Super Soup and 4th of July (Epic) Scones

So, I'm a huge fan of allrecipes.com, like a HUGE fan. I spend way too much time on that site just looking around, but I've found some really good recipes on there. Betty Crocker's Cookbook, however, is definitely an essential in the kitchen. I used it just as much as I do allrecipes.com. I just spent way too much time making all the guys in Michael's platoon raspberry white-chocolate scones from Betty Crocker's Cookbook. They are AMAZING. I'll elaborate on them a little later in this post.


First off, I wanted to share what I made for dinner yesterday because it was so good and I will definitely make it again. I found a recipe for Zuppa Toscana on allrecipes.com. It is supposed to be a copycat recipe for the soup that Olive Garden serves. I haven't had Olive Garden's version in a while, so I can't really judge how they compare, but this soup was surprisingly delish.

I halved the recipe, which was supposed to result in three servings, but there was probably enough for 4-5 people. I omitted the bacon, it really wasn't needed, and I used 4 potatoes because mine were so small. I didn't want to use spinach, most reviewers said to use kale, which I was familiar with and really wanted to use. There is a pretty large selection of greens at the supermarkets here, but oddly enough we couldn't find kale. I used mustard greens instead. They were pepper-y and perfect in this soup. And for only cost 17 cents for the bundle!

Michael and I loved it! Which surprised me a little, I was concerned that he would be turned off by the greens. The crushed red peppers in this soup give it a little spice, which you could definitely adjust to your liking. I highly recommend trying it out! :)

Alright, here it goes... I wanted make something for Michael's friends at work for the 4th of July. They seem to really enjoy it when Michael brings left over muffins or cornbread to work. So I say, "Should I make snicker doodles or scones?" and then Michael says, "Scones!!!" So I found myself making scones, from scratch, instead of sugar cookies.

And then, I found myself multiplying all the ingredients by three so he could give one to everyone in his platoon. I guess I was feeling generous. And you can't just have a scone plain without butter or jam, but that wasn't really an option for the setting. So I decided to follow the recipe for raspberry white chocolate scones. We already had white chocolate chips and frozen raspberries in the freezer.

It felt like it took me an hour to cut all the butter in the to 6 or 7 cups of dry ingredients. I used two butter knives because I don't have a pastry blender.

Someone should gift me a pastry blender. I've definitely earned it.

It was totally worth all the work though. They are moist and buttery and yummy. The guys are going to love them. And now I need to thank my trusty little timer, I think I overworked it today.

I really need to go to bed now. I have to get up early tomorrow! I'm going to surprise Michael for his birthday and he only has a half day and will definitely be home by lunchtime. shhhh....