May is a confusing time for us Mainers. The days fill up with leftover April showers, the smell of fresh-cut grass is in the air, birds begin chattering/bragging up a storm about the beefy worms they are finding, and us Mainers enter the period of spring confusion. We're ready for summer because the last official day of winter has passed. We even try to wear our shorts and bathing suits on 55 degree days, just to convince ourselves that it is, in fact, getting warmer and that summer is right around the corner.
"Maybe if I wear some flip-flops today, or crack the windows, I won't notice it's raining and feels like, well...55 degrees." I have this train of thought daily in the spring, and usually I just get chilled and cranky, and then accept (for at least the rest of the day, and usually start over again the next) that it is still too cold to be summer. But that does mean one neat thing: I can still sneak a comforting, winterish dish into the dinner menu without feeling like it is out of place.
"Maybe if I wear some flip-flops today, or crack the windows, I won't notice it's raining and feels like, well...55 degrees." I have this train of thought daily in the spring, and usually I just get chilled and cranky, and then accept (for at least the rest of the day, and usually start over again the next) that it is still too cold to be summer. But that does mean one neat thing: I can still sneak a comforting, winterish dish into the dinner menu without feeling like it is out of place.
I am an avid follower of the food blog SimplyRecipes. I was searching for spring dishes one rainy afternoon when I came across SR's Spring Minestrone Soup. I thought, "How cool! It's the best of both worlds: springy but still a nice, warm soup." SR's recipes have never failed me, so I set out to make this soup that evening and it was just perfect! I love that it has more unusual vegetables in it than your classic minestrone- artichoke hearts, chickpeas, asparagus...and the best part is, you swirl pesto into it at the end!!!YES PLEASE, CAN I GET A "SWIRLY PESTO?" I have no idea what that is, But.It.Is EXCITING!
