One of the best soups I've ever made

Three cheers and an amen for this new souply creation of mine. Swear to god I'm already looking forward to eating more and making it again. It came about as I attempted to warm my cold self, clean out my fridge, and feel truly sated, and I must say it's a huge success on all counts! Literally chock full of leeks, onions and sunchokes, those flavors are buttressed by roasted garlic, thyme, nutmeg, pecorino and buttermilk. I cooked everything relatively slowly, in roughly three layers, and immersion blended at the end for a smooth yet still slightly textured mouth-feel. Some roasted and chopped chestnuts topped off my bowl, but these are optional so don't fret if you want no part of them.

I truly can't imagine a better meal on a cold night. Off to write up the recipe so as not to forget a thing. It'll be in Soups as Leeky Sunchoke Bisque.

Lemon cake hits the spot

Oliver and I had a lovely time making this yummy cake. I used my Meyer Lemon Cake recipe but: subbed regular lemons in place of the Meyers; used unsalted butter instead of salted as that's all I had; upped the St. Germain addition to 1½ tsp; and added chopped mint to the glaze. Everything was delicious so worry not if you want or have to make any of those adjustments. The only thing I would definitely stress is that you should sift your powdered sugar before whisking it into the lemon juice. Lazily and nauseously, I skipped this step today which is why there are tiny white sugar balls studding the cake. I did, however, eat two slices for lunch. So far today, I've had oatmeal, seltzer and lemon cake: not a terribly balanced diet. Alas.