Miracle in California

If a dish has more than two ingredients, I need a recipe for it. The only thing I can really make without a recipe is a grilled cheese sandwich, and even those don't always turn out so well.

So it was quite a show of bravery for me yesterday to saute some shallots and garlic I found at the bottom of our fruit basket, throw in some leftover vegetables (butternut squash and potatoes), add chicken broth, boil it for a while, puree the whole thing with some leftover sour cream (without measuring or timing ANY OF IT) and then eat it! It was probably a bigger show of bravery for G. to eat it, knowing I'd made it without a recipe. He peeked into the pot and asked what I was making. "I don't know...maybe soup," I answered.

Guess what? It's really, really good! G. was very surprised and said many times last night, "Wow, this is really good! Hey, A., your mama can make tasty things out of leftover vegetables!" In fact, he was a bit too surprised and enthusiastic, if you ask me.

If you know how to cook, you'll think this is ridiculous. But people who know how to cook know things like why you saute onions until they're translucent before you add all the other stuff, how long to cook chicken, and how to add this or that to balance flavors. I am only successful with these things when what to do and in what order is typed out there in black and white. So I am very excited by my Cream of Butternut Squash Soup. If fact, I think I'll have some now - and that's quite an endorsement - I never eat my own leftovers. I'm ready to take Martha's place. On the show and in the magazine, not in prison.