I know what you're thinking. You have tickets to the Academy of Ancient Music on February 23, but your love of Mozart just isn't enough to inspire you to trudge around in the cold. And despite your robust New England upbringing you can't tolerate even to look at snow one more time.

There's a solution that will breathe life into your haggard Northern soul. Make yourself a batch of this soup.

My father's friend, Katherine, sent us this recipe, and it quickly became a family favorite. She prefaced the recipe with this note:

"Wild rice is actually grass. Minnesota swamp grass, if you want to know the truth. It is a vitamin rich food and it is extremely good for you and tasty in a nutty, textural sort of way. It endows one with the deliberate energy of a large herbivore living in an extremely harsh and cold climate. So when you find yourself wanting Moose-like fortitude, and the speed and wing strength of a migrating duck, whilst slogging through December and January, whomp yerself up a batch of this wild rice soup and you'll be fine."

Fortitude indeed.

The recipe has evolved a bit over the years, but its character is essentially unchanged.

Minnesota Wild Rice Soup Serves 4

Ingredients: 1 medium yellow onion, chopped. 1 1/2 cups fresh whole Crimini or Baby Bella mushrooms 3 tbsp butter, and perhaps a bit more 1/4 cup whole wheat flour 4 cups vegetable broth 1 1/2 cups wild rice, prepared ahead of time 1/2 cup light cream 1/2 cup milk 1/4 cup dry white wine White pepper, to taste 1/2 tsp Hungarian paprika, if you can find it 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or dill, but not both

Directions: In a large pot, sauté the onions and mushrooms in the butter until the onions are lightly brown and tender. Add the flour over medium low heat and stir for thirty seconds or so, blending it in with the butter (add more butter, if necessary). Flour burns easily, so be careful.

Slowly add the vegetable broth. Simmer for ten minutes. Add the rice, wine, paprika and season to taste with white pepper. White pepper is powerful stuff, so be careful! Cook for ten more minutes. Remove from heat.

Garnish (liberally) with fresh parsley (or dill) and black pepper upon serving and enjoy!

Submitted by Dan Barowy, Marketing Assistant, Fine Arts Center

Photo creditb: Bill Barowy