Earlier this summer our family lost the Patriarch.
Dozens of people brought lasagnas, cakes, cookies, hams, ice cream, all lovely and appreciated. After a few weeks of this and a dozen added pounds I realized it was time to return to basics and stop "stuffing" everything, literally and figurative. I dug out a new Moosewood cookbook (moosewood restaurant, new classics) and picked, at random, a seemingly bland recipe. Since we are of immediate Irish descent it was fitting that a recipe called Valle d'aosta Cabbage Soup turned up. With some trepidation after a look at the ingredients I decided to lay it on my family, prepared for polite affirmations. The preparation, reminiscences during the prep, and the dinner itself will live forever. Although the dish is from the Italian Alps, we pretended all was Irish and it goes like this:





