Celeriac Soup

Autumn is slowly creeping upon us. Her cool demeanor and elegant appearance is certainly present in the Rhineland.

A tree outside my window has already been brushed with Autumn’s golden red hand.

When the temperatures begin to drop along with the cool rain, one food item is on my mind.

Soup.

Several days ago I showed you the ugly duckling of root vegetables. The celery root, or celeriac.

 

Yesterday, this ugly duckling grew into a beautiful swan when I made celeriac soup.

I Combined the ideas from this website and this website to create the recipe below. After taking my photos of the ingredients, I decided to add butter, nutmeg and pepper as well.

Start by gathering your ingredients.

If you can’t find a celeriac in your grocery store, visit your local farmers’ market and request one. Any farmer who sells celery should be able to produce the root for you as well.

 

 Scrub and peel the celeriac. Be very careful to get into all of the root grooves or else you might end up with some sandy bites of soup. I speak from experience. Notice the celery-looking bits?

 

Heat the oil and melt the butter before tossing in the chopped up veggies. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

 

Add the vegetable broth and bay leaf then simmer over medium-low heat for 20-30 minutes, or until the veggies are soft.

 

Out with the old.

 

In with the new.

 

Give it all a stir.

 

Then blend until smooth! If you don’t own an immersion blender, you can use a regular blender or food processor, just be sure to work in small batches, blender no more than 1/2 full. The heat pressure along with the pressure from blending can cause an over-full blender to burst. Better safe than sorry.

 

Stir in the nutmeg and pepper then serve.

 

Celeriac soup is most similarly related to the French cuisine, so a dollop of crème fraiche is a must.

 

This soup is so comforting and rich. Perfect for an early Autumn day.

I already plan to buy another celeriac and leek from my fruit and vegetable lady on Tuesday so I can make this soup again.

I was feeling extra generous last night and gave the remaining two portions to my neighbor/ colleague/ friend’s mom who is preparing for knee surgery next week. When I called to ask if she and her husband would like fresh homemade celeriac soup for dinner, the response was a definite, yes!

I sprinkled a little more nutmeg and pepper on top of their soup and passed it on. I can’t wait to hear what they thought of it. I  hope they loved it as much as I did.

I hope you try the recipe and love it too!

Celeriac Soup

Ready in 45 minutes and very easy

3 large servings

Ingredients

• 1 celeriac, cleaned, peeled and cubed
• 1 potato, cleaned and cubed
• 2 small onions, roughly chopped
• 1 leek, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 handful fresh herbs, such as parsley, chives and thyme
• 1/4-1/2 tsp. nutmeg, or to taste
• pepper to taste
• crème fraiche for garnish

Method

1. Heat the oil and butter in a pan and add the chopped celeriac, potato, onions, garlic, and leek. Allow to cook for 10 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring frequently.
2. Add the broth and bay leaf. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until the celeriac and potato are soft.
3. Remove the bay leaf and add your fresh herbs. Stir then blend until smooth. (See important safety note about blending above.) Stir in the nutmeg and pepper. Dish, garnish, serve and enjoy.

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Pancakes with Banana and Nutella

Saturday apparently is now synonymous with pancakes.

For three weeks running, I’ve made pancakes for Saturday morning breakfast.

I don’t plan on ending this tradition any time soon.

There are just too many possibilities.

Like Pancakes with Banana and Nutella, for example.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

1 cup of the Whole Grain Pancake Mix from this post

1 cup butter milk

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix the ingredients and let sit for 20 minutes before cooking over a hot non-stick pan.

Nutella Sauce

Ok, so we don’t buy the real nutella in this household. It’s generic brand all the way!

Chocolate and hazelnut goodness in a jar!

Take one almost empty jar of nutella and add a very small slash of milk. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir and microwave for an additional 15-30 seconds.

Drizzle over hot pancakes and banana slices.

Say it with me now, Mmmmmm!

You won’t regret making this combination!

One more exciting thing! Today my fruit and vegetable lady was selling her first harvest of pumpkins! Yippy!!!!! 

Let the pumpkin oats eating fest begin!

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Oh Happy Day!

Before heading out the door to go to the gym this morning, I peaked my head into the apartment mail room to find something very special dangling from my post box.

I literally squealed with excitement and started jumping up and down as I ripped open the package to find this…

The old ladies in the mail room were probably already confused, what with my wild behavior, but their confusion likely grew even deeper when they saw that I was so excited over a book.

Not any book. A book about a movement that has inspired and uplifted people around the world. A book that I ordered months ago and have been waiting very somewhat patiently for. Operation Beautiful is finally mine! Caitlin, your book is here, all the way in Germany!

Here I am, feeling as beautiful as ever. Post work-out, no make-up and loving myself, just the way God made me.

I started reading the book while waiting for my bus. By page 16, I had to put it away. Crying on a public bus only makes the other passengers uncomfortable.

I had a wonderful workout at my favorite Saturday morning Body Balance class. The class always makes me feel so strong and capable.

After living her for over 2 years and getting a grip on the language, I finally feel ready to start leaving Operation Beautiful notes at the gym. German, don’t fail me now!

While unpacking my gym bag I pulled out my current book along with my new Operation Beautiful book and realized something very coincidental.

Spot it?

Both books are written by a Boyle. Both also inspire a change of thought and global action. Coincidence, I think not.

I couldn’t be more excited to finally have Operation Beautiful, the book. I am so proud of Caitlin and can’t wait to share her message with as many people as possible.

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