Today is Victoria Day of the long weekend, which happens to be very important for Canadians because it is the May Two-Four Weekend: Queen Victoria’s birthday, cottage opening, garden planting, and the first outdoor BBQs and patios!! It is also the weekend that JT and I tied the knot! Yes indeed, we hitched up on the holiday Monday of a long weekend. Now, now, don’t get your knickers in a knot, the wedding ceremony started at 3pm on the holiday Monday, so people realistically could still get up to the cottage, open and get back in time for the wedding. Not everyone was happy about our decision, but it wasn’t really our fault, you see it was our first time and we had no idea how far in advance you had to book your venue for the reception (we found one venue that was taking bookings 3 years from the date), so when we found one available on the holiday Monday only 5 months after we got engaged, we went for it.
The weeks leading up to our wedding were lovely; gorgeous, warm, spring weather, three beautiful bridal showers, and the shear excitement every time a parcel arrived at the door! I had everything planned out, it would be a glorious day and everything would be perfect. I should have known things don’t always go as planned.
The night before the wedding, I tried on my dress and Mom and I decided we really didn’t love the neckline, it was far too high; fortunately, the dress was lace and I was able to trim away the bits we didn’t care for, using manicure scissors, and it worked out perfectly. I went to bed that night with my hair in rollers and I said a little prayer for my Dad who had passed in 1981 and crossed my fingers and toes that it would be a beautiful, sunny, spring day.
I awoke Monday, May 19 to a cold, dark and dreary, rainy day. I honestly thought I would be devastated but I wasn’t, I was absolutely fine. Things would go on with slight modifications. No big deal. And because the rain persisted ALL DAY, people were not that upset about having to leave the cottage early (we had a lot of cottager guests). After the ceremony, we were going to take photos in my In-Laws’ garden but since we couldn’t, we moved it inside (they had a lovely mansion), everything was just fine. The strange thing about that day was that it rained constantly, without stopping ALL DAY with the exception of the few times I stepped outside — to get into the limo from my Mom’s home, to get out of the limo at the Church, and to and from my In-Law’s home and finally to and from our reception! It stopped EVERY SINGLE TIME! I didn’t use an umbrella and I did not get wet! Thanks, Dad! We had a typical dinner for a wedding of that time (caesar salad, roast beef, Yorkshire puddings, and steamed veg) but considering the cool day, we sure could have used some soup and this soup would have been perfect. (click on the photo below for a short slide show). Please forgive me, the eighties were unforgiving style-wise!
To celebrate our 31st wedding anniversary (I was a child bride ;-)), we took a little road trip to Stratford, Ontario to see Guys and Dolls and stay overnight. Stratford is aptly named for the city in England and its primary mandate is to present Shakespearean plays but also includes a variety of Greek tragedies and Broadway-style musicals (wiki) to broaden its reach. It was a great weekend, although the weather went from 30° C (86° F) to 10° C (50° F) with high cold winds, we enjoyed walking around this pedestrian-friendly town with an excellent food scene. Here is a little slideshow of our trip.
As I mentioned, the weather turned on the morning of our trip (and our actual wedding day) and we were basically back in November! I had a huge soup craving and this one would have certainly hit the spot. I have made these grilled cheese croutons, again and again, they are excellent in a caesar salad too (use Parmesan instead of cheddar)!
Creamed Broccoli Pesto Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons
A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe
Makes 1 L or 4 cups soup
Ingredients:
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 100 g (1 medium size) sweet onions, chopped
- 300 g (2 stems) broccoli, including the stems, chopped
- 20 g (3-4 cloves) garlic, roughly chopped
- 45 ML (3 tbsp) basil pesto (I used this recipe but used ground almonds instead of pine nuts)
- vegetable or chicken stock
Directions:
- Using a splash of olive oil, caramelize the onions, about 15 minutes.
- Add the broccoli and garlic and cover with stock and cook until softened (about 30 minutes).
- Add the basil pesto and cook for an additional minute.
- Using an immersion blender, blend soup until very smooth, adding more stock to achieve desired thickness (I did not need to). Press through a fine sieve.
- Serve with Grilled Cheese croutons (recipe below).
Grilled Cheese Croutons
Ingredients:
- 1 slice of seeded bread (we like this one)
- 30 mL (2 tbsp) Mycryo
- 50 g (1/2 cup) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350° F (177° C).
