ah, 2 weeks off work for christmas = time to cook a meal!
i made this soup that was recommended by my brother: turkey sausage-gnocchi soup, except i used spicy chicken sausage and added these gigantic indian mustard leaves from my garden.  aren't they crazy, huge?!  i have had no idea what to do with them- the seed packet said to use them for salad, but they are kind of furry and prickly!  i can't imagine eating it raw, but it's good cooked...

i also made this salad that my friend, sarah, made for us one time and i loved it.  she used blue cheese but i didn't have any so i used goat cheese instead.  it was delicious!  it is just lettuce, a chopped up granny smith apple, sugared almonds, goat cheese, and poppy seed dressing.  love it when i'm not too tired or cranky to cook! and my husband deemed the meal a success.  yum!