Steven’s Soup, In Memory of Joshua Stevens

I can't believe it's been six months today since Joshi went home to be with our Lord. We miss him so much. Drew, Barb, Shelbie and Sammie, we love you so much and pray for you daily; you are never far from our thoughts and prayers.

For my friends and others who are reading this blog, today is Joshi's Day. We've kind of made a little tradition where on the 5th of the month we make a cheesy potato soup for the Stevens to help them get through the day. My kids LOVE this soup and look forward to it each month. They start asking for it a few days before, knowing that Mom is going to be making this soup. The other day, I was telling Barb that my kids were asking if I was going to make the Steven's soup. We kind of laughed and said that is how it should be. It is the Stevens Soup, because it has so much love poured into it for the Steven's family and whenever we eat it, we smile and remember Joshi and what he meant to us.

So, I thought I'd post my recipe, which started out as a recipe from Allrecipes.com and grew into much more.

Ingredients

Love, as much as you can put into it

1/2 cup butter (I use earth balance to keep this dairy free)
2 qts organic chicken broth
1 diced sweet onion
5 lb bag red potatoes, peeled, chopped
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 12 oz tub sour cream ( I use tub Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream)
1 8oz  tub cream cheese (I use tub of Tofuttie Better Than Cream Cheese)
1 heaping tsp dill (fresh is best)
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup chives (fresh is best)

Place onions and potatoes into a large pot. Add chicken broth, garlic, cayenne, pepper, and salt and bring to a boil. Continue boiling until potatoes are tender. Mash potatoes with a potato masher (or a larger spoon thingy) until there are small little chunks of potato mixed in. Add butter, sour cream and cream cheese, chives and dill and simmer for about 15 minutes. If soup is a little watery, you can add in a bit of potato starch to thicken it up.

For those who can have dairy, top off your bowl with colby jack or cheddar cheese and enjoy.

But before you take a bite, please remember Barb, Drew, Shelbie and Sammie in your prayers…and if you knew Joshi, share a few memories as you sit around your table eating the Stevens Soup!