Oh it rained so hard last night in San Francisco, that it woke me up, when I heard some sort of dripping happening somewhere over the bathroom. Yikes! Not looking forward to what that could mean. Anyway, I normally announce what I plan to cook for dinner the day before – just to get everyone excited about the menu. But sometimes I decide mid-day the day of, what I’ll be making for dinner – kind of like this soup – I am going to make less the slow cooker (since I don’t own one) INGREDIENTS 1 cup dry wild rice 1/2 sweet onion, diced 6 carrots, chopped 5 cups low-sodium veggie or chicken broth 1 cup dry white wine 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme + 3 thyme sprigs 2 bay leaves 1 teaspoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 1 parmesan rind + 1/2 cup grated parmesan, plus more for serving 1 cup whole milk or heavy cream kosher salt and pepper 2 pounds mixed mushrooms, roughly torn 4 cloves garlic, smashed 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter zest from 1 lemon (more)