I just don't know when Sam will feel like eating anything so substantial. Right now he's eating soup. Tomato soup, which is my Go To Soup. Do you have Go To Soups? Here are my
Top 3 Go To Soups
1. Tomato
2. Lentil
3. Winter Squash
Look, I don't have to get fancy about my Tomato soup. Campbell's is great for me. I make it with water, and at the end, I add a splash of half-and-half. And I add a ridiculous amount of crushed crackers to it. Sometimes, I'm out of Tomato or I need a change. That's when I grab a can of Lentil soup. I'm the only one who likes Lentil soup, so I don't bother making my own. (I like Progresso's.) In the fall and winter, I make Ina Garten's Winter Squash soup. It's easy and has a canned pumpkin base. So good!
I like to make my own Chicken Soup, and I add a big knob of fresh ginger to it. Sometimes I make it with rice, sometimes with noodles or ditalini pasta, and sometimes with diced potatoes. I always make a huge amount and freeze it in small containers so that I can give some to others. And I found a great recipe for Pasta Fagioli Soup (is it redundant to add Soup to that name?) that's really easy to make. Still, none of those are my Go To Comfort Soups.
My Thanksgiving 2.0 turkey carcass and any leftover leftovers (you know what those are--the pieces that aren't good enough for sandwiches or turkey pie) will become Turkey Soup. Sam can have some of that, too, when he comes for lunch once he's feeling better. After all, it's the Season Of Soup, now that the weather has gotten much cooler for so many of us.
So, what are your Go To Soups? Do you make your own as well? Chat me up about all things Soupy in Comments.
Soup comes in cans. With a red paper wrapper. Well, not true, entirely. The YD comes with containers of fish chowder (clam for choice) for her father and an amazingly good tomato puree with Lots of Stuff in it for me. If it has tomato in it, I will eat it.
ReplyDeleteI also like cream soups, but only if freshly made with real cream, and you know that is Not Good for the waistlne or anything interior either. There was a restaurant close to the Board office when I worked there that had tablecloths and smelled wonderful and at noon served a thick cream of carrot or squash or whatever soup. We used to sneak off and pig out.
So sorry to hear about the Covid and the uneaten turkey. I have a fine recipe for turkey pizza that even my family will eat if it has mushrooms in it. Good for recovering patients, as the meat is chopped fairly fine and you can disguise the not good enough pieces. Recipe on request. And I promise, not a drop of maple syrup anywhere near it.
Best wishes to you sick one and to all of you, and I hope you and the newest one are all thriving.
Mary--I have a recipe for seafood chowder that is delicious, but I never make it. My sister makes it for family Christmas, and I have it then. I do love a good corn chowder (so why don't I ever make it, I wonder) as well. You're also reminding me that I have a terrific recipe for thick cream of carrot soup that I made once, loved, and then never made again. What is my problem?
DeleteCertainly do send me the recipe for turkey pizza. And lol about not having maple syrup on it. I do love maple syrup, especially the darkest variety.
Theo is thriving, thank you. We have not seen him since Tgiving since we are giving his Colorado grandparents and Utah aunt all the time they can handle with him until they must leave to return home. We shall swoop in some time after that, once Jared, Jordan, and Theo have had some time to settle at home as a family themselves. Sam is feeling better, too. I so appreciate your kind concern.
I am not really a soup person. I liked chicken noodle growing up. As an adult I do like soup, but I never make my own. Also, I rarely order soup, because it often includes noodles and other gluten-ish things and I can't eat it. It kills me when I go to a restaurant and I WANT soup, but the only options are off limits for me. Sorry about the Thanksgiving redo. I hope Sam feels better soon.
ReplyDeleteErnie--I can see how soup can be a minefield for you as a GF person. Making your own would definitely be the route to go, but you are awfully busy for that. You need a Designated Soup Person who will scrupulously observe GF conditions and make soups for you. I would do that, but you live too far away. Sigh.
