I put in about 2 cups of each. Add a few cloves of garlic too. Bring the stock base to a boil then let it simmer for about 4 hours. After the stock has simmered strain all the extras and chunks from the broth. Pour the broth into a new pot. Add the rest of the carrots, onions, and celery. Add 3 cloves of garlic too. Bring the broth and veggies to a boil then let them simmer until the veggies are soft yet still bitey. Add the turkey meat pieces and the bag of noodles. Let the soup cook on medium heat for another 10-12 minutes or until noodles are al dente. Remove soup from heat and let sit for a few minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve in a bowl with Parmesan cheese sprinkled over the soup.

Mom's Sugar Cookies

Gramma MAS had a few holiday traditions. Our favorite was her homemade sugar cookies. Well, my mom has kept that tradition alive. She altered Gramma's recipe a bit and it creates the most moist, light sugar cookies in the world. I can never get them quite right though... maybe she's holding out on a secret ingredient?

MOM'S SUGAR COOKIES
1/2 C butter, softened
1 C sugar
2 eggs
2 T heavy cream
1 t vanilla
2 1/2 C flour
1/2 t salt
1/4 t baking soda

Mix flour, salt and soda in a bowl. In a separate bowl cream butter, sugar, eggs, cream and vanilla. Combine the flour mixture with the creamed ingredients and mix well. Cover the dough and refrigerate for 2 hours. After the dough has chilled preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll the dough out onto a slightly oiled or floured surface until it is about 1/2 inch thick. Cut out the cookies with cookie cutters then place on a lightly sprayed baking sheet. Bake for 6-8 minutes or until barely golden on top and edges. Let the cookies sit on the sheet for a few minutes after you remove them from the oven. Transfer them to a wax paper lined cooling rack. Let the cookies sit for about 30 minutes before frosting them.

CREAMY COOKIE FROSTING
1 C powdered sugar
1/4 t salt
2 t vanilla
2+ T heavy cream
food coloring or coloring paste

Blend the sugar, salt, vanilla and cream on high until mixed. If you need to, add some more cream to achieve the desired consistency. Tint with coloring. Spread on cooled cookies. Enjoy!