No Place Like Home

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Stef and Roxie just arrived. Our little family is together in the OC for a few days.

Even if you didn’t know Stef was expected, you’d know something was up based on the state of the kitchen this afternoon. Every pot was out. The sink was full. The aroma of fresh food was everywhere.

Homemade soup tonight. Pasta with a homemade sauce too. This is the good life.

We brought homemade cookies to our neighbors yesterday. Today they reciprocated. No wonder people complain about Christmas weight gain.

I was skinny when Helaine and I first met. Consider me living proof of her expertise in the kitchen.

Last year was tumultuous for us, culminating in a 2600+ mile move. Things have started to calm down. Home cooking and baking are signs of stability.

Honey I Locked The Soup

I have taken to bringing my dinner to work a few times a week. Today it’s may fav: leftovers! We had a ground turkey based dinner yesterday and my favorite, Helaine’s spicy asparagus soup.

Holy crap this soup is good!

She packed both soup and main course in QVC “Lock & Lock” containers and sent me on my way. Tonight after the news I headed to the microwave.

Everything went perfectly. I took the top off. The soup heated nicely. To carry it back without spilling I loosely slid the lid on top but didn’t lock it down.

This is when science took over!

I’d laid the lid loosely, but as the bowl cooled a little of the water vapor in the air condensed. All of a sudden the pressure in the container was a lot lower than the pressure outside. The lid was locked by air pressure!

I tried wedging silverware under the seal, but no go. It’s designed to be airtight. Mission accomplished.

Finally a co-worker suggested reheating. All I could think of was exploding asparagus soup all over everything.

Sixty seconds later it’s soup! Crisis averted.

Soup Of The Gods

There was a time my life was filled with freshly baked goods. Alas, those days are long gone. Sad. Necessary.

Back when I first got on TV the columnist for the local newspaper suggested someone fatten me up. Mission accomplished. The skinny Geoff is long gone, a victim of Helaine’s plot to warm me up to the idea of domestic bliss by feeding me.

There was a time my life was filled with freshly baked goods. Alas, those days are long gone. Sad. Necessary.

Helaine still bakes, just not as often. She makes up for it with other creative delights from the kitchen. I had one today! It’s my current favorite.

Before I describe this dish I should mention I have Helaine’s permission to write about it, but only if I make clear this is one recipe she’s not giving out.

We’re talking asparagus soup! It’s an adaptation of Giada’s recipe, but made with Helaine’s immersion blender. It’s full of asparagus, basil, leeks, chicken broth and a few other secret ingredients.

To see it… to taste it you would think it’s a “Cream of…” soup. It is not. It’s as good for you as it is rich and creamy (without cream)!

What got me hooked on this soup is the heat. As you take each spoonful the spicy warmth builds slowly.

This soup is so good it should be illegal. It’s not chocolate torte or butter cookies, but it’s pretty darned close.

I’m a very lucky guy.