Busy Bees

   
    

We have been busy bees preparing the farm for the season ahead. With just a few more fields to be planted, we are excited to watch everything sprout and grow!

Caroline planting some brussel sprouts and onions! Yum!

 

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 Speaking of bees... RSVP now for your spot at our bee keeping class this Saturday from 9am-11am!

Beekeeping: Hive Management and Spring Swarm Management at DeLaney Community Farm, will be hosted by beekeepers Allan and Debbie Brown. We are incredibly happy to have them start us off with our first class of the season!

-Learn some beekeeping basics, the three hive types at the farm and how to manage your colony's growth during its spring buildup. All DeLaney workshops are free for DeLaney shareholders and WIC participants, and there is a $10 suggested donation for all public attendees. RSVP required, class is limited to 30 participants.

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DeLaney Farm Staff and Interns went to visit Flowers for 3 today! This is where DUG gets all their seeds and transplants. Vicky and Kevin are the owners, and the name, Flowers for 3, comes from their triplet girls.

    Germination room - where all of our seeds start!

hey - it's us! 

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 Metro's Environmental Club was great fun and help.Thank you to all of the lovely individual volunteers who came out and shared their time with the farm, and also to The Spring Institue and Metro College's Environmental Club for all of your help!

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 Upcoming Events

May 

• Beekeeping Workshop: Hive Management and Spring Swarm Management at DeLaney Community Farm
  Saturday, May 19th, 9:00 - 11:00am
  This workshop is hosted by beekeepers Allan and Debbie Brown at Denver Urban Gardens' DeLaney Community Farm in Aurora. Learn some beekeeping basics, the three hive types at the farm and how to manage your colony's growth during its spring buildup. All DeLaney workshops are free for DeLaney shareholders and WIC participants, and there is a $10 suggested donation for all public attendees. RSVP required, class is limited to 30 participants.RSVP online here. 

June

• Shareholder Kickoff Potluck
  Saturday, June 2nd, 9:00am - 12:00pm  
  All shareholders are strongly encouraged to attend this orientation to learn about the season ahead, understand Community Partner Shares, the WIC program, meet community and farmer partners, ask questions and meet & greet your community! Please bring a breakfast dish to share!  

• First Shareholder Vegetable Pickup
  Thursday, June 7th, 4:00 - 7:00pm
  Shareholder harvest begins! Vegetable pick-up will occur every Thursday from 4:00-7:00pm at DeLaney. 

A New Season and Our Fresh Crew at DeLaney!

It is a beautiful new season here at DeLaney, with some beautiful new and returning faces on the farm!

What a great way to start off the season but by introducing this years wonderful crew! 

 Caroline Schiller - Farm Intern 

 

Born and raised in the bluegrass state to a moonshine making lawyer and a stay-at-home mom (who holds more degrees than most lawyers), I feel incredibly blessed to find myself here at DeLaney Community Farm in the beautiful state of Colorado.  I left Kentucky to pursue a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of Dayton, Ohio, during which time I also studied French, music, and some Spanish.  In 2005, I followed a friend to Alaska for the summer, and returned to the "lower 48" hoping to recreate the experience somewhere a little closer to home.  I ended up in Colorado, where I have remained for 7 years, most of which has been spent in Breckenridge.  After a whole slew of service industry and childcare jobs, I was still finding myself curled up at night reading books about environmental ethics and looking at pictures of my friends' farms on facebook.  Working at DeLaney is a chance to roll my sleeves up and do what I feel so drawn to.  And I'm excited to have a real relationship with the land that produces all the yummy vegan food that I eat.  You can still find me waiting tables in Breckenridge on the weekend, where I live in a cozy cabin full of dogs in the White River National Forest.   I must say, I've never been so excited to be driving east on I-70 as I am since I've started working with all the wonderful folks at DeLaney Community Farm!  

