Book sale, day 2

After a successful first evening at the book sale, Mom and I went back the very next day, though we waited until the late afternoon for all of the book sellers and their annoying scanners to clear out. Once you find some of the books on your list during your first visit, the second day can be even more fun, because that's when I linger over things looking for interesting finds that I might never have heard of otherwise. For $1 or $2 a book, it's a great way to try something out that I wouldn't bother with if I had to pay full price. Here's my haul from day 2:

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The microwave is turning out to be a real boon for making relatively quick and tasty soups. Mom and I both love us some mushroom soup, and this one was outstanding, with an extra burst of flavor from the fresh dill grown in Mom's AeroGarden. It would have been even better with some crusty bread, but we didn't have any unfortunately, so we ended up snarfing the whole pot of soup by ourselves.

Mushroom Soup

Adapted from Microwave Gourmet (1987) by Barbara Kafka
 

Time: ~29 minutes

28 grams (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 pound (454 grams) white button or cremini mushrooms, or a mixture, washed and sliced thin
1 celery stalk, trimmed and diced
1 small (~100 grams) yellow onion, diced
470 grams (2 cups) vegetable broth or stock
4 teaspoons cornstarch
116 grams (½ cup) heavy cream
2 teaspoons (10 grams) fresh lemon juice
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
crusty bread, for serving
sour cream or full-fat Greek yogurt, for serving (optional)

    1. Heat the butter in a 2-quart microwave-safe bowl on full power until melted, about 1:15 in our ancient 700-watt microwave oven.
    2. Stir in the mushrooms, celery, and onion. Cover the bowl with its cover if it has one, plastic wrap, or a dinner plate. Zap on full power until the mushrooms shrink some, 6 minutes in our microwave, less in a more powerful oven.
    3. Remove from the oven carefully and uncover. Stir in ½ cup of the broth, and set aside for 5 minutes (you can assemble other ingredients while you’re waiting).
    4. Whisk the cornstarch into the cream, then stir the cream into the mushroom mixture. Stir in the remaining 1½ cups broth, lemon juice, dill, salt, and pepper. Cover the bowl. Zap on full power until hot, 6 minutes in our oven, less in something more powerful.
    5. Serve as is (chunky), or puree some or all of it with an immersion blender (I pureed a little over half of the soup and liked the consistency), with crusty bread and a dollop of sour cream or yogurt, if you like. Serves 3–4 with bread and a salad or some other side.