Inspired Spotlight -

It's Thursday, so you know what that means!  It's Hanna from  bouffe e bambini!

Hello Patchwork Cronicles readers!!! 

I'm so honored to be guest blogging today on Beth's blog. My name is Hanna and I have a blog called bouffe e bambini, which very roughly translates to "food and babies." I named my blog that because those are the two things I enjoy the most. I started a blog during my pregnancy with my first baby because a friend suggested I might enjoy it. I hardly even knew what a blog was let alone how to write one. I kept up that blog for about a year and I loved it but it was geared more towards family only so I decided to start another blog where I could share recipes and highlight handmade shops that I loved. 

So bouffe e bambini was born. I currently only feature handmade on my blog. All my sponsors and giveaways are handmade only! Even though I don't have a shop myself, I am passionate about protecting the handmade trade! 

I feature lots of recipes on bouffe e bambini. I love to cook and I find that the blog helps to keep me motivated and eager to try new things. My husband and I both love to cook and eat. In fact, that's how we plan our vacations, around where we would like to eat. We planned out entire honeymoon around food and went to Italy! It was the most amazing culinary experience I've ever had! 

I have two children. Little Milton is 16 months and Ginger is just 7 weeks. I have my hands full:) I am also a nurse by trade and am going to be going back to work next month.

Today I am going to share a recipe for Potato Leek soup. 

Because I have two small children, I find that one pot meals work the best for me. So I am always on the hunt for new and exciting ideas. I came up with this one last week and thought it turned out GREAT! I hope you enjoy!!

Potato Leek Soup

Ingredients:

1 package of bacon

3 leeks, thinnly sliced

3 carrots, peeled and diced

2 celery Stalks, diced

1 onion, diced

4 toes of garlic, pressed in garlic press

5-8 russet or yukon gold potatoes peeled and chopped

3 quarts of chicken stock

1 tsp. cayenne

1 pint cream

Garnish: 

sour cream

fresh chives

Recipe:

In a large pot cook entire package of bacon until crisp. Remove and chop for garnish. Set aside. Now saute leeks, carrots, celery, onion and garlic in the bacon drippings for about 15-20 minuets or until carrots are soft and leeks are falling apart. Next pour in chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add potatoes and simmer until potatoes are soft (about 15 min). Now add cream, cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste. 

Garnish with fresh chives, sour cream, and bacon bits.

I also made blue corn jalepeno muffins to serve on the side. I made them from a box that I found at Whole Foods but you could just as easily use a box of Jiffy Corn Bread mix! 

easy and oh so delicious!

I can not wait to try this recipe!  I tired leeks for the first time this last Thanksgiving and I am in LOVE!!  Thanks Hanna for sharing with us!  You really should go check out her awesome, amazing blog!!  She has some yummy recipes on it -- and her kids are ADORABLE!