- Cut the bread into bite-sized cubes and coat with the Mycryo. Bake, stirring often until bread has become dried croutons. Toss with the shredded cheddar and return to the oven and bake until cheese melts and caramelizes.
- To serve the soup, ladel soup into warm bowls and toss the grilled cheese croutons on top and serve piping hot.
[…] Grilled cheese croutons […]
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Happy Anniversary! (and the soup sounds delicious)
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Happy Anniversary Eva! One of the things I like most about your blog is the personal element – weaving images and words from the past. Your photos are beautiful and we too had a drizzly day on our wedding but strangely it brought me so much peace and grounding (apparently, it’s exactly what was needed) and for a brief moment the clouds parted and the rain stopped just as we exited the church – the sun was brilliant and I too thought of my Dad. Thank you for the memories -♥- your croutons are the cutest and I need to discover mycryo!
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… and the heavens smiled down of your nuptials (and this soup!). GREG
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Happy Anniversary! Love all the pictures — so much fun to look at. Sounds like a terrific wedding. And speaking of terrific, this soup looks wonderful. Thanks!
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Thank you, John, it is fun taking a trip down memory lane. The soup was definitely a keeper!
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Happy Anniversary, Eva! And thank you for sharing with us so many of your wedding photographs! What a beautiful bride! Actually, you know, I keep on looking and looking and I must say you have hardly changed since then!
The soup looks absolutely delicious! I wonder why I never make cream soups (maybe did two in my whole life) because I do enjoy them. Not to mention croutons.
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Thank you for your kind words Sissi, many people have said that to me but I don’t see it, I see an old lady when I look in the mirror (hahaha)! A few years ago, I bumped into a classmate from primary school, I think we saw each other at age 12 last and he recognized me out of the blue! He looked completely different so I did not recognize him at all.
I like making creamed soups with no cream, I just cannot eat that type of richness anymore,
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Happy wedding anniversary! The soup looks lovely, especially with those delicious grilled cheese crouton.
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Hi Amy, welcome to my blog and thank you for your kind words. I hope you try the croutons at the very least, they were quite delicious!
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Aww thank you for taking us down memory lane. I love your dress-what a beautiful bride you were! I think with weddings, nothing ever goes according to plan so just roll with it like you did. And the rain stopped when you went outside? Wow! 😀
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Thank you for your lovely words Lorraine, it was a very special day indeed.
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Happy anniversary!! Our weather wasn’t picture perfect, either, but that’s what you’d expect getting married in Iowa in early April! Loved seeing your wedding photos—the trimming of the dress sounds like something my mom and I would do, too! She made my veil and decorated it with a few fresh gardenias 🙂
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Thank you so much Liz, Mom and I made my veil too, we sat sewing little pearls onto it while watching TV the night before! The veil I selected was way too much because we went a little crazy with the dress. Your veil sounds beautiful as is the memory of your Mom making it for you.
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What a lovely bride you were, Eva! It looks like your wedding was fun in spite of the weather. And what a lovely anniversary adventure. It’s raining here right now and a bowl of that delicious looking soup would be perfect.
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Thank you, Betsy, the wedding was fun! I could use a bowl of that soup, it’s a bit nippy today.
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Happy Anniversary! Beautiful wedding photos! It is cold and damp here in the Hudson Valley today and a bowl of your delicious soup would be most welcomed.
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Hi Norma, the sun is finally shining here in The Big Smoke but it’s still a bit nippy so soup is definitely on the menu today! Thank you for your kind wishes.
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Congratulations on your wedding anniversary. May you and JT have many more wonderful years together. Your soup would indeed be perfect for a cold day but I happen to enjoy soup anytime of the year myself. 🙂
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I am a soup lover too, be it cold or hot. Thank you for your kind wishes.
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You were a beautiful bride and the pictures were great. Yummy looking soup.
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Thank you so much Maria, it was such a long time ago! The soup is quite yummy.
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Your wedding pictures are so gorgeous. You look exactly like your mom, two beautiful ladies, Eva. The soup looks really creamy and those cheese croutons are such a nice touch.
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Thank you for your kind words, Angie. The soup is really quite lovely, you could make the croutons with one of your delicious nut breads.
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