Sunday, November 11, 2012

Use Those Celery Leaves!

Fresh celery leaves.
Since Hurricane Sandy hit in late October, my mother has been staying with me while her apartment is under repair. I'm very much enjoying her company, especially when we work together in the kitchen. Although I learned most of what I know about cooking from my mother, we do have our differences when it comes to certain things--like what to do with the leaves on celery stalks.

Today we're making a pot of vegetable soup. Mom is cleaning fresh celery stalks before mincing them to add to the soup. I see that she's prepared the large, outer stalks of the bunch and is now eyeing the more tender, smaller interior stalks that are topped with a dense cluster of beautiful, pale green leaves. I see her mental wheels turning. She's thinking, "I'll chop the leaves and put them in the soup."

That's certainly one good use for the leaves, but I have a couple of other ideas. I manage to snatch the leaves from under her knife just in time. She gives me a puzzled look. But I think she'll be happy with one of the alternatives I have in mind.