I’ve decided that all recipes will now have their “story” at the end. If you’re like me, you hate to hunt for the recipe, so here it is!

“Come on Over,” Second-Chance Potato Soup

Prep time: 10 minutes-ish
Cooking time: 30 minutes-ish
Serves: 6 (or makes multiple meals for two)
From the kitchen of Brenda Henderson

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground pork sausage or turkey sausage
• 6 medium OR 8 small potatoes
• 1 medium white or yellow onion
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups whole milk OR not less than 2% milk
• OPTIONAL: 2 Tbsp butter
• Leaves of two stalks of kale
• 1 tsp each of salt and pepper
• OPTIONAL: 1 Tbsp crushed red pepper (for added spice)

Directions:

1. Brown (cook) the sausage. Stir until loose pieces of marble size or smaller. (This can be browning while you peel, cube, and cook the onion and potatoes.
2. In a second (larger) pot, pour the 2 cups of water and turn on high for water to boil. Allow to boil until you add the next two ingredients.
3. While the water is heating and the sausage is browning, peel the potatoes and the onion. Cut all into 1/2″ cubes. Toss into boiling water.
4. Use a lid to cover the pot of potatoes and onions and reduce heat to medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. If you are using the optional butter, add the 2 Tbsp of butter to this mixture. Allow to cook while you complete the next step.
5. Strip the leaves from two stalks of kale. Chop into small pieces and set aside. (The sausage should be done by now. Remove from heat and drain off any excess fat.)
6. Test 1 or 2 cubes of potato to see if you can “mash” it by using a fork and pressing the cube against the side of the pot. When you can do this, the potatoes and onions are ready, and you can move to the next step. (Some people like to “mash” all the potatoes at this point. We like the “bites” of softened potatoes. It’s up to you!)
7. Add milk to potatoes and onions. Stir well.
8. Add cooked sausage to the mixture. Stir well.
9. Add salt and pepper to the mixture. Stir well. (Now is when you may also add the crushed red pepper if you want add that option.)
10. Add the chopped kale. Stir well.
11. Cook on medium-low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. You may also allow it to simmer on low heat for up to one hour before serving, making certain to stir occasionally.

Serving Suggestions:

• Serve with a simple sandwich of meat, lettuce, cheese, and brown mustard.
• Serve with oyster crackers (just because I like them best!) and muffins.

Why “Second-Chance” Potato Soup? In full disclosure, on a whim, I tried to make this for my “new” family (Joe’s daughter’s immediate family) in 2016, the first Christmas that Joe and I were married. It flopped. Epic cooking fail…to say the least! I used skim milk, added half-raw bacon (instead of using sausage), and on and on the downward spiral went. They were kind…then. Now? Well, we all know each other well enough to just tell the truth, tease a little bit, and laugh at Brenda’s kitchen blunder!

But I learned a lot from that soup catastrophe: Keep trying. Keep learning. Keep it real. I’m not a gourmet chef. I’m a good-ol’ home-cookin’ cook. Period. And when I am who God made me to be, even my failures can be successful lessons. And yes, I’m serving this revised version this Christmas. It’s certain to make us laugh at the memories and to have satisfied tummies—and hearts—when we leave the table. Keep learning, sweet faith-friend. Keep learning.

“Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead” (Philippians 3:13, NASB).