Cough, Cough... I mean, Yum!

As I'm sitting here waiting for Caitlyn & Dawson to wind down their 1 1/2 hour Get-Out-Of-Bed Routine, I'm thinking back over our day's events. Every night when I tuck Dawson in I tell him a story about a little boy named Dawson. He really enjoys going through the entire day of a boy named Dawson who is very special and very loved. I enjoy it because I hear about many more details that normally I wouldn't hear. I tell him that Dawson went to school today and then I ask- "what did Dawson do? Who did he sit next to? What did he play with?" etc. etc... It's the same idea as my parents did with us when they told us the 'story of our day' growing up.

Anyway, I started thinking about the story of my day and one particular moment stood out- Lunch! I am really into Rachael Ray's Cookbook 365: No Repeats and I love trying new recipes. Well today I decided to try another new one- Italian Sub Stoup and Garlic Toast Floaters. Mmmm, sounds good, right? Well, it was! Except for one minor detail that affected everyone in my family and the family of some friends who came over spur of the moment to share in the bounty. :) It's the small difference between 1 Tablespoon vs 1 Teaspoon. The Croutons called for 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes. (fyi- I am just now seeing that I should have used Crushed r.p.f. I used whole... another whoops!) And, back to the story, I used 1 Tablespoon. It is part of the cooking process where I was toasting cubes of bread, making them into croutons, in a pan on the stove. Who would have known that putting a whole tablespoon of whole red pepper flakes in a hot skillet would cause a noxious fume that would invade my Entire house and cause everyone, babies included, to start coughing- unable to stop!!! It was the most bizarre experience of my cooking career. Thankfully, after opening doors & windows, most of us stopped coughing after about 20 minutes but even someone that came by about an hour later started coughing when she came in the door! I don't know if anyone has heard of anything like this happening but it was definitely new to me!

Luckily, all-in-all, the stoup was a huge success and we were even able to eat the croutons and enjoy them. Extra kick & all! (def- huge success means anything that Dawson will eat)

Since I am really into cooking these days I thought I would include the recipe here if anyone wants to try it. I don't know if anyone out there is like me but I could sit down & just read a cookbook and enjoy myself for a night... Here's the recipe if you want to try it!

Italian Sub Stoup & Garlic Toast Floaters

Stoup

2 tblsp evoo

3/4 pound hot or sweet italian sausage, remove from casings

1/4 pound piece pepperoni, diced

1 ham steak, 1/2 to 3/4 pound, diced

1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, quartered & sliced

1 medium yellow onion, quartered and sliced

1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes

salt & freshly ground black pepper

6 cups chicken stock or broth

1 cup gemelli pasta or other shaped pasta

Croutons

1/4 cup evoo

3 large garlic cloves, cracked from skins

5 cups crusty bread, cubed

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano

4 cups arugula (2 bunches) **I forgot this & it turned out fine without it** trimmed & coarsely chopped

Place a soup pot on the stovetop & preheat to med. high. Add the evoo and the sausage. Brown & crumble sausage, drain off excess, add pepperoni & ham. Cook for 2 min. then add peppers, onions & cook for 2 or 3 min. more. Add tomatoes and season w/s&p. Add chicken stock & bring to a boil. Stir in pasta & cook for 8 min.

While pasta cooks, heat 1/4 cup EVOO in a large skillet over med. heat. Add garlic & cook for 1 min. Add bread cubes, toss, and toast the cubes for 5 or 5 min. Season the toasty cubes with red pepper flakes, oregano, and grated cheese.

Stir the arugula into the stoup just before you serve it up. Float several bread cubes in each bowl.