It is 60 here right now (can you believe? I'm in Illinois!) so I'm not making soup today! It is suppose to be near 60 tomorrow and near 50 Tuesday! But it is suppose to be around 30 and snow on Friday! I'm thinking I'll make potato soup near the end of the week when the temp drops, maybe with a loaf of french bread. But since that is so far in the future, it could be chicken noodle, corn chowder, or maybe oxtail, I think I have some in the freezer.

Soups are appealing after all the rich Holiday foods. That sounds good, I have a ham bone in the freezer.

I got a Barnes and Noble book for Christmas, "The Ultimate Soup Bible" but haven't had time to study it much yet. I decided that I would make at least one soup a week for few months.. there's over 400 in this book.

Nancy

I had a pretty good soup myself Linda, but the camera was upstairs and it was time and...

Turkey carcass broth
about 1.5 poached chicken breast shredded
1 big carrot shredded
half a jar of tomatillo salsa
two good handfuls of fine noodles

to quote 'someone'....Yummo. Dick had leftover stuffed peppers.

I want a tart but fulling Asian soup next. That corn chowder sounds good, and I think I may have a ham bone lurking in the big white box amidst all the salmon!

Yum...Chowder's the current house favorite, though I did make some killer chili last week. And some decent chicken and noodles, which isn't exactly soup, but it sure did the trick when the kid was sick.

I'm making almost the same thing with leftover Christmas ham for a marathon meeting on Wednesday (feed 'em and they will come). I always throw a big chunk of cream cheese in chowders, too, Linda (even when I use cream, hehe). And creamed and regular corn. And onion, celery and some broccoli tossed in at the last minute for pretty. Sometimes I make it with bacon, chicken or turkey...or vegetarian with a bit of liquid smoke for flavor.

Next weekend will be chicken and green chili stew. Slow roasted Sticky Chicken is on the agenda and the carcass makes a great spicy stew.

On Tuesday I'm taking a couple of quarts of Roasted Garlic Tomato soup to work for lunch. The girls will provide some sort of bread and cheese. We have the feeling we'll be shoveling snow, so it sounded like a good plan.

My husband made turkey and dumplings on Friday (to go with my homemade bread). It was SOOOOO good.

Your corn chowder sounds wonderful! I pulled out my CIA Book of Soups yesterday but haven't done anything with it yet. I opted to make a couple of pans of lasagne instead for mid week dinners. I'm also in the warm weather (Missouri), so perhaps some warming soups next week when it cools back down.

Today, I was able to sit on my deck in a T-shirt, drink zinfandel and watch my cat frolic in the balmy temps!

Nancy, I've been eyeing The Ultimate Soup Bible at Barnes and Noble for a couple months now but can't decide if I want to add it to my collection. After you have had a chance to look through it and try a recipe or two, could you let us know what you think? Then we will know if we should run out and buy it, or add it to our wish lists! :-)

It was really nice out today, so we grilled for dinner....salmon for me and NY strip steak for Tim.

But I have a pot of Ohiomom's Tuscan White Bean Soup on the stove right now. Figured I'd make it to take for lunch this week, since Tim isn't a fan of beans. Just tasted it and it's good! Thanks OM!

Corn chowder sounds good, tho. I migh have to work that into the weeks menu!

Linda

Linda, you grilled??? My grill is still out of site behind a big snow bank. There were ducks in an open place on the lake though, they were sure happy.

Nancy

I made hamburg Soup Over the weekend,
Ground chuck
chopped celery,
chopped onion
chopped potatoes,
bag of frozen corn
Its a Pa dutch recipe,my mother use to make this.

I'm making creamy smoked turkey wild rice soup tomorrow with four smoked turkey wings that are in my freezer.

Lindac

Thanks so much for the tip on cream cheese, which I usually have and not heavy cream. Great thing about this forum, good hints and tips for cooking :)

Linda, I loved the Tuscan soup, wish I had fresh Rosemary, but I used the Rosemary I had dried for winter so it was pretty good.

We had soup last night too! I've been on a veggie soup jag and made one we enjoy alot:

chopped fennel bulb
chopped leeks, 2
chopped onion, 1
Swanson's low sodium chicken broth - 4 cans
1 cup water
bay leaf

cook for five minutes and add:

3-4 smallish diced Yukon potatoes
5-6 peeled, diced carrots
1 cup or so of frozen white corn
3-4 heads/pieces of rough diced fresh broccoli
salt, pepper, 1/4 tsp each dried thyme & tarragon

cook for another 10 minutes until the potatoes are soft
DON'T overcook!

process about 4/5 of the soup in the blender in batches
while still hot, add a box of baby spinach & stir until heated, the residual heat from the soup will cook it.

Adjust seasonings & add 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar (secret last ingredient). Enjoy! Yummy, healthy, very tasty veggie soup.

