Cold Parsley Soup or Witchs's Brew?

'Twas a cold and blustery evening when I left the house.  The wind whipped my long black coat around my legs.  The city street's litter swirled in the air.  The wind carried sounds from down the street behind me and I became aware of snippets of conversation.

"See that girl there, the one in the long black coat?  I see her walking every night, always about the same time.  Always alone.  I don't know where she goes.  She lives in the house with all the black cats and the witch's garden.  Yeah I think she's a witch."

??What the Hell??!!

My neighbors thought I was a witch?!  Even though this happened a long time ago, in the early 90's, I would like to set the record straight.

1. I did not own any cats.  Can anyone own cats? Fact is, I was deathly allergic to cats and could tell if they were anywhere near me, even if I were outside. My allergy has subsided a bit and I am now only severely and not deathly allergic.  The cats shared their space with the guy who lived upstairs from me.  For health reasons I tried ignoring the cats as much as possible.  Cats definitely have a mind of their own!  The more I ignored them, the more they wanted to be around me! Gifts of mice and birds appeared on my doorstep.
2. My nightly haunt? No mystery there.  I worked the graveyard shift at a local cafe baking breads and desserts!  Although I must admit I rather enjoyed the notion of plain old me transformed into a woman of mystery, even if it was for just a moment in time.  It brings to mind The French Lieutenant's Woman.  
3.   Long black coat. Give me a break. It was the 90's in a major city - who did not wear a long black coat in the winter?
4. Witch's garden. Okay, I must admit that this was not the first or only time that one of my gardens was referred to as a witch's garden.  My gardens tend to be wild and weedy: herbal gardens sprinkled with unusual flowers.  Culinary gardens.  The closest to potion making I did would be a sage tea for a runny nose.

The snow cover finally melted about a month ago and I was excited to see signs of life in my garden.  Thyme, parsley, oregano, mint and chives were already growing under the blanket  of snow.  The oregano plants were in fact so big that I needed to cut them back. The sage had no signs of life, but I knew that it would begin to leaf out when it was ready.
It was time to start my first round of seeds:  lettuce, arugula, boy choy, tomatoes, basil,peas and cucumbers. Spring was in the air.  I wanted to make a soup to celebrate the spring: an herbal tonic.

 

Slim pickings in the refrigerator: a couple of lonely ribs of fennel and some Italian parsley. I sweated sliced fennel in butter for about ten minutes and added some broth, salt, pepper and a splash of white wine and simmered for about 30 minutes.  I then added chopped parsley and simmered for 5 more minutes.  The mixture was pureed in a blender for a couple of minutes and smoothed out with a little cream.  You could also use yoghurt or buttermilk for a more tangy flavor.  Pop the mixture into the refrigerator until cold.

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Cold parsley soup- a little something to whet the appetite. Cheers to my witch's garden!