My mother recently acquired a plant from a hippie gardening cult in Portland, Oregon—these are my roots, people, proud of em—and she named it after me: “Rachie.” Why? I have no idea.
Then she said it looked like a Lord of the Rings plant, cunning and mischievous “like it might organize all the other plants for a yard game with prizes.” Now that’s me.
Maybe Mom can use the Rachie plant as a model for all the hats she will knit to cover my wild locks because it’s getting cold out here. The chickens need bonnets too, Mom.
High time for fall soups.
Potato Soup
Adapted from Penzey Spice Catalogue
4 medium potatoes (about 2 lbs.), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
5 ribs celery, chopped
5 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 TB olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup water
2 cups white wine (I used old pinot grigio)
2 tsp celery seed
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp salt, to taste
1 tsp fresh ground pepper, to taste
6 Cups milk, divided (I used 2%)
2 TB cornstarch
1 ½ Cups corn kernels
6 pieces bacon, cooked crisp and broken in pieces
In a skillet, sauté the onion and garlic until translucent and beginning to caramelize. In a medium soup pot (uncovered) over medium-high heat, cook the potatoes, celery, carrots, garlic and onions in water and white wine until tender and the liquid has mostly cooked off, about 15-20 minutes. Stir frequently.
Add celery seed, cayenne, salt and pepper and stir well. Add 5 3/4 cups milk and stir well, reserving 1/4 cup in a small bowl. To the reserved milk, add the cornstarch and mix until all lumps are gone; slowly pour into the soup while stirring. Heat the soup until near boiling, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes until the soup starts to thicken, then reduce heat to medium-low. Add the corn and bacon. Let cook 10 minutes. Great with oyster crackers, or rye bread, or curly hair.
I’m just going to shout out to JOY NURSERY in Scappoose, Oregon. If you want a “Rachie’ plant you can buy one online! As for chicken knitting, that is a crocheted hat and I doubt you can catch Betty White to have her do a fitting! 🙂 Enjoy…Rachie is abiding along the front walk with friends.
For the record, the chickens are much more people-friendly than when you met them. They now come running to the gate when they hear human footsteps on the off chance it is KP with a worm he found in the yard, or me with apples and watermelon rinds. Easy conditioning, as it turns out.
Oh does that look tasty for these chilly autumn days! I love how much you love Penzeys 🙂 I also love your mom’s naming the plant for you, for both its looks and personality 🙂 And goodness, that chicken bonnet is priceless! So much joy and delight in this post!
oh Susan, Penzeys has quickly become one of my Minnesota favorites. Thinking about some kind of chicken costume for Halloween this year
Rach, that is a marvelous idea! I can already see you and KP as a chicken couple, or a chicken and a coop, or a chicken and a bulldog – so many Fuchsia and Lime-inspired possibilities! 😉
If you want to come down to Rochester, on Friday night of Halloween we’re going to have a Costume Party…
On Mon, Oct 6, 2014 at 1:28 PM, Bake This Day Our Daily Bread wrote:
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Muchas gracias for the kind invitation my dear! I would be there in a heartbeat if it weren’t for a family birthday weekend up in the north country at the same time. We WILL see each other soon! I’ll be in touch via text or email about finding a time soon to see each other, miss you two so much!
Okay, between the awesome plant, the adorable bonnet and that DELICIOUS looking soup, this post (& recipe) rocked my world. Maybe we all have plants that encompass various aspects of ourselves – this could be the next big BuzzFeed quiz…