Back Home Again….FFWD~Spur-of-Moment Vegetable Soup and Top Secret Chocolate Mousse

 Coffee and Beignets at Cafe du Monde

It feels like forever since my last post. So much has happened, beginning with our annual trip south. First a week in Georgia, to kid sit my grandsons, followed by some R&R in Florida.  That part went well. The days in Florida were unseasonably warm and we spent just about every day on the beach. The first friday after our arrival in Florida, French Fridays put vegetable soup on the menu. After spending the afternoon on the beach, with temps in the mid 80s, I just didn’t feel like making or eating soup. So, I posted my pumpkin pie oatmeal. Beach and soup just don’t go together! Our plans were to return home sometime around Halloween. However, NJ was clobbered by a miserable lady named Sandy! She wrecked havoc on our beautiful Jersey Shore, NYC and Long Island. Knocked out power to about 2.9 million homes just in NJ.  We decided to take a side trip to New Orleans. It  made perfect sense. Go home to no electricity and gas rationing or, spend a lovely 2 days in New Orleans! How  ironic…going to New Orleans to avoid a hurricane.  It was a wonderful trip and, I so enjoyed my first taste of this wonderfully unique city. Coffee and Beignets at Cafe du Monde, listening to wonderful musicians everywhere we went, and dinner at Plaza Cafe! I will post more about that later.

Enjoying  those beignets 

We then planned on spending a weekend at my sons house, then back home.  Power was not restored as quickly as we had thought, and I was really starting to second guess myself about wanting to go home. We decided to leave for home on monday, with or without power. How much longer could it be out? We were lucky. While on the road, my neighbor texted me that power had returned…yay!!  When we reached NJ, we stopped in a small town a few miles from our home, to pick up some groceries. It still hadn’t sunk in that this area had been hit so very hard during the storm. I entered the A&P to get my usual roasted chicken, so I could just go home and relax after being on the road for 2 days.  Never, in my lifetime, have I seen a grocery store so absolutely empty. I felt I was in some third world country and, for the first time, I realized what NJ went through. There was nothing perishable on any shelf. No  fruit, no veggies, no eggs, no cheese or meat. Incredible! I bought a few cans of soup and milk (which was just delivered because power had just been restored a few hours before).  Before going home, we  drove to our polling place as I wasn’t going to miss my chance to cast my vote.  Finally we headed home, past many downed trees and tangled wires…wow!  Scary, and our area was not hit as hard as the shore areas! Arriving home, we felt extremely fortunate to find only a few small downed trees and no damage to our home. Except for a family of mice that moved in ( now gone ) during our absence, no lasting effects from the storm. Sadly, many of our communities still struggle, and will for some time to come.

This soup was wonderfully delicious…I swirled some cream into it!

So that brings me to Wednesday!  I made Dories Spur-of-the Moment Vegetable Soup. It was wonderful and so satisfying! We both enjoyed the comfort of sitting down to a bowl of soup; as the sleet and snow were beating against our windows!! That’s right, another nor-easter!! All I could think of was, all those people still without power!

Top Secret…..Chocolate and Eggs

Top Secret Chocolate Mousse

I decided to make this Fridays pick yesterday, so that I could post a double FFWD post until I catch up.  However, we lost power again yesterday…Arrgh!  After spending the day unpacking, I was just too tired to make my Dorie pick last night.  So, this morning I made my Top Secret Chocolate Mousse. This was a true winner! I look forward to making this one again and again! A definite keeper!

Oh so delicious!

A definite keeper!

These recipes can be found in Dorie Greenspans cookbook “Around My French Table”.  You can also find Spur of the Moment Vegetable Soup here and Top Secret Chocolate Mousse here. To see what other Doristas are doing, check it out here! Happy Friday everyone! 

Just a side note: I grew up going to the “Shore”. It was a right of passage for all Jersey kids to go to the Shore the day after their prom. I spent many summers there and took my children and grand children.  We will rebuild!! Jerseyites are strong and will get through this.  However, they really need the support of everyone who cares about such incredible sadness. It’s really getting cold in the North East and these people have no power and many have no homes.  Here is a link to the American Red Cross .  If possible, please donate today. Financial donations make the greatest and most immediate impact helping the Red Cross provide shelter, food, emotional support and other assistance to those affected by disasters like Hurricane Sandy.