The drive from where we live in Bucks County, PA took us about 5 1/2 hours and it was lovely. Especially once we began driving around Lake Cayuga , which is the longest of the Finger Lakes – it is enormous and just spectacular! I can not believe we haven’t been there before. When we arrived at our the stunning Geneva On The Lake, our hotel for the weekend. We loved it at first glance. This stunning Italian Villa sits on 10+ acres of rolling lawns and English-style gardens overlooking Lake Seneca. The hotel, grounds, staff, food, little touches here and there and of course the view were fantastic. We both agreed that we would definitely come back with the kids!
something to eat and quite literally had just about the best (if not THE best)
burgers…ever! If you are ever in the adorable town of Geneva you have to pop
over to Eddie O’Brien’s for a burger. Our bell-hop told us they were the best
and boy was he right!! I have been wishing I could have another one for
weeks! The quaint town of Geneva hosts
Hobart & William Smith Colleges – the town is just so pretty, clean and
well laid out. I can’t picture a cuter
town to go to college in…right on the lake. I am storing this memory for when
the time comes to look at colleges for my kiddos (something that I can not even
imagine…sniff, sniff!)
into one of the chefs from Eddie O’Brien’s.
I was like “your burgers are in-credible!!” He was like “yeah, we use a special
blend” and THAT was all I could get out of him about that, lol!
University’s Stocking Hall which houses its College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences Program. I was fascinated to learn about New York’s dairy industry. I
had no clue that New York produces most of this country’s Greek yogurt or that its 5,400 dairy farms produce over
1.6 billion gallons of milk…1.6 billion!
Which equates to over $2.5 billion in sales to the state’s economy.
adds 40-50 cows to its facility, one new farm job is created. For every new job
created on a dairy farm, an additional 1.4 jobs are created in the local
economy which then equates to 6.6 new jobs being created upstream, making it
one of the highest multipliers in the state.
their dairy production facilities at Stocking Hall (which houses a it’s nationally-ranked food science program which is in the midst of a 105 million dollar renovation), tasted fresh ice cream, greek yogurt and
cheese and learned about the fascinating partnerships forged by Cornell with
everyone from farmers to big corporations, to people with ideas for
a product to Wegmans. Cornell is at the cutting
edge of research and implementation. They support food businesses through collaborative research and development projects designed to improve the quality, safety, nutritional value and shelf life of food products. They even lend a hand to the wine industry by helping local wineries convert to organic production. To me, one of the coolest things about Cornells’ set up was the fact the production areas all backed up to an exterior wall of the school that had glass walls – that way anyone strolling around campus can easily see what is going on. Cornells believes people should know how their food is produced – I love that!! Cornell sources all of it’s milk locally and even produced it’s own brand of cheese (which was delicious!!)
University, milk production from per cow is up 467% since 1944. He cites
research that shows dairy farmers are producing as much milk today as they did
in 1944 from just 21 percent of the cows, using only 23 percent as much feed,
35 percent as much water and making only 24 percent as much animal waste.
the carbon footprint for each pound of milk is only 37 percent of what it was
in 1944. When we stop and think about
it, what dairy farmers have accomplished is truly outstanding. They have been
able to do this through taking excellent care of their cows and using new
research that has become available over the years. Such technology as
artificial insemination that has made outstanding herd sires available for the
average farmer has played a huge role”.
broth
your zucchini off then cut them down the middle lengthwise. Drizzle them with a bit of olive oil and
massage it around to cover the surface areas of the zucchini’s. Season them with salt and pepper and roast
for about 30 minutes or until fork tender.
aside. In a good sized pot, saute your
garlic and onion in 2 TBS olive oil for 4 minutes over medium heat, stirring
often to avoid burning the garlic. Add
in your potatoes and roasted zucchini, stir around for 1 minute then add in 48
ounces of chicken stock. Bring to a
boil, reduce to a simmer and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until potatoes are
cooked through. Remove from heat and
allow it to cool a bit. Transfer soup to
a blender and puree (be careful if it is hot – the hotter the soup at this
stage the more likely the energy from the heat will burst open the top part of
your blender when you pulse it). Rinse
out your pot, then return the soup to it.
Depending on how thick your soup is and how thick you want it add
anywhere between 8-16 ounces of chicken broth to it. Season with salt and pepper as well as a few
dashes of Tabasco. Add in the shredded
cheese and warm the soup over medium heat until it melts into the soup. Add in
your cream, give it a good stir and serve.
Depending on how starchy your potato was as well as just how long you
simmered the soup and the heat of your stove will dictate how thick or thin the
outcome of your soup will be. Every time
I make this soup, it changes a bit, but I find adding the additional stock
towards the end gets me the results I seek every time. I like the addition of a little cream –
however because of the potato, you may find you don’t need it. If you’re not counting calories, I say go for
it! If you do add the cream – never bring the soup to the boiling point again – just heat it through.
Joanne says
What a super fun trip!! So nice that you and your husband got to get away. I love the cheesiness in this soup. Extra good.
sb15admin says
Thanks Joanne! We had a blast…and have some new stories to tell, lol!
Jo-Lynne {Musings of a Housewife} says
That sounds AH-mazing!
ginabad says
Delicious recipe! Although I find it hard to beat zucchini grilled with balsamic 🙂
sb15admin says
That sounds so good!
Noelle says
How exciting! Sounds like an exciting trip. I am going to have to make this. Perfect!
Tina Milas says
This looks like a very exciting trip, and the recipe sounds delicious!!! Can not wait to try it out!.
Linda Arceo says
I love soup and any soup that includes cheese is a total winner in my book!
Jessica @FoundtheMarbles says
Soup AND cheese?? Hello, heaven!