We've been on a soup kick here too. I made Cheesy Cream of Broccoli soup last week. Also a big pot of vegetable beef this week. With a good crusty bread, it can't be beat.

I made a taco soup tonight, loosely based on Paula Deen's recipe. A pound of ground round, onion, garlic, taco seasoning, ranch seasoning, some mixed beans that I made Saturday and had left over (pinto, black, red), whole kernal corn, some tomatoes with chiles, beef broth left over from my last roast, pepper, a little chili powder. Served it up with corn chips and cheese, sour cream. It was pretty doggone tasty!

I guess I just have a thing for beans in soup right now. I made a sausage and bean ragout last week.

I have been in the mood for soup recently too. A few days ago it was a ham and bean soup and I have a vegetable barley soup in my plans when it cools off again.

It is going to be near 70 today - too warm to really enjoy a hot steamy thick soup no matter what the calendar says!

Alexa

Corn chowder, one of my favorites! I've never found a version that seems to have enough body to it. We just had french onion (anyone know a good way to make a really big crouton to fit the bowl?), and then soup making got put on hold. We're sitting around in short sleeves and shorts. Weird winter. But I'm thinking about a good Thai, Tom Ka Gai (Coconut Chicken Soup) or a country pork stew. I was planning to use a ham bone for white beans and cornbread, but I'm not in the mood since we just had the ham.

Since we're on the soup subject, does anyone know why when I add cheese to soup and it's eaten right away it's fine, but when DH comes home from work late and eats the stuff that's been sitting warm on the stove it's kind of curdled?
I usually try to do big batches of soup so that I can freeze some for a POOF night but it doesn't look very appetizing. Is there a way to prevent that kind of seperation?

Melanie, that sounds really good, smoked turkey and wild rice.

It's chowder time here too, Elery and I made a salmon chowder with some smoked salmon that he got as a Christmas gift. We just started with a chopped onion, celery and red pepper. Sauteed that and added a couple of cups of cooked diced potato and some corn from the freezer. Added a quart of chicken stock, bring just to a boil, stir in the smoked salmon (we had about a cup, maybe) and some lowfat sour cream.

Pretty good, and when I get home tonight I'll post the picture on what's for dinner...

Annie

I'm making a veggie soup today!!
Carrots, Celery, cabbage, green beans, zuccini, onions, mushrooms, garlic, and chicken broth. (Weight Watchers Recipe) But I really like it.

Linda

Minisue...you can't cook soup after you add the cheese...
Add the cheese and turn it off....then gently reheat to just serving temperature. If it boils, it curdles.
Linda C

lindac,you so have my curiosity up ;-) I am new on the cooking blog (normally hang out on the decorating blog but I saw you posting about maybe fixing a Broccoli Beer Cheese Soup and that SO sounds so yummy-would you care to share with me-my son would love this. Thank you so VERY much in advance.

It's pretty much beer cheese soup with broccoli.
I put2 T butter in my Lec Dutch oven and add
1T chopped onion and 1 T chopped celery and about 1 T chopped carrot...about could be more not less.
When veggies are soft add 1T flour...stir and cook a minute or so...add
2 cups or 1 can chicken broth ( 2 cups of home made is better!) and simmer for about 10 minutes....during this time add about 1 1/2 cups chopped cooked (or frozen) broccoli...cook until the broccoli is done,
Add a can of beer and bring to a simmer...
Add 8 oz of the sharpest chedder you can find...grated....and 1/4 cup grated parmesan....heat until cheese melts and serve.
Do not boil! or the cheese will turn into clods!
Linda C

Don't eat too much or YOU will turn into a clod!

I just hadda say that Linda. ;-)

And if you're still interested in chowder, the last one I made had potatoes, onions, a can of creamed corn, cooked leftover salmon, chicken stock into a roux thickening. Depending on how you cooked the salmon originally this could go a lot of ways. I know 'the guys' like spicy so I used powdered green chiles. Fresh smoked would also do, and here I'm thinking of Big Jims, our favorites.

This could be doctored with a lot of other veggies to taste.

Oh yes, I also added a good dollop of cream cheese (2 oz?) that had had about three roasted garlic cloves mashed into it.

Beef stew here too (with red pearl onions, darn you enabler). And the usual suspects of garlic, lots of carrots for picky DS #2, green peppercorns, thyme, worchestershire sauce, and a new beef broth from Trader Joes - low sodium but it sure tastes salty. I gotta go light on the salt for my FIL. It comes in single serve packets, as a 'liquid concentrate'. They have chicken and veggie bases too.

I sauteed some mushrooms on the side for the fungiphiles. (is that a word?)

lindac-Thank you so much for getting right back to me. My family is going skiing next week and I think I will make this, put it in ziplock bags and then take my crockpot and put it in there and we will have dinner when we come off the slopes. We can't wait to try this, again--thank you so very much for the recipe-my mouth is already watering.