Chives in the Garden
We traveled a bit north this past weekend to go to a Soup party at my neighbor’s house. Confusing, I admit, since the neighbors I am speaking of live three doors down in the same cul-de-sac. They have a home in the country in Harrisburg, too, and that is where we went for soup. It is a monthly event they have been doing for quite a while, but for one reason or another we hadn’t been able to attend. Since winter is ending, soon they say, it is done for the season. I got in on the goods just in the nick of time.
They live in a beautiful pastoral place with lush green fields, grazing sheep and horses, and the rolling Coburg Hills all around. They were “babysitting,” as it were, two of their neighbors horses at the time, so we had lovely lawn ornamentation to look at. A vegetable garden with stacked stone partitions created a view from the kitchen and dining room windows. Swiss chard, overwintered from last year, stood tall in massive clumps of red and green on the otherwise newly planted beds. A large ginger haired retriever greeted us at the door, barking and wagging at the humans who would play with him. Ah, the country life.
We were instructed to bring what we wanted, beer or wine, bread, etc. but that it should “not require a fork.” So Kevin had picked out a nice round loaf of kalamata rosemary bread and I picked out some Ninkasi beer at the Market of Choice. We both had skipped lunch for the afternoon event so we showed up hungry. While catching up and sharing toasts and stories, I discovered that our hostess is also a fellow “foodie” and also has a blog called Sticks Forks Fingers. She has been doing this longer than me so it was fun to discover new things. Like foodbuzz, for instance. Who knew? Oh what fun to have the love of food in common with someone.
She served one of the freshest tasting Pea soups I had ever had, with a hint of lemon and mint. It was gooooooods! She also served a cream based soup with potatoes, diced ham and small pieces of asparagus. Both were awesome, and the cool weather made it a soup day, for sure. Here is the link to her post and the recipe for her Pea Soup.
I was in the mood for fish, as I was “chickened” and “beefed” out for the week. I had a bag of plain kettle cooked potato chips and fresh tarragon still left from the above mentioned baked chicken cooked earlier in the week, so I knew I had the makings of a fine crust. I wanted to avoid cleaning as much as possible (I’m lazy that way) so I opted for baking it in the oven. Easy. Oh, and I figured while I was heating up the oven, why not mix a batch of oatmeal cookies and get some baked while I was at it. Continue reading 
