After a busy summer of moving, family visits, weekend camping trips and vacation I finally feel like I'm back to my normal routine.
My husband and I decided to spend Labor day weekend out at his Mom's in Hansville. We always find it so relaxing out there, no matter how much gardening we end up doing.
As fall is fast approaching we found that most of the veggie's in Maggie's garden were ready for harvesting, including some local black berries. Everything was so fresh and colorful that I couldn't resist taking a photo after getting it trimmed and cleaned. One of my favorite things to do is clean the fresh potatoes. I think it is so neat how the skin just rubs right off.
I've been in my glory the last few days in the kitchen with all of the fresh organic veggies and blackberries. I've been making Salads, Fried Green Tomatoes, Zucchini, Blackberry Cake, and my favorite, Spring Onion Soup (recipe below).
As if the bounty
of veggies/fruits wasn't enough, Maggie and I had planted a variety of Dahlias a couple of months ago and they were all in full bloom and absolutely gorgeous. She has a great talent for planting them so that when everything blooms they contrast so well with one another.It's cooling down and I am so excited as my my favorite season approaches. I can't wait for our annual visit the pumpkin patch with my niece and nephew in a few weeks and am dreading the day they say they are too old for it. Oh well, I can always look forward to baking lots of yummy pumpkin goodies and caramel apples. I don't think they'll ever be too old for those!
Elena's Spring Onion Soup
I created this recipe to use up all of the fresh green onions that I
harvested at my mother-in-laws. I recommend using fresh homegrown and/or organic vegetables if they are available.Note: all amounts are approximate since I did it on a whim. You can adjust for your tastes.
Ingredients:
2 bunches of large Green Onions (3 if small), sliced
2-3 cloves of Garlic, sliced
3 Tbsp. Flour
5 Tbsp. unsalted Butter
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
2 tsp. dried Thyme
2 tsp. dried Dill
1 tsp. smoked Paprika
1 tsp. Mustard Powder
2 Carrots, peeled and diced in small cubes
3 med. Red Potatoes, diced in small cubes with skin on
4 cups. Chicken Broth
1/2 cup good White Wine
1/2 cup Plain Low fat Yogurt
Salt & Pepper to taste
Preparation:
Heat half of the butter and half of the olive oil in a heavy stock pot. Add about 3/4 of the onions, garlic, salt & pepper. Saute until all are tender and add about 1 cup of the broth. Remove from pan and let cool to room temperature in a separate bowl.
Meanwhile, using the same pot heat remaining butter and olive oil and add flour and spices, salt and pepper to create a golden colored rue. Cook at medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring constantly. If rue gets too thick just add a little water.
Add remaining broth and wine to rue, mix until well blended. Add carrots, potatoes and remaining onions and simmer on medium high. Meanwhile, blend cooled onion/garlic mixture in food processor until well blended and add to the soup.
Reduce heat to med. low and stew for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally (if soup gets too thick you can add more broth, or water if it's flavorful enough). Add yogurt and salt and pepper to taste and simmer about 1/2 hour. Enjoy!
Optional Toppers: Crumbled Bacon, Gruyere Cheese or Croutons.