 Patrick Kenney - Farm Intern

I am grateful that I got this internship at DeLaney community farm and I hope to use what I learn to encourage community, self-sufficency and sustainable living.  I am very interested in ecosystem sciences and believe that sustainable agriculture is an integral part to bringing humanity back into balance with nature.  I also believe that having a strong sense of community empowers people and allows them to be much more resilient.  Like any ecosystem, the more diversity and connections that are made, the more stable the system or community will be.

                                          Christopher Dorr - Second Year Farm Apprentice 

 
This is my second year as an intern here at DeLaney, where I have enjoyed growing community in addition to good produce.  Working at the farm has given me the unique opportunity to meet, learn from, and share with people from all over the globe.  The experience has certainly expanded my idea of what ‘community’ means, and has given me a real sense of how important it is to feel you are a part of a local, as well as global community.  I look forward to another season of helping impart that sense of belonging to others while demonstrating how valuable sustainable agriculture is for the health of our societies.

 Maryia Martineau - Programs and Outreach Intern

I am so very thrilled to be a part of DeLaney Community Farm and can hardly wait to meet all of you!

With being the Programs and Outreach Intern, I will be the one sharing weekly posts with you; you should look here this season for everything from events and announcements, recipes for weekly harvest, what to expect in your harvest, and special features from the farm and community! 

I recently moved to Colorado from Florida for this internship and fresh mountain air. Back in my hometown of Saint Augustine, Florida I studied photography and spent all of my free time in our community garden and in local school gardens. I worked directly with the Education Coordinator and organized and led 'Sprout Camp', our children's summer gardening camp.  Although it is always bittersweet to leave home, I am incredibly ready to be very hands on and dive into helping an organization such as Denver Urban Gardens. To me, the importance is in community involvement and sustainability while working in harmony with our environment.

  Aside from this years interns, we have DeLaney's two full time coordinators. These two really run everything year round, season and off season!

Faatma Mehrmanesh - Farm Operations Coordinator 

Faatma is the wonderful Farm Operations Coordinator. This includes, but is certainly not limited to, things such as; season planning, projections for seed and farm supplies, purchasing (any and everything needed for the farm to function), documenting of all field related points, eight year crop rotation planning, and she also oversees/teaches all farm staff and intern. She is the grower... our farmer!

Faatma is essentially a Denver native, being here since the age of four. She has always been a patio gardener, but 14 years ago she began ground planting. She spoke of how she has dreamt of farming and having a farm for quite some time, but is a city girl at heart. After some time owning an all local cafe, she decided she really wanted to not only better understand the chant of local food and where it truly came from, but also help it be more readily available. When she got to DUG and began working on the DeLaney Community farm as an intern, she knew she did not want to do anything else. She wanted to flourish in the technical side of what happens on the farm and has been doing just that, and plenty more ever since. 

 Heather DeLong - Programs and Outreach Corrdinator

Heather is our lovely Programs and Outreach coordinator here at DeLaney! She is the one who takes care of all things from; finances, shareholder/volunteer information, community partner shares, WIC clinics and workdays, fundraising, events, classes, planning for all things listed and more, and she also loves to be hands-on in the farm as well! 

  She grew up in Southwest Virginia, where she went to school at Radford University for dance for two years, before switching to a double major of geography and psychology. Her love for agriculture first started growing roots when she spent a summer in Brazil studying and working directly in the field of biogeography. After graduating from undergrad she began a 3 and a half year journey into the PeaceCorp where she was an agroforestry volunteer with a focus in natural resource conservation and reforestation. She started with DUG in 2006 as Farm Manager, which was the sole position at DeLaney at the time. As DeLaney grew into the community that is now is, the Farm Manager position was able to split into the two current positions. She is so grateful to now be able to run the farm with Faatma, each having the position that suits them best.

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Upcoming Events and Workshops:

• Beekeeping Workshop: Hive Management and Spring Swarm Management at DeLaney Community Farm

  Saturday, May 19th, 9:00 - 11:00am

This workshop is hosted by beekeepers Allan and Debbie Brown at Denver Urban Gardens' DeLaney     Community Farm in Aurora. All DeLaney workshops are free for DeLaney shareholders and WIC participants, and there is a $10 suggested donation for all public attendees. RSVP required. RSVP online here

• Shareholder Kickoff Potluck 

  Saturday, June 2nd, 9:00am - 12:00pm  

All shareholders are strongly encouraged to attend this orientation to learn about the season ahead, understand Community Partner Shares, the WIC program, meet community and farmer partners, ask questions and meet & greet your community! Please bring a breakfast dish to share!  

