Sick in bed

Winter in NY is beautiful, magical and cold.  The holiday season here is lovely. After the Holiday's...not so much. Cold, dreary rainy snowy...flu weather. I do still love it. Although after over loading my system with Vitamin C, day quil (problem is I took it at night) and theraflu, I lost the battle. 

So here I am sick in bed thinking about some of the most lovely soups I've ever had. 

Winter in NY is soup season. 

L'Ecole - The restaurant of The French Culinary Institute in NYC. 462 Broadway. I stopped in with Dani. Dani is my dancing daughter. She lives in New Orleans now and she better stay for a while so I can visit her in NOLA. 

Dani would come in to NY for work or to visit me from time to time. This particular trip was all visit and no work. 

After a day of shopping in Soho and Canal exhausted and hungry we just stubbled into the first place that looked appealing. Turning the corner onto Broadway I noticed FCI...and that they have a restaurant. 

It is lovely...pleasant, not overly Frenchy, just lovely classy white table cloth appeal. Yet you know your gonna eat someone's homework. 

The meal was amazing....these are the best students ever. The chef's probably passed their last test. 

This was a few years back, so the menu was a bit fuzzy. Dessert was delicious as you can imagine. 

But the soup...the soup I remember to this day and can taste it still at this moment. It was a rich, creamy butternut squash. The color of warm sunshine.  Sense memory took me to a place lying on a cool soft bed of grass with the warm sun pouring down on me on a early summer morning.No cares in the world...not a thing to do but love life.

Butternut squash is one of my favorites. This was seasoned perfectly and garnished with a bit of mushroom (sorry can't remember which one), the mushrooms were seasoned as well and slightly grilled. A few sprinkles of chive perhaps. 

I wish I could totally remember and I wish I had a big bowl right now. 

We also had the best shrimp I ever ate. 

Just chilled seasoned slightly shrimp cocktail. Sounds so simple...yet I can still remember it 2 or 3 years later. 

Another favorite soup experience I had was at Butter Restaurant.415 Lafayette. Celebrity Chef Alexandra Guarnaschelli. 

Love her. 

It was a Finer Things with Jen and myself. Special guest Bashy. We at times will allow a special guest appearance. 

It was Restaurant Week of 2009. 

From what I recall it was a zucchini soup. lovely and green and buttery. I do apologize for not being able to know exactly and describe it in depth. It was over 6 months ago. 

Today's menu lists it a soup de jour. Perhaps it is. 

Butter is also a must go. Rated high for beauty, service and lovely lovely food. 

Although the butter itself is nothing to rave about...funny huh.

Home soup...my "I'm sick at home" soup is campbell's tomato soup. I garnish with basil, salt and pepper. I usually put in a little cayenne or crushed red pepper flakes. Then a layer of cheese. 

Any favorite cheese will do. I may do a nice swiss today. In my fridge I have jalepeno's and pablamo peppers...they may get a nice grill and chop and join the party. 

This with a grill cheese with bacon sandwich would make the best...I miss my mother afternoon. 

PLEASE NOTE...within this blog, it's my thoughts spilling out on a page and shared for the universe. No spell check please...so don't call me out on bad typing, grammar, and spelling.

It is a pet peeve of mine on formal letters, buisness emails, etc. but until I get a personal editor...please bare with me. 

I am a smart girl...but still 1 of 2 from 2 girls from a bar.