Chicken Gnocchi Soup

We just had a office christmas party and Tammy brought us a delicious soup she made, it was so yummy I asked for the recipe, here it is:

Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup

4 Tblsp Butter
1 Tblsp extra virgin olive oil
1 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup finely diced celery
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 quart half and half
28 ounces chicken broth
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried parsley flakes
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (optional)
1 cup carrots finely shredded
1 cup spinach leaves coarsely chopped
1 cup chicken breast cooked, and diced (can use rotisserie chicken for extra flavor)
16 ounces package ready to use gnocchi

Instructions:
Melt the butter into the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add the onion, celery, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally until the onion becomes translucent.
Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minutes
Whisk in the half and half.
Simmer until thickened
Whisk in the chicken broth  Simmer until thickened again
Stir in 1/2 tsp salt, the thyme, parsley, nutmeg, carrots, spinach, chicken and gnocchi
Simmer until the soup is heated through .
before serving, season with additional salt, if necessary

She doubled the batch for our office party, I think one batch is enough for 6 

Nourishment for the soul:
since it is Christmas, I saw this saying on Instagram and I love it:

"Christmas means giving.  The Father gave His Son and The Son gave his life.  Without Giving there is no true Christmas and without sacrifice there is no true worship."  -Gordon B Hinckley

I love this as Christmas should be about what can we give to others, not what do we want to get.