• First Shareholder Vegetable Pickup

  Thursday, June 7th, 4:00 - 7:00pm

Shareholder harvest begins! Vegetable pick-up will occur every Thursday from 4:00-7:00pm at DeLaney. 

 

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  We all greatly look forward to meeting you, and are flowing with excitment for the season ahead of us!

The Finale

This week is Gleaning Week here at the farm and we want to encourage you to come out during normal farm hours (so that one of us is there to assist you) and pick whatever is leftover in the fields.  Most likely there will be herbs, peppers and a few others. If you have decided on a time to come, but the time is a little questionable (like 1 or 2 in the afternoon) give us a call to make sure someone is out there.  

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In the meantime, I want to give you some valuable information on drying peppers to archive so that we can all be vegetable masters!

First, there is some info on everything you need to know about drying peppers.  I stumbled upon a website of a St. Louis chilihead who posted a thorough list of instructions on how to dry peppers.  He has several methods and I just decided to post all of them.  If you have a second, follow the link and check out his Scoville scale chart on all things spicy.  I bit into a habenero pepper for the first time this weekend and thought my face was burning off.  I wouldn't know what to do if anything spicier entered my mouth but there are hot sauces and pepper hybrids out there that are simply insane!

Why Dry Hot Peppers?

The main reason to learn how to dry hot peppers is simply to enable you to keep them for a long time. Peppers can last for several days to a few weeks at room temperature or in the refrigerator before they start to rot. Freezing peppers, if done right, can make them last several months, but the thawing process can be a tricky one where often you're left with overly soft and mushy chiles. Dried chiles can last from several months to a few years if store properly.

Removing moisture from peppers will magnify and intensify the heat, flavor, and natural sugars it contains. Dehydrated chiles pack more fiery punch and ferocity in both solid food and hot sauce recipes than fresh peppers. Plus, if you grind or crush dried peppers, you can use it as an all-purpose flavoring and seasoning for any occasion.

Preparing Chile Peppers to Be Dried

Before you start drying peppers please take the following precautions:

If you're drying peppers indoors, keep the area well-ventilated. Warmed peppers will give off pungent fumes that are irritating to the eyes. If you have a ceiling fan, use it; or better yet, open your windows and bring in a portable fan or two to keep the air circulating and minimize the watery eyes and burned nasal passages. Take extra precaution around young children, pets, or anyone who is sensitive to spicy foods.

If possible, always wear gloves when handling hot peppers. Be sure to wash your hands thoroughly after touching hot peppers. Do not scratch your eyes, nose, face, or any other sensitive area of your body after handling.

Inspect each pepper before starting the drying process. Discard peppers if they have:

Soft, mushy, or spoiled areas

White, grayish, or diseased-looking spots

Have a questionable or rotten odor 

Wash the peppers with warm water and dry thoroughly with a cloth towel.

Remove the stems from your peppers. If you're drying in them in your oven or food dehydrator you may wish to slice the peppers length-wise (this will allow them to dry faster). If you're drying the peppers indoors you may want to keep them whole as it usually takes a few weeks to dry and not cutting them open help prevent premature spoilage (but you may wish to experiment based on your regional humidity levels and temperature).

Drying in the Oven

You can dry peppers in any regular kitchen oven. It's convenient that this method of drying can be done in just about any kitchen in the western world, but there is one big disadvantage; it may take several hours to a few days for the peppers to fully dry, depending on the size. It can also heat up your kitchen considerably if you're drying on warm spring or hot summer day.

Simply position the peppers on a pan or cookie sheet in a single layer and place it in the oven. Set the oven to its lowest temperature setting, which is usually labeled as "WARM", or just below 150 degrees Fahrenheit (120° to 140° is desirable). To allow moisture to escape, keep the oven door slightly open at least a couple of inches (now you know why it can make your kitchen hot). Every hour, rotate and/or flip the peppers over for even drying.

