Another favorite vegetable in season now is celery. I found
this delicious soup recipe through Food52 which was featured on Goop.com. I
made some alterations to the recipe of course but it was a great base. I love
it hot or cold.
Serves 4, 6 if the rest of the
meal is fairly copious
- 1/2 pound celery, chopped (outside stalks or celeriac - about 2 cups) "I peel the celery - no strings"
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1/2 cup diced potato
- 6 Tablespoons butter "I used 4"
- 4 cups turkey or chicken stock "both low sodium and Campbell's full strength"
- 1/2 to 1 cup milk (optional) "did not use"
- About 1 teaspoon dill weed (2 teaspoons for fresh dill)
- 2 1/2 Tablespoons cream
- Stew celery, onion, and potato gently in the butter in a covered pan for 10 minutes. Don't let the vegetable brown. Add stock or water and 1/2 teaspoon of dill weed. Simmer for 20 minutes if you have a blender, 40 minutes if you use a food mill.
- Blend or purée the soup. Pour through a strainer ("did not do strainer since I peeled the celery") into a clean pan, adding a little milk if too thick. Bring slowly to just under a boil, seasoning with salt, pepper, and more dill weed if required.
- Put the cream into the soup dish, and pour the soup in on top. Swirl round with the ladle before serving, to mix in the cream.
On the topic of food, wine is always a great accompaniment.
Whites and rosés are growing in popularity with sunnier weather. Delicious
and reasonably priced rosés we love come from Chateau Routas. Clean and fruity most
grocery and wine shops will have these wines in stock.
With sunnier weather approaching, we tend to spend more time
outdoors. What a great time to buy some outdoor furniture or have it recovered.
There are so many different options for exterior fabrics in fun bright colors,
or subdued classics. We recently met with Holland and Sherry to view many of their
wonderful fabric and rug lines. They too have excellent outdoor fabrics
with the polished craftsmanship Holland and Sherry provide.
A great local shop that we all love at PDR, Watson and Kennedy, the owner Ted Kennedy Watson has released his first book, Style & Simplicity: An A to Z Guide to Living a More Beautiful Life. I love sitting at my dining table (with of glass of wine) enjoying the beautiful images and tips thoughtfully curated in this book. I highly recommend getting one for yourself and a friend.
For years I have been designing sleek metal tables that fit
into any design aesthetic for clients and for myself. I recently designed and
had a table made for my own home. Constructed out of brass with a brass
plated top with an antique finish, the end result is the perfect scale and just what I needed for a new
dining table.
Similar designs date back to 1988 creating a timeless look.
