Last year I was lucky enough to spend my first Mother’s Day with my boys and my mom. We spent a lovely morning at home holding babies (one napper) while enjoying a breakfast made by my husband.

In the afternoon we ventured out to the Sparks Marina to check out the Arts in Bloom Festival. There were many artists with handmade wares but we were there to support my friend Amanda who was selling her handmade pottery. Turns out she didn’t need our help with sales as her table was busy and she had little left in her collection by the end of the day.

This Sunday Amanda will be there again with all new pieces. I got a sneak peak into some fun and functional new pieces she’s been working on that you need to scoop up for yourself. She’ll be set up near the stage.

Hope you get out to the marina to enjoy the sun and art. Have a fabulous Mother’s Day!

Thanks to our generous friend, Heidi, I got to make up some of my favorite winter soup. She gifted us a bunch of food from her CSA basket, most of which just happened to work into the Summer Squash Soup recipe (below). I know, it’s not summer. I rarely follow a recipe or any instructions, for that matter. This recipe is really flexible just be careful not to overdo the carrots or the whole thing will taste like them.

What I did this time around:
- doubled/tripled the recipe
- subbed about half of each butternut and carnival squash for the summer squash
- didn’t have any carrots so skipped them
- one each of a red and yellow onion (oh, did I cry with the red one! took me back to my days of cutting onions at JJ’s Pie Co.)
- three large white potatoes
- two cups apple juice (clearing out fridge and making up for the sweetness lost without carrots)
- 5 cups chicken bullion (out of veggie stock that I usually use)

Summer Squash Soup

2 tbls olive or canola oil
1 medium onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
1/2 tsp salt
2 lb yellow summer squash or zucchini, halved and thinly sliced
2 carrots, thinly sliced (I just break them in threes and throw them in)
1 yellow-fleshed potato (1/2 lb), peeled, halved, and thinly sliced
4 cups chicken stock or reduced-sodium chicken broth

Heat oil in a 6-8 quart wide heavy pot over moderate heat, add and cook onion and salt, stirring until softened, about 8 minutes. Add squash, carrots, potato, and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, then simmer, partially covered, until vegetables are very tender, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and cool soup, uncovered, 10 minutes.

Working in batches, puree soup (use caution as this stays hot for a long time!) in a blender until smooth and transfer to a bowl. Return puree to cleaned pot and thin with water, if desired. Simmer 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, if desired.

I usually crisp some rosemary from the yard in a little butter and sprinkle that on the soup. Or, serve with the fried rosemary and/or a drizzle of browned butter. Oh, and also delicious with crumbled goat cheese but what isn’t!

Other things I’ve added/subbed: beets, beer, milk, quinoa.

Let me know if you try it and what you changes you made. Enjoy!