If you find peppers getting soft, brown/black, or extremely hot on the side where they touch the pan, then they're getting cooked; you certainly don't want this, as you're just trying to dry these to use at a later date. To prevent this, try one of the following:

Turn down the temperature slightly. Not all ovens are calibrated the same - some may be off by 10° or more from the "real" temperature.

Flip the peppers over and move them around more often

Open the oven door wider 

As soon as they're fully dry, remove from the oven and place in an air-tight container. Larger, thicker-skinned peppers will take longer to dry than smaller or thin-skinned chiles.

Drying Hot Peppers Indoors

This is the "easiest" method of drying peppers, yet probably the most time-consuming. Place whole or sliced chile peppers single-layer in a bowl, plate, or sheet and set them in a very dry, warm, and extremely well-ventilated area with loads of sunlight. Rotate the peppers regularly and discard any that show signs of softness or spoilage. If at all possible, place your bowl or sheet outdoors when the forecast calls for hot, sunny, and dry weather (this will speed up the drying process). Within one or two weeks, you should start seeing your beloved chiles get dry and brittle.  Also, there is the classic way of drying peppers indoors by simply knotting them to a string and letting them hang in a sunny window or placing them in a paper bag clipped at the top to get the same dry and brittle results.  Every kitchen is different so try all the methods to see which is best.  

When They're Dry

Properly dried peppers should be devoid of any signs of moisture or soft "fleshiness". Fully dried peppers can still retain a bit of flexibility in their skin - you don't have to dry them until they're brown, crumbling, or hard as a rock. But when in doubt, the pepper should be uniformly dry, slightly brittle, and have a tough skin.

What to do with them you're done? You can:

Separate them by pepper type and store them in high-quality Ziploc-type plastic bags or plastic containers.  This way you'll always have a handy supply of dried peppers to use in sauces, soups, and other dishes.

Crush them in a food processor, blender, or spice mill and create a chile pepper seasoning. Give them to family and friends as unique gifts so that they can spice up their own recipes.

Plant the seeds for a new crop of chile pepper plants.

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What about Storing Root Vegetables?
I also want to add a quick reference on how to store root vegetables.  There are techniques out there that involve digging pits and burying your vegetables in holes but I want to just take a simple approach that is not specific to any particular situation.  Find a cool dry place to store them and stay within the 32 to 38 degree range.  I am going to choose a crawl space under my porch and storing the veggies in a cooler.  You do not want a space that does not get enough circulation either.  Take these factors and find your own space.  It can be a fun experiment but just know that these root veggies have high tolerence to cold but not freezing temps!

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All-Encompassing Vegetable Soup

It is a trick with all of the frugal folks out there to always understand how to make vegetable soup out of whatever is in the fridge or freezer.  Lets focus on DeLaney crops and just see what happens!  

A large pot of soup needs to have a solid foundation.  1 quart of broth to every 6 cups of vegetables can be a start.  Always have ample amounts of garlic, salt, pepper and random herbs available to add to your foundation.  

When preparing your soup, separate the slow-softeners (carrot, onion, potato) and the quick-softeners (tomatoes, corn, squash).

Using a deep heavy-bottomed stockpot, saute garlic and slow-softeners for 4-6 minutes in oil with a pinch or two of salt.  

Add broth and bring to a simmer.  Add everything else and reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until the vegetables are fork tender, approximately 25 to 30 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  

Whatever you have and come up with, its going to be great when everything is put together.  

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It was a pleasure to be a part of DeLaney and to have the opportunity to relay information from the farm to the community through this blog every week!  Hope it was a good read and that you continue with another author at the beginning of the season next year!  Take care and happy gardening!

Stephen

Cucurbita Crazy

Important Dates and Announcements:

October 6th is our last Harvest and Pick-up day for our shareholders.  

