uno settimane, tre minestre

I am so excited to cook the appetizers and desserts for the Engagement Party this weekend!! I have spent hours researching produce that's in season during the month of April, scouring the net for recipes, waking up in the middle of the night with crazy, spur-of-the-moment ideas... at this point I am ready for Saturday to be here to I can put all of my ideas into action!

I am a girl who loves to dream big and had so many options going through my head for the appetizers in particular - that's when my mom stepped in and told me I was allowed 3 appetizer options and 2 cookies MAX. Although I was a little bummed to be limited to a few options, I know that in the end I will be thankful for keeping things simple.

Last week I made three soups (well, four including the Vichyssoise we made in American Regional Cuisine - but that one didn't make the cut) and brought them to the office so that my colleagues could offer me their opinions on which were their favorites. I am 99.2% sure I know which one I'm going to go with... but you never know! I am still thinking of ways to even combine some of the elements of each of the soups into the final one - but I think I've come to a point in which I need to just make a decision and STICK TO IT!


Here are some pictures of the soups I prepared last week. Which one do you think will be the winner?



Fava Bean Soup with Carrot Cream





Fava beans... so much work!



















Roasted Asparagus and Potato Soup





Chilled Yellow Squash and Leek Soup with Coriander and Lemon Crème Fraîche