Which is now all about what I find delicious.

But first, let me back up a bit. I started working on a redesign of this site in February 2020 and was excited about a relaunch. I even bought a fancy camera and tripod. But then, you know what happened. Amid the TP shortages, online school, and a general feeling that the world was ending, I didn’t feel much like blogging. Apparently, time passed, although it felt like a time warp. And the next thing I knew, I was an empty nester. This is the general goal of parenting, I know, but it was still an adjustment, especially for a family food blogger.

So, as you can see, I went through with the redesign, but I dithered (and dithered, and dithered … ) about what to write. Sure, I could write about all the insanely healthy dinners I make for my husband and me. But I imagine that getting old (literally) quickly. Same with my idea of work-from-home lunches; they are fine and often better than fine, but any leftover relic of the pandemic, especially those having to do more often than not with actual leftovers, feels like territory I don’t want to be covering. (That being said, I do have a Lunch At Home tab here, where you’ll find some of my more successful meals.)

So, I dithered some more while my lovely web designer finished the site, and then I dithered some more. And then I realized actual years had gone by. So, I’ve decided to stop dithering and just do what I want, which is write about what I like and want to share.

It might be a recipe. Or a current ingredient obsession. Or a restaurant I loved. Or a delicious-smelling candle or body oil. Or maybe even a deliciously scandalous book or movie. For those of you who read the secondhand shopping blog (mysecondhandyear) I wrote last year, you know I the idea of “glimmers” — small moments of joy or peace that come from noticing simple things around you — so I’ll probably write about some of those, too.

Even though I’m not packing school lunches or dealing with picky eaters anymore (sniff), I still believe all the things I wrote back then: that making dinner is an act of love that really can change the world, that good food is worth the effort; and especially that I want to continue to celebrate all that is delicious in life.

Since we are in the midst of our first snow of the season (and it’s a legit whiteout), I thought I’d start by sharing an incredibly delicious mushroom soup. This is a grown-up recipe I can imagine not flying for a typical family dinner with little kids, but it would make an excellent starter for Thanksgiving (and my back-in-the-nest, college-graduate son loves it). It’s from one of my all-time favorite cookbooks, Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table, and it’s named after the little mushrooms that grew in Louis XIV’s gardens at Versailles. I only tweaked the recipe slightly and recommend serving it like the recipe states. It is delicious.

Paris Mushroom Soup

Ingredients

For the soup:

1 1/2 large white onions (I used one yellow onion)
3 large garlic cloves
2 tbsp unsalted butter, divided (I used salted butter and tested for salt before I added more)
1 1/2 lbs white button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more as needed
1/4 tsp freshly ground white pepper plus more as needed
1/3 cup dry white wine (I used chardonnay)
2 sprigs fresh parsley
1 sprig fresh rosemary (I used dried)
6 cups salted chicken broth or water (I used water)
2 large or 4 regular-sized chicken bouillon cubes, if you’re using water (I used 1 tbsp chicken flavored Better than Bouillon)

FOR THE SALAD:

6 medium white button mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 medium scallions (optional; I skipped these)
3 to 4 sprigs fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 bunch fresh chives, chopped
crème fraîche, for serving (optional; I skipped this, too, but I would definitely recommend it)

To Make the Soup: Melt one tablespoon of the butter in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over low heat. Toss in the onions and garlic, season with salt and white pepper, and cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Add the mushrooms and the remaining tablespoon of butter, raise the heat to medium, and cook, continuing to stir, for another 3 minutes or so, until the mushrooms release their liquid. Increase the heat to high and cook until almost all of the liquid evaporates. Pour in the wine and let it boil until it, too, almost evaporates.

Toss the herbs into the pot, add the broth or water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover the pot almost completely, and cook at a gentle simmer for 20 minutes. Pull out the rosemary and parsley sprigs.

Working in small batches in a blender or food processor, puree the soup until it is very smooth; or use an immersion blender (I used an immersion blender, and mine wasn’t what I’d call “very smooth,” but I like it a little more rustic). Taste for salt and pepper. Heat the soup gently. It shouldn’t boil, but it should be very hot.

To make the salad and serve: Divide the mushrooms, scallions, parsley, and chives among six soup plates (I didn’t use scallions, just mushrooms, parsley, and chives); season lightly with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into the bowls and top each with a dollop of crème fraîche.