Celebrating Spring with Really Pink Soup

I always kind of thought that I was on Team Hot Soup Only (that's a thing, you know), but earlier this week I surprised myself by bringing some beets home with the sole purpose of turning them into a chilled soup. Every now and again I love creating a recipe that's totally different from anything else I've ever cooked--even if it means bothering my brother 50 times to ask him for his opinion on whether cream would be better before or after chilling the soup (experimenting in the kitchen is really more his thing--I tend to stick to what I know).

Rob and I got home from Charlotte late on Sunday night, and I planned my Monday to specifically have nothing to do except unpack, clean, and cook this very recipe; which is something I always love after a few days away. The laundry might still need to be folded but now I have a big batch of bright pink, perfectly sweet and just-tart-enough soup in the fridge to get me through the week.

It's rainy and chilly in the Bay Area this week, but still warm enough that it feels (and smells!) like spring. Basically it's perfect chilled soup weather. Eat it out of a mug if you want, just don't forget the fresh dill. It's even better with a chilled glass of La Crema's Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, a wine that my family has been drinking for years. I still remember spring gatherings at my parents' house on Smith Mountain Lake, with fresh salads and pasta and grilled meat and a bucket of ice overflowing with these very same bottles that I now always have on my wine rack.

It's so funny how your family traditions will find you, whether you're across the country making something new or back home sticking to what you know.