Okay… I had to start with this because it is my all-time favorite version of the song. And baby, it is cold outside! It’s cold outside, snowy/sleety/rainy cold outside.

And cold outside means soup inside.

We had a 36-hour food-a-thon that I may never recover from. Okay. Lie. I’m already recovered and looking for more. But that’s beside the point. We did eat really well from early morning Christmas Eve through dinner Christmas Day. It was pretty non-stop. And what a variety of food!  From pasta e fagioli to the Seven Fish, Italian Rum Cake and homemade cookies and candy galore to fresh-baked croissants, quiche, pancakes, bacon, ham, stuffed shells, hors d’oeuvres for days and days…

We ate well.

So well that tonight – since it’s cold outside – I decided soup was what we needed.

I started off with a piece of eye of the round and cut it into a small dice. I browned it off in bacon grease and then added a can of diced tomatoes and two quarts of beef broth. Then went in a can of red beans  a can of black-eyed peas, and a can of  baby lima beans – all drained and rinsed. I chopped four carrots and five stalks of celery and added a couple cups of frozen mixed vegetables. Then went in a half-cup of whole grain brown rice. Finally, a package of mini gnocchi.

I added a hefty pinch of herbs d’Provence and a pinch of salt and pepper.

It came out pretty darned good.

And soon it will be time for the final tray of cookies.

The food-a-thon is not quite over…