My friend Wendy - to know her is to love her...and while she doesn't claim to be a gourmet cook, she raised 5 kids and a husband without any signs of malnutrition, dysentary or ricketts - so in my book, that makes her, if not a gourmet, then at least a darn good cook...Wendy had us to dinner and when we walked up to her door this is what greeted us...
darling old aprons hanging on the doors - she was setting the stage for what was inside - more aprons and good old-fashioned, home-cooked food!
She started us off with her Practically Perfect Pea Soup - and it was delicious...here's her recipe:
2 bags of frozen peas, cook with 1 cube of butter and 4 minced green onions till just barely done, salt and pepper to taste, put in blender, add 1 carton half and half. Blend. Serve with dollup of sour cream.
Now, Wendy is not a stickler for details...but I realized that for me to post a recipe I HAD to be...I rummaged through my freezer, risking frost-bite, looking for peas....I found the turkey leg from last Thanksgiving and the chili dated SEPTEMBER 2007, and last year's EASTER candy....but the only vegetables I found were a half a bag each of frozen peas, green beans and corn...and the wheels started turning....
Check out this picture - Wendy, top left, received this from her son for Christmas - he made it on the computer, took it to Kinko's and had it blown up on canvas, then had it stretched and framed...now isn't that great! Wendy's husband, Mark, is an artiste...he painted on the wall above their family room fireplace...and it's an ever-changing picture...one day Wendy will come home to find a unicorn on the hillside and the next day a ship in the harbour....a sky full of sun or a rain cloud ready to burst...how cool is that?!? If I came home and found the mister had been painting I'd immediately call a Priest because (a) the mister doesn't even know what paint is and (b) IF he had painted ANYTHING that would be proof positive that he was possessed (which I have always suspected anyway) and he would therefore need some sort of exorcism. I just reread that...the mister painting...Hahahahahahahahaha...now THAT'S FUNNY!
Wendy, hope you don't mind...you know I loved your soup just the way it is...but I decided to take a little detour and came up with a different version...this is a very rich soup - a half cup serving would be plenty as a first course...as the main course a cup would be decadent because of the cream.... of course, you could water it down with half and half, or whole milk but it just wouldn't be as good. Trust me. And the color - just look at it! This soup is definitely company worthy...in fact, I wouldn't serve it to my family, they wouldn't appreciate it unless I poured it out of a can and told them it was the latest soup from Campbells! 
Vegetable Cream Soup - Adapted from Wendy's Practically Perfect Pea Soup
6 minced green onions
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen cut green beans
1 cup frozen niblet corn
1 cup water
1/4 cup butter
2 cups cream
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/3 freshly shredded Parmesan cheese to garnish
In large sauce pan combine green onions, peas, green beans, corn, and water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat and boil for 4 minutes. (Since vegetables are frozen it will take approximately 10 minutes for them to cook.) Drain. Pour vegetables into food processor, add butter, salt and pepper and process until smooth. Slowly add in 2 cups cream, with motor running. Turn off processor, taste and adjust seasonings if needed. If not serving right away, return to sauce pan and keep warm over low heat. To serve, garnish with a heaping tablespoon of shredded Parmesan cheese. Serves 6.