Gleaning Week is the second full week of October.  It is the last week that our remaining vegetable plants will be in the field. After the 14th, it will all be turned in and prepped for the winter.  Come and take what you can find (encouraged to come during normal farm hours) before its all gone!  

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The Spring Institute came out to catch a tour and to help out around the farm last Thursday.  They may not share a common language, but they worked beautifully together in clearing out all unwanted plants from our raspberry patch.  They are a true pleasure to have at DeLaney and we always learn something about a different culture each time they visit! More on the Institute:

Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning is a nonprofit, training and consulting organization with a focus on language and culture. We work with people and organizations all over the world, enabling communication and increasing cross-cultural understanding.

For 30 years the Spring Institute has provided language training, direct services, technical assistance, training, and consulting services for individuals, communities, organizations, and corporations regionally, nationally, and internationally.

Photos taken by The Spring Institute's ESL Teacher/Photographer Lena Karabushin.
It is easy to smile when there are hundreds of raspberries to pick around you!

They got an A+ on herb identification! I got a B-

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Many winter squashes have been harvested and their distribution began last week.  I have been making suggestions for cooking these giants the past few posts so if you get stumped, reference those to start!  Today I found a super tasty pumpkin seed recipe and also a quick idea to prepare those unique deligata squashes.

Taco Pumpkin Seeds

Ingredients:

1 Cup seeds from freshly cut pumpkin, washed and dried
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon taco seasoning mix
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt 

Preparation:

In a skillet, saute pumpkin seeds in oil for 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Using a slotted spoon, transfer seeds to an ungreased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Sprinkle with taco seasoning and garlic salt; stir to coat. Spread into a single layer. Bake at 325 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until crisp. Remove to paper towels to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

Garlic Delicata Squash

Ingredients:

3 delicata squash
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley 

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Oil a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Peel delicata squash, slice in half lengthwise, and remove seeds. Cut into 1/2 inch thick slices. Place in baking dish, and toss with olive oil, garlic, and parsley.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until tender.

Balsamic Roasted Harvest Vegetables

Ingredients:

1 small butternut squash, cubed
2 red bell peppers, seeded and diced
1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
3 Yukon Gold potatoes, cubed
1 red onion, quartered
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).
In a large bowl, combine the squash, red bell peppers, sweet potato, and Yukon Gold potatoes. Separate the red onion quarters into pieces, and add them to the mixture.
In a small bowl, stir together thyme, rosemary, olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Toss with vegetables until they are coated. Spread evenly on a large roasting pan.
Roast for 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, stirring every 10 minutes, or until vegetables are cooked through and browned.

Happy Gardening!

DeLaney

The Pumpkins are Ready (not for launching!)

Important Dates and Announcements:

October 1st is DeLaney's last WIC and shareholder workday.  Shareholders, that means you have just a few days left to add to your work hours.  We would love to see you out there!

October 6th is our last Harvest and Pick-up day for our shareholders.  It will be a nice and strong finish!

Gleaning Week is the second full week of October.  It is the last week that our remaining vegetable plants will be in the field. After the 14th, it will all be turned in and prepped for the winter.  Come and take what you can find (encouraged to come during normal farm hours) before its all gone!  

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Farm News:  So we are taking steps at the farm in order to get it straightened out for winter.  Fields are being cleared and prepped for their cover crop.  We have had tasks like pulling up the irrigation line and chopping down corn fields with machetes (safety first!).  Garlic will be planted soon and more chilly afternoons will settle in.  It has been exciting to see a farm rise and fall right along with the seasons!

Athough the weather is still hanging in the 80's, there will be some great fall vegetables coming your way! I have posted some great pumpkin-related recipes for you to try out!  Also, revert back to last week for a recipe on Butternut & Acorn Squash Soup.  If you are not ready to for the cold weather to come, keep these recipes for later in the year.  

Roasted Pumpkin with Shallots and Sage

Ingredients:

1 medium sugar pumpkin (about 4 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into 2-inch chunks
4 shallots (or small red onions), peeled and quartered lengthwise
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup fresh sage leaves
Coarse salt and ground pepper

Preparation:

 Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Divide pumpkin, shallots, oil, and sage between two large rimmed baking sheets; season with salt and pepper, and toss.

