Panera's Broccoli Cheese Soup Copycat Recipe

I really wish I had the recipe for Panera's baguette that comes with this..... but for now I'll settle for this copy cat recipe for their Broccoli Cheese Soup.  I am happy with this recipe, and  I think it turns out just like what you get at their restaurant.  (For those who don't have a Panera close by, Panera is in the same restaurant family as Paradise Bakery.  So some of the same salads can be bought at both, and I imagine they have some of the same soups as well. I just wish Panera had the same quality of treats as Paradise..... Paradise's chocolate chip coconut cookies are heavenly as well as many of their other treats.... while most of Panera's treats are dried out and not so good. :( Unfortunately.) But their soups and salads are yummy! And it's probably a good thing that I'm not a fan of their treats! :)  

Copy Cat of Panera's Broccoli Cheese Soup (Serves 4)

*Saute 1/2 an onion, chopped in 1 Tbs. butter until onions are translucent.  Set Aside. 

 

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups half and half (or one can evaporated milk)

2 cups water with 2 tsp. chicken bouillon granules (2 cups. chicken broth)

1/2 lb. fresh broccoli, cleaned and trimmed (Or 1 Bag of Green Giant Broccoli with Cheese Sauce)

2 carrots, julienned and then cut into 1" slivers

Dash of nutmeg

8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. parsley flakes

 

*Melt 1/4 cup butter in a saucepan over medium heat and sprinkle in flour.  Have the broth ready to go. Using a wire whisk, stir the butter and flour together and cook for a minute or two.  While continuing to whisk, slowly add in the broth.  Be sure to whisk until the mixture is smooth.  Continue to whisk in the half and half or evaporated milk.   I honestly can't really tell much of a difference using the half and half vs. evaporated milk, so I usually use the fat free evaporated milk.  Turn the heat down and keep barely simmering for about 10-15 minutes.  Then add the carrots and broccoli.  I'm not going to lie here--- lately I've been lazy and I just add 1 package of the Green Giant Broccoli and Cheese Steamers (I microwave it on high for 7 minutes first and cut any large pieces into bite sized bits).  They sell them at Sam's Club so I usually have them on hand instead of fresh broccoli. Cook over low heat about 20 more minutes until the carrots and broccoli are fully cooked.  Add the pepper, parsley, nutmeg and cheese.  Stir until melted and well combined.  Serve hot.  The recipe said that it serves 4, but since my youngest two aren't great soup eaters, it serves our family of 6 perfectly, with no leftovers. 

 

 



 

Be The Good

On September 11, 2001, as I sat watching tv while rocking my baby, I felt a great need to reaffirm that there is good in the world.  It was a way to cope, for lack of a better word. As the news unfolded and through the next weeks while watching people post signs and listening to them ask if anyone had seen their loved ones, my heart broke, knowing that their loved ones were surely gone.  I would look into my 4 month old baby's face and think to myself, "See, there IS good to be found, so much good.  I am holding 'good' in my arms."  I then took great comfort in hearing the stories of how people rallied together- how they streamed in from all over the country and world to help.  I was reassured that there are far more good people in this world than there are bad.

Now as I hear about various horrible things happening in the world around me, most recently the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy, my first reaction is to find any possible good in what happened.  Do not mistake my meaning.  What happened was too heartbreaking to be considered good in any way, shape, or form.  I am talking about what comes after, what helps with healing.  It comes by having faith in mankind restored again and again as we see and hear about those who courageously help, how people can rally and stand up against those who are capable of such terrible things.  Because the reality is that MOST people are good.  And we need to notice the good that is there if we just look.  More than that, we all need to consciously do more to BE the good in this world.  To make an effort to do random acts of kindness, both IN and OUT of our homes.  To be sure we teach our children to also BE the good in the world. 

With all of this on my mind lately, I wanted to create a reminder.  I thought that this sign from Wood Connection would be perfect, only I wanted it to be on the boards I had already cut out, so this is the end result:

 

And, please, along with me, make more of an effort to BE the good in the world.  Together, we can change our world for the better!

 

January Decor

I wanted to make some newer, more modern decorations for my house.  So, I searched through two stores before finding 1/4" MDF (they are found easily at home--- not so easily here) and pulled out my scroll saw that hasn't been used in a very long time.  Within a few hours, I had several (ok, so maybe more than several) fancy boards to use.  Then I needed to come up with what to do with them..... and Pinterest was a big help!  I found the perfect thing for January here.  Their blog even had the printable for it--- which is a good idea because the printable can be swapped out each month so you can reuse the frame.  But, since I had already cut out the MDF, I stuck with my original plan and used their inspiration.....and now have this:

(I just realized that I am missing a comma and the "I" should not be capitalized.  Doh!  I'll have to redo part of it!) 

