Why Care About Celery Soup?

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Indeed. Unless you grew up with your mom cranking open that can of Campbell's (all WASPs please raise your hands), why would you care about celery soup? I'll tell you why: because Thanksgiving just happened.
But Tory, you say, I didn't serve celery soup for Thanksgiving!
Of course you didn't. Nobody does (until you've tried mine). No no, you care because if we are anything alike, your celery sits in the crisper after you use the three stalks needed for Thanksgiving and slowly rots until you throw it away in mid-December.
Happy Holidays.
In this time of recession and hungry people, I feel extra guilt for wasting food. This is my humble answer to what to do with that celery.
Because you can only eat so many ants on a log.

(Leftover) Celery Soup
This recipe originated from The Moosewood Cookbook. It was vegetarian and a bit bland for my taste, but I'm grateful to Mollie Katzen for getting this soup party started. It's low calorie, not that it matters- you're already beautiful! But it's a warming, healthy soup in the midst of our season of over-indulging. I'll give you the recipe, then the prep photos.
Serves 6

2 tbs. butter
1 cup finely minced onion
4 1/2 cups celery, divided: 4 cups in 1-inch chunks, 1/2 cup chopped very fine
2 tsp. salt, divided
1 tsp. celery seed
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
2 tbs. dry white wine (dry vermouth works in a pinch)

3 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 big Yukon Gold potato, peeled and diced
dash nutmeg

1 cup milk
2-3 tbs. Greek yogurt or sour cream
white pepper to taste
2 tbs. minced fresh parsley or snipped chives

In large pot over medium-high heat, melt butter. Add onion, 1/2 cup finely minced celery, celery seed, ground coriander and 1/2 tsp. salt. Saute about 8 minutes, or until vegetables are golden and just tender. Add wine; stir until evaporated, about 30 seconds. Set vegetable mixture aside in bowl.

In same pot, bring chicken stock to boil. Add 4 cups celery in 1-inch chunks, potato, remaining 1 1/12 tsp. salt and pinch nutmeg. Return to boil, then lower heat and cover. Simmer about 18 minutes, or until potato is easily pierced with fork. Transfer to blender or food processor. Puree, in batches if necessary. Return to pot with reserved vegetable mixture.

Whisk in milk, yogurt, and salt and white pepper to taste. Serve warm and garnish with chopped fresh herbs.

And now the pictures!

I love beautiful prep:


Very finely chopped, indeed.


Go, celery, go!


Never fill your blender more than 2/3 full. TRUST ME.


Ahhhh. So lovely. I forgot the garnish and it's still delicious.

T-Day Countdown, II

So the cranberry sauce didn't happen last night. I got caught up in the surprise final pass of the avocado cookbook and that was it. This is usually how my plans work out: I make them, they sound good and organized, and then the world intercedes and I get to readjust. I find holidays are all about living life on life's terms.
The new plan: tonight I will make the cranberry sauce and fabulous Wild Mushroom Soup, and tomorrow morning I'll celebrate my favorite part of Tory's Thanksgiving Ritual.
For the last 9 years I've been by myself when I rise on T-day, and before the cooking begins I give myself a space to reflect. I make a delicious cup of coffee (in recent years a latte, mmmm), and write out a list of everything I'm grateful for. People, sofas, works of art, songs, small animals-- some years the list is long, some years pointedly short, but always this leads me to a peaceful space on a hectic day.

But I'm ahead of myself. Tonight, Wild Mushroom Soup and cranberry sauce, soundtracked by my friend Scott's DJ-genius. Fingers crossed it comes out tasty!

T-Day Countdown

Two days and counting, dear reader! Are you ready? Or preparing to be ready? I have my next few days all planned out, I love this time of year.
My Thanksgiving dinner should be great: I plan to spend it with some excellent friends, several of whom are part of my chosen L.A. family. I love these cats; the year my Uncle Tyler died and I had to catch a red-eye Thanksgiving night, they moved dinner earlier so I could still participate. They were also patient and kind when I freaked out at a friend who accidentally added my soup garnish (delicate fried apple peels) to the salad. You can't ask for a better family experience than that. We've celebrated assorted holidays together through divorces and break-ups, promotions and moves, deaths and new loves. Good times.
This year I will be contributing 3 items to the table
1) A Wild Mushroom Soup, which started out as a recipe by Michele Scicolone but has evolved enough that now I consider it my own. I was not planning on making soup, but Ray and David tag-teamed me in a flattery throw-down on Sunday. I was helpless to say no.
2) An Italian Broccoli and Cauliflower "Flan" with Spinach Bechamel Sauce (though it's really more of a gratin), and
3) Cranberry Sauce. There are 3 cranberry sauces on the docket... it's not a competition, but I predict mine will rock the house. It has a secret ingredient that makes the flavor pop. No, not MSG. Ok, I'll tell you, but you have to keep it between us (no one needs to know how basic these things are): just add a dash of salt. Every year I turn out a nuanced and interesting cranberry sauce that is embarrassingly simple. That's my favorite kind of cooking.

This afternoon David and I will make a pilgrimage to IKEA to purchase the remaining plates and wineglasses for our crowd of almost 20, and afterwards I will head to the grocery store to buy fresh mushrooms and cream, broccoli, cauliflower and spinach. I wisely purchased cranberries this weekend- Ray would have a fit if I showed up sans sauce! Last year I had to elbow past an elderly lady to snatch the last bag of cranberries, oh it was ugly. (Yes, I know there's a tart circle of hell reserved just for me. Mmmm, but my sauce was fantastic...)

Tonight I will make the cranberry sauce, tomorrow the soup, and the morning-of my house will smell of broccoli and butter. And you, dear reader? What are you making (or buying!) this year? Let's put it out there- you know me, I love the dish.