I carry no phone An aspiring Luddite In a wired world. Mastodon Verification Link	Jeff Berry is an early adopter of the Internet and the Web, a late adopter of Twitter, and declines to adopt Facebook. With the death of Google+, he migrated to the Fediverse. He admins a medievalist Mastodon instance. He hates cell-phones.

When life gives you leeks, make vichyssoise. Perhaps not as pithy as "when life gives you lemons ..." but a propos nonetheless. It is even more propos if the leeks you've been given are becoming a tad elderly and worse for the wear.

I went down the street to the vegetable farmer's house - the place where I get my onions, potatoes, and carrots, and see what else he has - and what he had was leeks. The price was so very right, 50p for a nice bunch, so the fact that they looked a bit world-weary was something I could overlook. I already had vichyssoise in mind, because after they've been cooked to a pulp and pulverized, you can't tell what they looked like before you started. (I in no way mean to imply that they were rotten or bad, by the way, just a little rough around the edges ...)

And so it began ...

• 2-4 leeks, depending on size
• about 4 potatoes
• a bit of butter
• salt
• water (or stock, if you'd rather)
• milk and/or cream
• black pepper
• chives, if so inclined

When the leeks are soft, add the potatoes and some water, enough to let you simmer the vegetables, but not enough to make it soupy. Simmer the leeks and potatoes until the potatoes are soft. Then let it all cool.

Turn the vegetables into a purée by whatever means you find most agreeable. I only had my hand-driven chopper, so my soup wasn't as smooth as I would have liked. If you have a blender or food processor, I'd go with that. (I have since purchased a stick blender, and will use that next time.) Chill the result.

Thin the soup to your desired consistency with milk, and perhaps a bit of cream. Season with salt and pepper. A few chives on top as garnish make a nice addition. I served it with eggs en cocotte made with clotted cream. Hot eggs and cold soup are a great match.

If you have leftover soup, by the way, you can turn it into potato pancakes with the simple addition of flour. Add enough to make it into a thick batter or loose dough, and fry it up in patties. Not traditional, but delicious.