Monday, October 6, 2008

Soup's On! by Barbara Quinn

The last of the season’s peaches and tomatoes are almost gone at the farm stand replaced by fall’s produce. Last time I visited there were more varieties of apples, pears, and squash than I could count. The pumpkins were happily piled up on hay bales. And potatoes and sweet potatoes filled the bins. I’m partial to honey crisp apples, and Bartlett pears. It’s time to turn on the oven again and fill the house with the scent of apple and pear crisp, and simply baked apples. I’ve been buying pretty striped squash and stuffing them with figs and a little cinnamon and honey. Baked sweet potatoes, and baked sweet potato fries have also been on the table.

And then there are the soups of fall. Butternut squash soup, red lentil soup, ghoulash soup, all have made an appearance on my table these past couple of weeks. There’s something comforting about a steaming bowl of soup, something right about a pot of ingredients simmering on the stove filling the house with warmth and life. None of the soups I make are difficult but they are tasty.

I lose myself in the chopping of carrots, the dicing of onions, the cubing of beef. I love the way the ingredients come together to make something better. Think about it. Soup is the perfect example of teamwork, each ingredient offering its essence, combining with the others, and becoming something new, nourishing, and bursting with flavor. Is there anything better than a bowl of chicken soup when you're feeling yurky?

All is right in my world when there’s a pot of soup simmering and ready to spoon up for lunch or dinner. A world without soup? Oh no..that's a nightmare. It reminds me of the Seinfeld epidsode where the "Soup Nazi" refuses to serve Elaine soup stating, "No soup for you!" Whatever kind you like, take it from me, soup cures what ails you. The world needs more soup.

10 comments:

Kathryn Magendie said...

I ADORE soup! Love love love it -- and love preparing it, but it's been a while since I've prepared any homemade soup -

Oh, I can just smell it, Barb.

Now, I must have some soup, homemade...!

WHat a tasty aromatic post.

(and I LOVE the word "yurky" -wish I'd have thought of that one...)

Angie Ledbetter said...

Love soup too, and that Soup Nazi episode! (What a grand way to use up a fridge full of leftovers too, if fresh things aren't handy.) Chopping veggies is one of my best therapies.

Terri Tiffany said...

You've convince me to make soup tonight!Better pull myself out of bed and start!

Anonymous said...

Soup is the most ubiquitous food there is on the planet, and nearly every culture has at least one indigenous soup.
For me, soup is symbolic of getting the most out of life. Even if all you have is the worst cuts of meat, or even just bones; and if all your vegetables are tough roots; and your grains take half an hour to cook to a reasonable softness; even then you can make something nutritious and tasty by gently simmering it. Slow, steady extraction of the good stuff out of the "bad" is what makes soup so good, I think.
Just a little like life, perhaps?

Barbara Quinn said...

Kat..yes, yurky is rumbling tummy kind of bad.

Angie, You're so right..leftovers do come in handy in a soup. One of the things I save is the rinds from parmesan cheese..oh they do make a tasty treat in a soup!

Terri, enjoy the soup!

Erik, Funny how all the cultures do have their own versions, and they all are so tasty.

patresa hartman said...

mmm... the world DOES need more soup. you are so very right.

i love a bowl of good old fashioned (except with ground turkey) chili. and biscuits.

this makes me want soup. but instead, i'm making spaghetti squash.

*soup*

Barbara Quinn said...

P, oooh..chili..yum, and biscuits..yum, yum. May your soup bowl never be empty!

Anonymous said...

If only we had some soup or chili weather before February. Oh well,
guess not this year.
Oren (FOA)

Anonymous said...

Oh fall is wonderful for soups and stews! I make it at least twice a week here and it's really not even fall yet!

Barbara Quinn said...

Candy, twice a week? come visit me and we'll share a bowl or two!

Oren, any weather is soup weather IMHO. Enjoy. :-)

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