Fellowship Sunday

Once a month our church has fellowship Sunday. Everyone brings a main dish to share, and either a side dish, or dessert.
It's great to try new meals, ask for recipes (you often hear, "does anyone know who made this?") and eat and visit with old and new friends. Today was one of those Sundays. As we sat talking with friends, a sweet voice piped, "Pam, can we come to your house?"  I used to always think these requests through before I answered, but, the older I get, the more I realize that the house will never be perfect, I will never feel "ready", and that's ok! I answered, "sure! why don't you and your mom come for dinner". Feeling on a roll, she asked, "well, could I spend the night?" So, that is how we ended up with 2 extra places at our dinner table tonight, and the joy of sharing our daily lives with friends that feel more like family. Oh, and yes, the daughter is spending the night! 
I wasted too many years saying,"no" without much thought. Why do we do that? We end up feeling stressed and rushed even when we say "no" to moments like these. Instead, there were more hands helping set the table, fill the fruit dishes, and share in conversation, and it was wonderful! I made a hearty soup that my kids love, the recipe is not my own, but I have lost the original recipe, and while I may be forgetting something-we like how it turns out.
This is the kind of soup that you really can't go wrong on. If you add more or less of something, it is hardly noticeable.
So, here is what I made tonight:
Sausage-Tortellini Soup
I doubled all of the ingredients, and it made a full 16 quarts.
1 28 ounce can of crushed or diced tomatoes.
Chicken broth-1 1/2 large containers
1/2 lb. ground hot sausage
1/2 lb. ground italian or mild sausage
1/2 cup or more of chopped onion
1 frozen bag of cheese tortellini
salt and pepper to taste
Brown the sausage with the onions until no longer pink, drain fat.
Pour the tomatoes and chicken broth in and bring to a boil.
Season to taste.
Add the tortellini, it cooks quickly-only about 6-8 minutes, or according to the package.
We skim any additional fat off, and serve big bowls full. It is great with crusty bread, we didn't have any tonight, and it was still wonderful. We served little dessert dishes of mandarin oranges, and fresh vegetables with dip. 
Home made chocolate chip cookies will be our dessert later, maybe tomorrow I'll give you the recipe for the BEST chocolate chip cookies-EVER! Believe me, I've tried them all!