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Kierstin followed her brother by a week and appeared on a cool afternoon to make soup and biscuits. She seems to enjoy the process more than her brother, maybe because she’s older.

I was in a bit of a dither when she arrived, since moving my office furniture got delayed until cooking day due to the weather. In any event, she was patient as I pulled items out of the dishwasher and washed them by hand. (I’d forgotten to run the dishwasher.) She also was patient as I took more than the normal number of pictures. In fact, she’s my model for the to-be-written tutorial on biscuit-making I’m planning for Homecookingrevival.com.

Plan of action

Despite the disarray, I did have a plan:

• Start soup.
• Start biscuits.
• Teach Kierstin the game I couldn’t remember when her brother was here.
• Bake biscuits.
• Finish soup.
• Eat.

During all of the steps, I’d badger her for photos. She was so patient!

We made Leek and Potato Soup, which is as easy as it is satisfying.

The process

First, we trimmed and slit the leeks and put them in water to soak. Meanwhile, Kierstin peeled the potatoes (with the nifty peeler her mother gave me, which I love) while I tried to determine which way was up.

Then she rinsed the leeks well.

And chopped both before dropping the bits into the pot of water. She’s good with a knife!

Next, we got started on the biscuits, measuring the dry ingredients into a bowl and then cutting in the shortening. We set the timer for 10 minutes while we went and played the game Sprouts. (Like the game I taught her brother, it’s an excellent time-passer while waiting in restaurants.)

Then, we added the milk to the other biscuit ingredients, gave it a couple of kneads and turns, cut and baked the biscuits. (I won’t show you photos here, because I’ll use them on Homecooking Revival. In case anyone is worried, this double-coverage of her cooking session will in no way be unfair to her brother, because all his cooking visits have been documented, but K’s first visit was not, because I didn’t have a digital camera then.)

The phone call

Kierstin, feeling magnanimous, thought it was a great idea to ask her mother and brother to join us for our soup and biscuit meal. (Her dad was out of town.) The timer for the biscuits went off while I was on the phone and, oops, we baked the biscuits a wee bit more than we might have otherwise, but no harm.

Kierstin smashed the vegetables with a potato masher (although we went for a smoother soup with the help of the immersion blender), and then added the half-and-half.

The biscuits were delicious and hot, and no one minded their being a little extra crisp on the bottom. The soup was delicious, and extra-special because we garnished it with the first crop of the season from her family’s yard: chives!

I have every confidence Kierstin could make the soup and the biscuits entirely by herself. She might want some help getting the pan out of the oven, but otherwise, the girl’s got what it takes. Can’t wait till next year.