DeleteSam is feeling better. Thank you for your good wishes.
I like lentil too--the protein makes it a whole meal...
ReplyDeleteI LOVE making soup--usually from whatever's in the pantry+freezer. My most recent triumph was sweet potatoes + apples + veggie sausage. It tasted very fall.
What a great idea to keep chicken soup around just in case...
If I may--turmeric is an add-on that is fairly undetectable and is supposed to have restorative antioxidant qualities.
Deletemaya--I love sweet potatoes and don't use them nearly often enough. Thanks for the idea! I mix turmeric into my ground coffee before I brew. I like the flavour and hope for its health benefits. I often add curry to my chicken soup--it brings out the chickeny flavour and adds a nice warmth, I think.
DeleteNance, The coffee idea is so awesome! I'm not a coffee drinker, but I shall borrow it for my tea. I especially like your idea, because the health benefits are more likely than in a heavily cooked dish.
DeleteSo sorry about Sam! Oof.
ReplyDeleteDr. M is the stoup king. He makes a wide variety, but our favorite lately is a chicken with orzo and chopped up fennel seeds. So good! I've got cans of Campbell's tomato in my office for emergencies, plus a sleeve of saltines (half a sleeve per can - ha!).
Bug--Thank you. Sam is slowly gaining ground. Covid is a bitch.
DeleteI'm with you on the cracker to tomato souop ratio . By the time I add crackers, my soup is more like a loose stuffing.
I used to like soup with a ton of stuff in it, but I find now that I appreciate a good, hearty brothy soup a bit more. I still like stuff in it, but not as much as I used to. The exception is, of course, tomato soup and crackers. Or, if you will, crackers with tomato soup.
Our top 3 go to soups are: Mulligatawny [which could be made with leftover turkey], US Senate Bean Soup [the most useful thing ever associated with them], plus an Italian Sausage Tortellini soup that is ezpz. We keep Campbell's tomato soup around... just in case.
ReplyDeleteAlly--Oh, how I do love bean soup! I haven't made it in ages. Again, another soup I love and don't make! I better up my Soup Game. And tortellini soup would be easy! Man, I have a lot of souping to do!
DeleteI have a nasty secret. I cannot eat canned soups anymore. They just taste like a salt bomb. So my top three soups are: 1) potato leek, 2) butternut squash, 3) pumpkin chickpea. But only homemade. None of this nonsense from a can!
ReplyDeleteNGS--I can understand that. I've gotten sensitive to salt more lately since I've had to cut way back on salt for my husband's awful blood pressure problem. I've not noticed it in canned soups, though. Your soups sound delicious, especially potato leek. Yum.
DeleteI like Progresso's chicken corn chowder. I haven't made soup in a while, but there was a white bean soup that I liked making.
ReplyDeleteccr--I would like their chicken corn chowder, but they put bacon in it, and that ruins it for me. I don't care for bacon in things because it then becomes a bacon thing. Bacon is such an aggressive flavour that it takes over and I can't taste anything else.
DeleteI do love a bean soup, and I used to make one often. I have no idea why I don't anymore. Maybe because I stopped making ham, and its leftover bone and trimmings was the catalyst for the soup.
My favorite soup is split pea followed by cream of tomato. But when I'm sick I like chicken noodle. I used to make my own chicken noodle but it's been two years since I have done that. They make great soups here and have a different one on the menu every day so when they make one of my favorites I buy an extra for the freezer.
ReplyDeleteJean--My husband used to be a huge split pea fan. I am not. I think lots of people are comforted by chicken soup when they're sick, and the research says that it actually does help.
DeleteLucky you to have Soup On Demand made by someone else. The stuff of dreams!
We are not canned soup people, I don't know why. The only soup we eat is homemade. I really like Ina Garten's Roasted Tomato Basil, and her Lentil, and the Split Pea and Ham from the New Basics Cookbook. Also Giada's Ribolitta soup (so good). We do have some canned soup in our cupboard, for emergency situations, but they just seem to get ignored. Sometimes I think I would like to just heat up a can of soup and not cook for goodness sake.
