Soupy Winter

With all this blizzard talk and snow caked in the corners of my windows, I can't think of anything better than a big bowl of hot steamy soup. So, here are two porktasitic bowl fetchers that you will just love. Grab your bibs folks, you're bound to drool for Hash Brown Soup and Pork Chili...

I just love me some chili on a cold winter's day and nothing tastes better in chili than a mix of ground pork and a little ground sausage. Next time you make a patch of chili try two parts ground pork and one part ground sausage and let me know what you think. Trust me, you'll love it!

Chili is a very personal recipe--at least in my opinion it is--but this is how I make it:

• Diced onions (however oniony you want it)
• 1-1.5 lbs. ground pork and ground sausage (it depends on what I have thawed in the fridge)
• 2 cans diced tomatoes (if I have fresh I will use them, if not I like the chili ready ones)
• 1 big can of chili beans
• 1 reg. sized can black beans
• 1 can beef broth
• I also swish a little water in each can and add it to the pot with a beef bouillon cube
• The seasonings are up to you, smell, add, smell, add more, taste, smell, add, taste again, etc.

After you finish off that big steaming batch of pork chili try some hash brown soup with ham. I used leftover ham steak for this recipe. It's really easy, all you need is:

• 3-cans chicken broth
• 2-pounds hash browns (approx., it depends on how thick you want your soup)
• 1/2 pound Velveeta (you can add more if you  like it really cheesy)
• 1 stick butter
• 16 ounces sour cream
• tid bits of ham, however hammy you want it
• Again seasonings are up to you, lil' salt, lil' pepper, whatever you fancy

Grill up a cheesy sammy and enjoy!

What are some of your favorite soup recipes?