Chive success

I've had a hankering for vichyssoise. Hot weather is a perfect time for it. Thus I headed around the corner to Chez Elisabeth's, a green grocer with the yummiest fruits, veggies and fresh herbs. I bought the potatoes and leeks and headed for another store for the cream.

Oops.

Once home, I realized I'd forgotten the chives. Since the store is less than a two-minute walk away, I headed there, only to discover they were out. "Tomorrow," I was told by Elisabeth's young assistant.

The chives were not delivered when I checked the next day. Plan B was to raid my friend Lydia's chives and plan C was to buy the dried ones at the supermarket, but fresh is always so much better.

I still have fond memories of being a teenager and after everyone was in my bed, my mother and I would clip fresh chives from the backyard, add cream cheese and feast on the mixture spread on Ritz crackers as we watched Steve Allen and later Jack Parr.

Elisabeth the owner took her phone and called her supplier. "Demain," she said.

This morning, the first thing I was back at Chez Elisabeth. In the chive tray, were several stalks of chives secured with an elastic. Elisabeth was talking to a customer, but made sure I knew about the chives.

The French word for chive is ciboulette. It rolls off the tongue with a different musical sound.

No matter what it is called, on this hot day, I enjoyed the cold soup with the fresh herbs.