ReplyDeleteJ--There are a great many times when Rick and I don't know what we want for dinner and we're simply not very hungry. It's a waste for me to fuss around and cook something. Those times call for simplicity and speed, and that's a canned soup moment, especially for me. It could also be a toast dinner for me and a grilled cheese dinner for Rick. Our appetites seem smaller and less inclined toward a big meal of meat, starch, veg. You also have Maya at home, and that makes a difference, too.
DeleteSoup, glorious soup! Love it and make my own most of the time. My specialties are... for cream soups: mushroom & butterbean. Others: turkey (love the flavor of the stock from the leftover turkey carcass!), lentil, tortilla soup, caldo de res (Mexican beef stew with osso buco + carrots, potatoes, cabbage, & corn, etc.), cocido madrileño (chickpea stew with beef, potatoes, Spanish chorizo, etc.). New England clam chowder is also awesome, but I cheat and buy the prepared soups they sell these days in supermarkets (not canned) and add a few more clams which are scarce in the ready-made versions. Not a fan of tomato soup in winter, but I love gazpacho in the summer and have a recipe I developed that even Spaniards have asked me for. In short: soups rule! The cream soups are so soothing, and the others have a flavor blend from slow cooking that can't be beat. I make big batches and freeze the leftover for later. Most of my soup-making technique I learned in Spain by sneaking into the tiny kitchens of my friends' grandmas.
ReplyDeleteSo very sorry to hear about Sam coming down with COVID! I bet he was sorely disappointed about not having Thanksgiving II. Wishing him a speedy recovery. FYI: Several of my students have come down with Covid this semester. None of them got booster shots. (insert eye roll). Not sure if that is a factor, but Covid, flu and RSV are rampant in Texas right now, among the highest rates in the nation.
Do continue to regale us with snippets about Baby Theo. (Dying to see a photo, lol.) XXOO
Ortizzle--I love the flavour of turkey stock, too, and use it for my chicken soup often. Your soups sound terrific. I'm trying to remember the Spanish term you introduced me to a long time ago for slow, slow cooking...griso?
DeleteThe tomato soup I'm speaking of is a hot soup, not cold like gazpacho. I'm not a fan of cold soups, just like I'm not one to drink iced coffee. It's a disconnect for me. Cold tomato soup? Just make me a Bloody Mary!
Sam is feeling much better and will be back at work tomorrow. Luckily, he is not required to do anything taxing. He waited too long for his booster despite my nagging. Numbers are up here, too, for Covid. I haven't heard the same for flu or RSV.
No pix of Theo will be shared on the blog, sorry. The parents have decided not to share any on any social media, a choice which I applaud. When I catch up with you via email, dear friend, I'll send one along. We are going to see him on Sunday--hooray!--so I'll include him in a post next week. Just a little bit, so as not to wear out my Readers' patience.
Griso = Guiso. ("gui" in Spanish is pronounced like the Indian term for clarified butter, "ghee." TMI, I know, haha.)
DeleteYes, I knew your tomato soup was a hot soup. Maybe I'll try it one of these days. I'm a bit of a flip-flopper with tomatoes; don't like them sliced in a salad, but love the flavor of gazpacho made in the blender with tomatoes, cucumber, onion, red & green bell peppers, a bit of olive oil + some spices—basically a liquid salad, which, with the torrid summers we have down yonder, is great. But I completely get that you don't like the idea of a cold soup. A Bloody Mary is great any time!
Glad to hear Sam is recovering quickly! Re: photos of Theo— I suspected that the parents would not want photos on social media; a lot of young couples make that decision, and I respect that totally. Just grateful that they let you post about it sans any photos. I doubt you could ever bore us with news about Theo, lol! Looking forward to maybe getting a glimpse via email. :-D XXOO