~ life as a military spouse certainly has its ups and downs. with the wrong color lenses, one might see the world as “one step forward, two steps back”… for most of us, we live a fantastic adventure. we don’t escape those ups and downs, we embrace and learn from them and find those among us that give us strength. one of the sweetest ladies and pillars of strength for me: gigi ~ always looking at life with a glass-half-full-may-i-have-more attitude. generous, loving, gracious gigi! enjoy her asparagus cream soup with one of your heroes – may you be blessed with many in your lifetime ~ i sure have!

• 2 lbs asparagus
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 pints light stock
• 2 T butter
• 1/4 c flour
• 2 egg yolks
• 2/3 c light cream

cut off the asparagus tips and set aside; cut the remaining stalks into 2 inch pieces. put the stalk pieces, onion and stock in saucepan, bring to a boil. cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the asparagus tips gently in simmering salted water for 5 minutes or until tender; drain. Puree the asparagus stalk mixture and return to the saucepan; season to taste with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flake if you like a little heat. turn heat to low-medium. in a small bowl, combine butter and flour to make a paste; add to the soup in small pieces, stirring to combine. simmer until thickened. using the same small bowl, mix cream and egg yolks; while stirring, temper yolk mixture by adding a ladle-full of hot asparagus soup. gently pour back into soup pot, heat gently. DO NOT BOIL. add the asparagus tips and serve. enjoy

this post is dedicated to all of the strong military spouses in my life – thanks to each of you for imparting your strength, wisdom and grace.

k.nowland, a.storm, j.fay, n.santos, k.burke, j.tsoukatos, a.mabry, w.backes, j.iverson, p.bourland-evans, a.lombardo, s.grotz, s.trudell, t.cullen, s.hussar, k.diaz, k.spooner, c.harper, c.brantley, k.feck, l.reel, mb.griswold, f.lawrence, r.morrissey, s.valdez, j.waddel, k.pavloski, g.novak