I don’t know when or why my love affair with soups began, but man-o-man I love my soup. Hot, cold, meat, fish, vegetarian, bean, squash, noodle or lentil, I don’t think I’ve ever made a soup I didn’t love. I like my soups thick and satisfying, a meal in itself, almost more of a chowder than a soup.
No wimpy little recipe boxes here!
My recipe box is a testament to my love of soup. Having finally abandoned the little 3×5 recipe card boxes I tried to live with for decades, I found a useful alternative. I bought one of those boxes you can find at hobby stores that are meant for filing greeting cards and old photos. It was the perfect size for 8-1/2 x 11 printouts of recipes that I could fold in half and sort in manila folders that I’d trimmed down to size. My soup folder is easily 2-3x thicker than anything else in the box!
About 30 years ago I fantasized having my own soup kitchen, downtown, serving hearty, organic soups, salads and breads to the lunch crowd. Every day there would be a variety of new soups to choose from, plus a few favorite regulars. But besides not having the money, I realized that owning a mom and pop restaurant is a lot of hard work. I’ve updated that fantasy to owning a small farm in a green and charming country area and opening my house to soup lovers on the weekends. I would grow my own herbs and vegetables and buy local sustainable foods that I couldn’t provide myself. Of course, I’d have to go out of state for some ingredients such as seafood, but I’d only buy wild caught sea foods and local free range meat and poultry. But now for reality… Continue reading →