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Warm up! 7 great soup recipes to make this week

Warm up! 7 great soup recipes to make this weekWarm up! 7 great soup recipes to make this weekend From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)

This past week, we've seen some ridiculously cold temperatures, into the negative teens after factoring in wind chill. Brr... But, hey, it is January, after all.

One of my favorite things to make is soup. It's always a great way to use up vegetables that I have leftover and expedite the dinner-making process. The past couple of weekends, I have made soup on Sunday in our Crock-Pot for Dave and I to have as lunch and dinner during the week.

Here is a quick round-up of seven great recipes to try if you need inspiration for what to make this week. I've included a few of my own and a few that just sounded delicious from others. Let me know in a comment what you think and if you have tried any of them!

Quick cherry ice cream parfaits with dark chocolate and pecans

Quick cherry ice cream parfaits with dark chocolate and pecansBrowse recipes, menu ideas and more From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)

This perfect dessert is a sweet way to end a casual Valentine's Day dinner. It's unfussy and great for a weeknight. Plus, who doesn't love ice cream?

For extra deliciousness, scout out your local area for a dairy or creamery where you can buy homemade ice cream. I've been fortunate to live near a few excellent places. In the Rochester, New York area, try Pittsford Farms Dairy & Bakery; in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania area, try Klein Farms Dairy & Creamery in Easton, PA. If you prefer, you can also use non-dairy ice cream and nondairy whipped topping.

Luxardo and Fabbri Amarena Wild Cherries in Syrup are the best for cocktails, but the juice that comes with them is liquid gold for an easy dessert recipe like this. You can use a few tablespoons of the syrup blended with vanilla ice cream, a little milk, and a little bit of ice to make a great milkshake, or with yogurt and ice for a smoothie, too. Substitute canned, dark cherries in syrup, if they are hard to find and you aren't able to order from Amazon or a specialty food store online. I wouldn't suggest using maraschino cherries for this, though; quite simply, they are not as good in this recipe.

Chickpea Stew, an “OG” recipe redux for 2023 | fromannaskitchen.com

Chickpea Stew, an “OG” recipe redux for 2023 | fromannaskitchen.comBrowse recipes, menu ideas and more From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)

"Ah. Where has the time gone?" I feel like I say that to myself every year as I log in to WordPress, blow off the dust, and proceed writing as if I'm catching up with an old friend.

2020, 2021, and 2022 felt like they were one, crazy, never-ending superyear where there were beautiful, happy, exciting moments and some tragic, frustrating low points all jumbled together. The "new normal" got redefined countless times. Whatever that means now as we've headed into the first couple of weeks of 2023 is to be determined, but if 2020 in a single word was "chaos" then 2021 was a "rollercoaster." 2022 was a state of "transition" and the year that Dave and I officially became homeowners. Now, it's our hope that 2023 will be, simply, "calm."

I could spend so much time talking about the emotions, both happy and sad, of the last several years, and maybe in due time, I will. In this specific moment, though, I'm processing the fact that I've had a personal blog/website of some format for 22 years...

Looking at it another way: my very first domain that people knew about, burned-bridges.com, was registered in 2001 after making the leap from creating single-page Expages and later multi-page Geocities websites, with frames, GIF animations, Midi background music and all! B-B.net, if it was still "alive" in its previous format and a human being residing in the U.S., could drink by now. Yikes.

Call me nostalgic, but it seemed fitting to revisit a recipe that I published on my other "OG" blog, fuchsia-revolver.org (still "alive" but inactive and about to be permanently redirected here), in 2009: Chickpea stew. This recipe was one of the first that inspired me to come over here to a new domain and start my foodie adventures properly in 2016.

Proof? Here she is: a throwback from December 22, 2009, courtesy of the fuchsia-revolver.org WordPress archives.

Maple French toast breakfast bake

Maple French toast breakfast bakeBrowse recipes, menu ideas and more From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)

Growing up, my dad, Ed, often made French toast for Sunday breakfast. It was always a highlight of the weekend, but he would also make it during the weekday for a special treat before school, too, with two caveats.

The first was I had to ask nicely. The second was I had to wake up early that morning.

Given how infrequently waking up early happened by the time my senior year of high school rolled around, French toast mornings were always infrequent but very special days in the Parks household.

Kitchen time savers (Part 2)

Kitchen time savers (Part 2)Browse recipes, menu ideas and more From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)

From big-batch cooking on the weekends, to "pantry raid" recipes for fast weeknight meals, it only takes a glance through some of my past posts to know that I'm not one to turn my nose up at a time-saving trick when it comes to making meals. Here, I'm sharing a series of a few time-savers that I've turned to often.

Search #timesavers for more helpful tricks and tips!

Kitchen time savers (Part 1)

Kitchen time savers (Part 1)Kitchen time savers From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)

From big-batch cooking on the weekends, to "pantry raid" recipes for fast weeknight meals, it only takes a glance through some of my past posts to know that I'm not one to turn my nose up at a time-saving trick when it comes to making meals. Here, I'm sharing a series of classic time-savers that I've turned to often.

Stay tuned for more tips, tricks and shortcuts! For quick weeknight dinners, also search for #pantryraid.

Winning wings for your Big Game day party

Winning wings for your Big Game day partyWinning wings for the Big Game From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)

When it comes to wings, they're a reigning snack choice for many during the Big Game. During last year's game, an estimated 1,420,000 million wings were consumed by Americans, enough to circle the Earth's circumference at least three times.

No matter who you're cheering for, most will agree that wings are a must at any Big Game party. This guide will have you cooking up wings in no time at all, whether you choose to fry or not fry.