Instructions: I rarely post a recipe that is not my own, but this one comes from an aged Womens Day Encyclop dia of Cookery. It will "stick to your ribs" and dispel the cold of winter, even in frigid New York! (Doubtless you know that Parmentier was the French agronomist who popularized the potato in France.)

Now, one more time, when I say potatoes, I mean real potatoes such as the Maine kennebec or the Irish cobbler, and not those russet things.

The following will feed six. Double it if you feed a "tribe." Moreover, you will note that this is not for you if you are on a low fat diet!
*grin*

In a large sauce pan, add the water and all of the vegetables except the chives. Cover and cook over low heat for about two hours. Then add the salt and pepper. Drain the vegetables and KEEP the liquid! Process the vegetables in either a food mill or a blender. Return them to the liquid.

Add the butter and the cream. Reheat and taste...you may wish to add a bit more salt... Serve sprinkled with the chives.

To change that masterpiece into a Watercress Soup (Potage au Cresson), hold the chives. Instead finely chop a bunch of watercress and add it at the same time that you add the butter and cream. Serve with the top sprinkled with additional finely chopped watercress.

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