There’s been an awful lot of soup in my life for the past few weeks. Every time I put another pot on the stove, the little voice in my head replays a line from the movie “Juno”.
“She smells like soup. Have you ever smelled her? I mean, her whole house smells like soup!”
Um, hopefully I’m just being paranoid, but I think I could have been the inspiration behind that whole scene. The weather has been cold as all get out though and I do what I’ve got to do to stay warm and semi-sane through the winter. I make soup. A lot. And I probably smell like soup. And my whole house, too. Oh well, c’est la vie.
My latest batch of soup is a simple cannellini bean soup with 2 whole heads of roasted garlic pureed into it, garnished with Parmesan frico crisps. It’s hearty and satisfying and pretty healthy at the same time. The garlic isn’t the least bit abrasive, instead it provides a round, almost sweet undertone to the white beans. The crisp rounds of Parmesan add nutty, cheesy crunch. All in all, it provides further evidence that it’s okay to smell like soup, as long as eating it makes you feel good. At least that’s what I’m going with.
Every time I make fish this way, I find myself asking why I don’t make dishes like this more often. It’s incredibly simple, quite healthy, and way quick. And, don’t worry, it’s also totally delicious–I still have my priorities straight.
About a year ago, my life changed in a big way. I discovered 
Real-deal homemade lasagna is a wonderful thing. Imagine thin sheets of homemade pasta, layered with silky béchamel and rich meaty Bolognese sauce, stuck together with melted cheese…what could be better?
Just when I thought I was done baking for a good long while, I discovered a carton of buttermilk a few days away from expiring and half of a pack of almond paste in the back of the fridge. What to do, what to do? Well, we can’t be wasteful and since we’ve got almost a week to go before we start thinking about New Year’s resolutions and whatnot, what do you say we make one last holiday treat?