sunday

it may sound counter intuitive, but i look forward to sunday all week long. i try to plan as little as possible in the way of obligations, to-do lists and definitely cleaning. even more so than usual, i relish in the idea of cozy elastic waist pants, nibbling on muffins all morning long, lazily reading stacks of books in the house and walks around the neighborhood with my 28-pound meatloaf. the afternoon must bring a nap, which i sometimes skip in favor of a few hours to myself to shop, read a book or just drink a cup of coffee. after the boys wake up, we always take a trip to one of the many parks in our neighborhood. if atty needs a bath anyway, we head to the park with the sandbox and let him get good and dirty. most of the time, atty is in a post-nap haze so the walk/park/sandbox trip is a nice time for nelson and i too. once it's time to head home (or someone has sat in a huge puddle), i start to think about dinner. in the fall that almost always involves some sort of soup. i started off this fall with a potato-mushroom bisque that came together in less than an hour, but still managed to have that slow cooked taste. it's got a nice, rich depth thanks to some fresh thyme leaves i had leftover from the pork shoulder ragu and a big hunk of trader joes gruyere-cheddar blend that i had because it's gd delicious. i recommend topping each bowl with even more cheese, bits of bacon and crumbles of your favorite cracker, in my case that would of course be triscuts.

potato-mushroom soup

ingredients

6-7 little yukon gold potatoes, peeled and chopped

6 ounces baby portabello mushrooms, chopped

1 onion, peeled and chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 strips bacon

1 tbsp butter

4 cups vegetable stock

1/2 cup ff half and half

2 ounces cheddar-gruyere, grated

1.5 tsp salt (maybe more, taste it!)

1/2 tsp pepper (the same as the salt)

method:

in your new dutch oven, crisp bacon over medium heat

remove bacon and add butter, lower temp a bit if it sizzles too quickly

add onions, mushrooms and potatoes, stir a bit to coat in bacon grease and butter

let cook 5 minutes or so

add salt, pepper and garlic

add broth, bring up to a boil

knock down to a simmer for at least 30 minutes, vegetables should be soft

blend with immersion blender to desired consistency

add ff half and half and cheese, taste and season accordingly