Tonight we had a little dinner party for the hubby’s birthday (Tuesday). The big question is always “what to make?” Hubby decided yesterday that he wanted the soup pictured in last month’s Food Network Magazine, the “Pesto Bean Soup” featured in the 50-things-to-make pull-out section (just love that part!). So that, and homemade Heart of Winter bread (thank you, Rina )were the features on tonight’s menu, with a rich chocolate torte (courtesy of Costco) for dessert.

1. Saute 5 sliced garlic cloves with a pinch of red pepper flakes in olive oil.
2. Add 2 cans drained cannellini beans, plus 1 cup water and let simmer for about 8 minutes or so, until it thickens (this in itself is its own recipe; you can actually leave it as is, and not make the soup).
3. Add 3 tablespoons pesto.
4. Add 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese.
5. Pour the bean mixture into a pot and add 3 cups chicken broth, and 1 cup chopped celery; cook 15 minutes.
6. Stir in 1/2 cup each chopped olives (I used Kalamata) and roasted peppers.
7. I let it simmer for a bit for the flavors to marry.
8. To go with the soup, homemade Heart of Winter loaf, fresh out of the oven (find the recipe here).
9. Last but certainly not least: a chocolate torte with raspberry and chocolate ganache filling for dessert (fantastic!).

(I doubled my recipe to accommodate guests) Dinner was delicious. Couldn’t wait for tomorrow to share.

But wait, there’s more! Sorry, a little joke from work…

I did manage to get that little poem from my daughter put into a layout. I believe these little treasures should be put somewhere they cannot be lost or forgotten. Here’s my solution:

For you scrapbookers: keep those little notes and special items and use them in your layouts, as is. We R Memory Keepers has great divided page protectors which are also perfect for these kinds of things if a layout is not what you want to do.