Today's Soup: Harvest Sweet Potato & Onion

Sweet Potato, Caramelized Onion & Apple Cider Soup with Fresh Sage and Toasted Walnuts

Made in a blizzard!

On Wednesdays, Mom and I make soup, delicious soups, in bulk, in the industrial kitchen of our church, with a group of other volunteers. (I say "our" church, when in fact I haven't attended a service at St. B's in more than a year. But I was confirmed there. And Joe and I were married there. And it is my parents' church, and they're very active there. And the real old-timers there have known me since I was 16. Plus, I've been making soup there every Wednesday for the past year and a half. So, yeah, "our" church.) The soup is frozen and sold to "our" parishioners with proceeds to benefit a medical and dental clinic located in the heart of Baghdad. The clinic is affiliated with St. George's Episcopal Church in Baghdad but exists to serve (and employs) people of all faiths.

Typically, Mom and I carpool to St B's. My house is en route from Mom & Dad's house to the church, so on most Wednesdays, Mom drives to my house and then I drive us (in her car) to the church. The distance between our houses is usually a 7-minute drive in morning rush hour. Today it took Mom at least twenty minutes to get to my house -- slushy and slippery and snowy, like it was. Then -- ha! -- when I got to the car with my first load of soup-making gear (just the sack of recipes and my purse, really), Mom said that SHE would be our driver for the 10-minute trip to St B's! Of all the unprecedented impulses! And in a blizzard, no less! Like hell, as Mom would say. After muttering my way to and from the house for the second load of soup supplies (2 gallons of my homemade veggie stock), I was prepared to say a firm No Way. But she apparently had come to her senses and was already making her way to the passenger seat.

Phew.

Everybody --including Mom -- agrees that she's a terrible driver. An unusually bad driver. Competent, don't get me wrong. But why would she ever be behind the wheel while there was another licensed driver in the passenger seat? There is not a good answer to that question. Which is precisely what I was muttering to and from the porch: How exactly would I explain this car accident? "What do you mean your mom was driving?" everybody would ask.

So I drove, and I was completely justified in my driverliness when a big ol' SUV did a 180 in front of us heading west on 13th Ave at like 15 miles an hour. Very disturbing, but I was doing all the right things, (i.e., maintaining a safe distance and traveling speed, basically, people. It ain't deep.) so we were fine. Your man in the SUV swerved because he tried to switch lanes while he was going too fast -- yeah, even 15 mph was too fast for the conditions.

Then, when we got to church, the only other ladies at Soup Group were the ones who walk to church, living within close proximity like they do. They were very impressed with Mom and me for being so intrepid and arriving even before they arrived. But they were very worried for us three hours later as we all headed off in near white-out conditions. Mom offered folks a ride home, and Elizabeth was like, "No, thanks." It was the kind of day when it really was a better bet to travel on foot for short distances / side streets.

Such a relief to get home safely. And very nice to get a message saying that my dentist appointment had been cancelled. (By that point, news outlets were advising people to stay home except for only truly necessary business. My teeth, to date, are in great shape, and this appointment represents the second of two cleanings this year. I can reschedule.) I shoveled the walk, played with Chaco (who was beyond enthusiastic about the piles of snow), and took a long hot shower. It is impressive how much hot water is necessary to clean out the smell of caramelizing 40 large onions. That's three shifts of four pans of sliced onions. And a good deal of shampoo. And a bathrobe and easy chair for the rest of the afternoon.

Snow day!