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Hi.

Welcome to This Awful/Awesome Life! My name is Frances Joyce. I am the publisher and editor of this magazine. We'll be exploring different topics each month to inform, entertain and inspire you. Meet new authors, sharpen your brain and pick up a few tips on life, love, entertaining and business. Enjoy and please share!

December 2021 in The Twelve Months of Soup by Fran Joyce

For our final soup of the year, I selected Split Pea Soup paired with ham sandwiches to make the most of your Christmas leftovers. Not serving ham? No worries, Split Pea Soup is delicious with or without ham and it’s perfect with leftover bread or crackers.

Here is the link to the soup recipe: https://www.themostlyvegan.com/perfect-pea-soup/

Apologies for now taking a picture of the ingredients, but I’ve been rushing around trying to get this issue out and I had already chopped the onions, celery, carrots, and potatoes before I thought about it. I did take a photo of the vegetables sauteing in olive oil.

Split pea soup is quick and easy, and you can add ham to this recipe if you want. After the soup was done. I divided it in half and put ham in James’ half and let it simmer for a couple of hours. This recipe doesn’t call for it and I prefer a heartier chunky split pea soup, so I didn’t bother putting it through the blender.

I made my own vegetable broth and followed the recipe. It was delicious.

I have a link with several recipes for ham sandwiches,

https://www.myrecipes.com/course/sandwich-recipes/ham-sandwich-recipes?slide=ce3ded89-e771-45f2-85bd-206d238faf07#ce3ded89-e771-45f2-85bd-206d238faf07

James decided to stay fairly traditional with his sandwich opting for mustard, Swiss cheese, ham, and field greens on a croissant. That’s the wonderful thing about sandwiches, you can be as creative as you like or stick with a classic combo.

Well, that’s the last soup of the year for the magazine, but I can tell you it won’t be the last soup we make in my house this year. When the temperatures drop, the soup pan stays on the stove.

Join us next year when we will be featuring the twelve months of vegetables. We’re still narrowing down which tasty veggies we’ll be featuring, but it’s going to be fun!

 The Twelve Months of Soup

January – Chicken Noodle Soup and Mandarin Orange Salad

February – Seafood Bisque and Strawberry Spinach Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette Dressing

March – Potato and Leek Soup and Beet Salad

April – Vegetarian Vegetable Soup with a Vegetable Panini

May – Black Bean Soup and Mexican Kale Salad

June – Italian Wedding Soup with a Chicken Wrap

July – Minestrone Soup with a Hoagie

August – Broccoli Cheddar Soup with Quinoa Salad

September – Tomato Basil Soup with a Grilled Cheese Sandwich

October – Slow Cooker Black Bean Chili and Pomegranate and Wild Rice Salad

November – Butternut Squash Soup with a turkey sandwich

December – Split Pea Soup with a Ham Sandwich

Regifting by Fran Joyce

Holiday Letters by Fran Joyce