Spur of the Moment Vegetable Soup

Nothing says "comfort" like home made soup ~

Per Nana~

This was an amazing soup.

Dorie suggested many alternatives for this soup, the variety of 

vegetables are endless. I decided to use a combination of carrots,

 parsnips, and potatoes.  I had never cooked a parsnip until we started 

cooking with Dorie  and I really do like the flavor it gives to the dish.

After cooking the onions, celery and carrots, I added thyme and rosemary.

Once the potato and parsnips were softened,  I pureed the soup.

 The result was a perfectly smooth soup that was so tasty.

For Sunday night's supper, I served our family's famous fried provolone 

sandwiches along with a bowl of this delicious vegetable soup. 

 It worked perfectly together. Hubby said this was a keeper so I

 guess it passed the test.  Thank goodness.

Per Tricia~

Spur of the moment or not, this recipe was not happening.  

We had an eventful last week enjoying fall foliage in Vermont .......

while simultaneously  comforting our homesick son in Italy and 

ultimately coordinating his return to the US.  Let me tell you that

 I could have used some of Nana's soup and those provolone sandwiches

 - I can not even tell you how amazing those things are.  

I am going to make sure she adds directions on the blog 

next week because they are OFF THE CHARTS

.

But I will gladly share the photos of our adventure at the cheese farm.

Next week I will add photos of the cooking class we took and hopefully 

share a late entry to the "spur of the moment soup" category :)

The farm is "Consider Bardwell Farm" in West Pawlet, Vermont. 

 For the longest time I thought the name was some type of 

marketing gimmick  like "think of Bardwell Farm first" or such.

  But no, it was the actual name of the original owner.

 First name- Consider, last -Bardwell. 

Established in 1864.  They produce award winning cheeses from goat

 and cow's milk.  They host tours, farm dinners and special events throughout

 the year but they also have a self serve store open all the time.  Yup- help 

yourself and leave the cash or a personal check. I have not seen this 

anywhere other than Vermont, which is one of the reasons I love it.

Their website is fabulous so feel free to take a peek.

http://considerbardwellfarm.com/index.html

You can now even buy their cheese through their site- but it is interesting

 to see their list of wholesalers, retailers and exclusive restaurants that serve

 their cheese. The owner, Angela Miller, even authored a book "Hay Fever-

 How Chasing A Dream on A Vermont Farm Changed My Life". 

 I have a copy and have thoroughly enjoyed reading her adventures as 

a prominent literary agent in NY City who seeks balance by investing

 in the cheese farm and juggling both lives and lifestyles.  It is tough work.

After we visited with the goats and other animals we headed to

 the farm next door for pie. Again, a till for leaving cash and the

 honor system in play. My 18 year old started out as" humoring his

 mother" but ended up taking far too many i-phone to convince

 anyone he was not impressed.....

When we got home and Googled we found a wonderful video from non

 other than Gesine Bullock Prado where she visited Consider Bardwell

 Farm and then makes and incredible goat's milk cheesecake.  

Gesine visits Consider Bardwell (click to see video)

If you have not heard of this baker and cookbook author, Gesine is Sandra

 Bullock's sister and a lawyer by trade who gave up Hollywood for 

Vermont and baking.  She has several websites and I enjoy them all. 

The one below has numerous videos that are awesome.

http://www.gesine.com/

In closing, both sons are now home and I am referring to them as the 

"Boomerang Boys".  While they ended up home for different 

reasons,  I secretly think we owe it all to Dorie and their missing the  

 French Friday adventures far too much.......