There is something about potato leek soup that is humbling. It’s cold outside and you pour yourself a cup. You slurp it down while wearing fingerless gloves. Maybe you’re in a barn. It is dusk. Dark clouds are rolling in. It is all very Dickensian.
Humor me.
That might be the potato leek soup that is composed of three ingredients– leeks, potatoes, and water.

But this is the potato leek soup that is made on a Sunday afternoon, at the close of a full weekend. You may be miles away from a barn, but it is still humbling… and satisfying to boot. There  are more than three ingredients in this recipe, but not too many more. In fact, the soup comes together in under an hour, always a welcome direction when you’re busy.
So let’s get down to the “plus” business. Well, there’s stock used instead of water. This adds another dimension of flavor. [...]

I am not a competitive person. Growing up, I never had any interest in organized sports. I was on the basketball team (B team, mind you) in middle school. There was one game that the coach had to call a time out because I got tangled in my jersey. Yeah. That’s how good I was. Trophies never interested me, nor ribbons. But when a friend of mine mentioned that he was thinking of entering a pie contest, in a county fair about an hour from where we live, I was immediately intrigued. This was one competition that I could get behind.
I entered an apple pie, he entered a pumpkin.

Now I know that me, a California girl, was taking a risk entering an apple pie in New England– home of the apple pie. But I figured I live in Connecticut now, [...]