From the kitchen..

Dinner was so good tonight that
I thought I would share it.
I wish you could smell this..

Foccacia:
2 tps yeast
a pinch of sugar
3/4 cps of warm water

add these together and let the yeast bloom a bit while
you get the other stuff together

2 cps bread flour (all-purpose will do)
4 TBS oil
a palm full of dried onion flakes
a hefty pinch of italian herbs (oregano, thyme,basil etc..)
a pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl
and stir to mix and then begin to mix
with fingers, adding more flour as needed
to keep from becoming a dough beast.
Knead until smooth.

Place in an oiled bowl and cover with a damp towel
and let rise until doubled in size.

preheat oven to 400.

Dump back onto your kneading board
with a little flour underneath
and roughly shape into a round.

Place it on a pizza pan
and give it a light rub of oil
and top at will.
I used a 4 cheese mix of asiago, parmesan, romano and cheddar.
Bake until fluffy and melted and the house smells so good you can't take it another minute.

To accompany the bread I made
a cream of onion and potato soup.
Sooo good.

In a deep pan or soup pot:

Butter (to sautee)
1 onion chopped fine
2 celery stalks chopped fine
1 celeriac root chopped fine (I happen to have them in the garden..not vital to the recipe)
Sautee until the onions are translucent
Add chicken stock

I used 5 potatoes (I nuked them until soft and scooped them out of their skins)

Add potatoes to the pot.
Add more stock
I used a quart of stock in this tonight
the potatoes absorb it.

Pinch of thyme
pinch of savory
pinch of salt
pinch of good black pepper
another pinch or two of black pepper

Just walk away
and let it simmer, stirring occasionally

1 small carton of heavy whipping cream (the smallest in the store)
and lower the heat
Serve as soon as the cream has warmed.

If I could have had you all around the table I would have.