Pink Pinwheels

I found The Crafty Cupboard on Pinterest, and I enjoy seeing Melanie's quilts and various craft and decor projects.  When I saw her cute pink pinwheel quilt (see it here), I had to make one.  I knew I had lots of pink and green fabrics left over from my daughter's quilt, and my husband had mentioned that a lady at his work was having a girl and he wanted to get a baby gift for her.  It worked out nicely for me!  The blocks were really easy and went pretty quickly... until I decided to change things up by putting them on the diagonal.  Which always makes the edges a little tricky.  I feel like when working on something like this, I frequently end up spending more time trying to think through the process than I would spend actually working on it.  This was definitely one of those times.  Once I figured it out, it went quickly. 

Then I decided to use a piece of minky for the back (because I love the soft backing on baby/lap quilts!), but it just wasn't quite big enough.  So I added a border and for fun, the baby girl's name.  Then I made the mistake of reading up on machine quilting with minky.  Well, maybe it wasn't a mistake, but it did freak me out about machine quilting it when I had only machine quilted one other quilt at that time. It recommended using a bigger pattern, so I tried using a wider version of the free motion stippling.  I like the look of smaller stippling better, though.  Luckily, the only trouble I had was with my machine that was once again breaking the thread every few inches.  Grrrr.  So frustrating.  The thread cartridge is off center somehow, so the whole contraption that holds the needle isn't quite centered, and the needle brushes up against the side of the hole in the bottom metal plate near the bobbin, and the friction cuts the thread. This is what I already paid to have repaired, but it's broken again already.  It is so not worth fixing again at that expense if it isn't going to stay fixed!  Anyway,  after many breaks (time-outs) so I could walk away and not throw the machine across the room, I was finally able to finish it!  Wahoo!  And the minky actually wasn't a problem to work with at all!  Just the stinkin' machine! 

If you have been meaning to try machine quilting, but are nervous, just go for it!  You'll never learn if you don't try!  I hope to get better and better at it with time and experience!  I wish I had just tried earlier, it wasn't anywhere near as scary/hard as I thought it would be. 

Sparkle Punch Baby Quilt

My first attempt to machine quilt!  I have made several quilts by hand quilting them.  But it takes sooooo long.... and it's not fun to have bleeding, sore fingers from poking them with a needle (which is actually a bit of a necessity in hand quilting, believe it or not--- it's how you know the needle is just barely through the layers of fabric)!  I have heard so many stories about how long it takes to learn to get the machine quilting process right, and I never wanted to experiment on quilt tops after putting all the work into piecing them.  So I frequently made the quilt tops and then stopped right there.  Or I just sewed in straight lines with my machine, pretending that it was a form of machine quilting (it WAS a form of machine quilting, but it didn't qualify in my mind because it wasn't an all-over pattern).  So, I finally took a deep breath and tried it!  I am happy to say that it wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be.  Or rather, had my machine been working properly it wouldn't have been bad at all.  But my machine decided to break the thread every few inches which turned out to be a major pain--- but the quilting process wasn't difficult!  I simply need a new machine.  (Yes, I have paid to have it repaired, only to have it revert back to not working again a few weeks later.) I have my eye on one......

My Sparkle Punch Quilt

I first saw a sparkle punch quilt top on pinterest, and when I followed the link through, I was delighted to find instructions on how to make the quilt. It is on Oh, Fransson- here. I had lots of scrap fabrics in a blue/dark blue/yellow/red/orange/green color theme that I liked.  I was very surprised to discover that I actually used very little of my fabric stash to make it!  I really thought it would use more fabric.  It definitely took a bit of time and thread, though!  Every time I sew, my husband comments on the ridiculous amounts of thread that get brushed to the side in a pile until I'm done for the day and can throw them away.  I felt the instructions were great, and I also recommend having the little square ruler to "square" up the blocks before sewing them together.  I almost didn't get one because I thought I could just do it on my rotary mat, but with how many squares there are, it would have taken a lot longer to line up the big ruler before each cut.  The little square quilting rulers are only a few dollars, and are well worth the time saved in such a time-consuming quilt! 

I love how they did the backing on Oh, Fransson, but I was working with small fabric scraps, and my goal is to actually use my fabric stash.... so it just wasn't going to happen.  I also like it when cuddle quilts are made with soft backings such as minky or anti-pill fleece.  So, I used orange fleece and used more scraps to put my cute little nephew's name on it.  Fleece and minky also show the quilting pattern really well......which is nice when it works out, not so nice when there are mistakes (or problematic machines)!  I know the lighting isn't great on this.... but it was COLD outside, and the lighting in this house plain old stinks. 

The sparkle punch quilt is a fun quilt to make, and I know I'll be making another in the future!