Yesterday morning I moseyed my way over to Wegman’s in the morning with LM3. The store had a killer selection of mushrooms (do they always?) I saw them all there on the shelf, like a group of friends, and I could feel my body grow with excitement at the onset of an opportunity. They had:
- oyster mushrooms
- shiitake mushrooms
- baby portobellos
- white mushrooms
- cremini mushrooms
YUM! I grabbed them all.
I don’t really have a go-to recipe for mushroom soup, but I always search online for anything creamless. I like to add cheese as a garnish, but working in too much heavy cream, milk, or even mascarpone cheese turns me off. That being said, I try to pack in flavor in other ways.
For this soup experiment, I did not use a recipe! I used chicken broth as the base and tried to create a ton of flavor with some spices (thyme, salt, pepper, marjoram), veggies (onion & celery), oil (truffle and olive), and butter before bringing them all together with my immersion blender. (Note: my dad got me an immersion blender a few years ago when I got into making soup and it has been a REAL GAME CHANGER! I totally recommend.)
This soup doesn’t take much time to make, but I was looking for a place of peace, so I took my time.
A long time ago (I may have been in my twenties?), a family member asked me to chop an onion and then proceeded to tease me for slow chopping. I think the rhetoric dispensed went something like,
“You don’t know how to chop an onion?” or “How long does it take to chop an onion?” or “Today, junior!”
I’m one of those people who didn’t learn how to deflect negative behavior as a kid. I didn’t know how to make a joke or say something clever in the situations that warranted such. Instead, I felt uncomfortable and then tortured myself later, trying to figure out what was wrong with me.
Thankfully, that’s not the case today.
Today, I carefully, slowly chop my onions because it feels good. Because I like the smell, the feel, and the precaution I take so I don’t lose a finger. I like being in my kitchen, feeling present, working and dreaming about how the flavors will come together. I feel peaceful bringing ingredients together in new ways and lean into that.
This week, making mushroom soup brought me to a place of supreme peace. Making it, eating it, sharing it, and scraping the bowl at the end.
What brought you peace? Share the peace!
4 the Love of Peace 