Roast until pumpkin is tender, 30 to 35 minutes, tossing once and rotating sheets halfway through.

This next recipe sounds like a real fun one.  Looks a bit challenging, so get the family and friends involved!  I like it because it looks amazing and uses a fine array of this week's harvest.

Smoky Braised Mexican Pumpkin

Ingredients:

Three to six 1/4-to-1/2- ounce stemmed, dried chipotle chiles, or canned chipotle chiles en adobo
3 large cloves garlic

5 medium (about 8 ounces) tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and halved
2 medium round, or 4 to 5 plum, ripe tomatoes, or one 15-ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 pound lean, boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (optional)

1 medium white onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups sliced Swiss chard
1 teaspoon coarse salt
4 cups peeled, seeded, and cut into 3/4-inch cubes fresh pumpkin, preferably from a 1 1/2-pound wedge cut from a tan or green Mexican pumpkin or a 2-pound pie pumpkin

Preparation:

Make the salsa: If using dried chiles, preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add chiles and toast, turning frequently and pressing down with a flat spatula, until very aromatic, about 30 seconds. Transfer chiles to a small bowl and cover with hot water. Let sit until chiles are rehydrated, for 30 minutes, stirring frequently to ensure even soaking.

Place garlic and tomatillos in the skillet. Toast, turning occasionally, until soft and blackened in some spots, 3 to 4 minutes for the tomatillos and about 5 minutes for the garlic. Transfer garlic, tomatillos, and their juices to the bowl of a food processor or jar of a blender.

Drain chiles, either from the soaking water or their canning liquid, and discard liquid. Add chiles to the tomatillos and process to a fine-textured puree. Set aside.

 
If using fresh tomatoes, place tomatoes on a baking sheet and place baking sheet 4 inches below the preheated broiler. Roast until blackened on one side, about 6 minutes. Turn tomatoes over and roast on the other side, an additional 6 minutes. Let cool, then peel and roughly chop. Transfer tomatoes and any juices to a small bowl; set aside.

In a large heavy skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add pork, if using, and onions; cook, stirring and scraping up browned bits of meat with a wooden spoon, until pork is nicely golden, about 10 minutes.

Add reserved salsa, tomatoes, and 3 to 4 tablespoons water; stir to combine. Add Swiss chard and season with salt. To make this dish ahead of time, cover and refrigerate sauce for up to 2 days, then continue cooking as follows.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pumpkin evenly in a 9-by-9-inch glass baking dish. Pour over pork mixture. Cover baking dish with foil and bake until pumpkin is tender, 40 to 45 minutes. Dish can be cooled and refrigerated at this point, if desired, then continue cooking as followed when ready to serve.

To continue cooking, uncover dish and raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Continue baking until sauce has reduced slightly and top becomes crusty, about 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

 Pear and Autumn-Vegetable Soup

• Ingredients:
• 2 medium Bartlett pears (8 to 10 ounces each) and 4 small Bartlett pears (about 6 ounces each)
• 1 sugar pumpkin or butternut squash (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 turnip (about 3 ounces), trimmed, peeled, and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 sprig fresh sage
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
• Preparation:
• Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Using a mandoline or a very sharp knife, cut 2 medium pears lengthwise into paper-thin slices. Arrange the slices in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until pears are dry, about 1 hour. Let cool completely on sheet on a wire rack.
• Meanwhile, peel remaining 4 pears; halve lengthwise, and core. Place pears, pumpkin, turnip, sage, and 1 teaspoon salt in a 4-quart stockpot. Cover with water (at least 4 cups). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.
• Pour mixture through a sieve into a medium bowl, reserving broth and discarding sage. Puree solids in a food processor or blender, adding up to 1/2 cup reserved broth as needed.
• Return puree to the pot. Stir in 3 to 4 cups reserved broth to achieve desired consistency. Bring soup to a simmer over medium-low heat. Whisk in cream, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the pepper. Serve garnished with dried pears.