Linda, I have a fresh tomato/basil/corn/green bean soup lurking in the back of my brain..... :)
No recipe, just into that combo right now.

And....Lot's of fresh bread! Cooler weather always gets me into the mood to bake bread and what goes better with soup??

Nancy

Still thinking what soups to make soon but today I'm busy filling the freezer with various kinds of muffins to go with all of the soup that's to come...

So far today, cherry-pecan, date, cranberry/orange-pecan, & in the oven now pineapple w/crunch topping. All are made with my 1 cup oatmeal/1 cup milk starter.

Fresh tomato/basil soup sounds wonderful. We're going to get whatever's left of Hanna this weekend...good time to make soup!

/tricia

Well its near 90 out today so my mind is still thinking about a salad for supper tonight, however I have been in the mood to make chili lately. The long slow simmered all day kind...not too spicy and thick and hearty and paired with some fresh cornbread...mmmmm!!

Yup thats what I will be making on that first crisp autumn day!!

Cheers!
Susie

Here it's 54 and raining, finally. We've had two days of rain in the last two months and everything is dry and brown, I feel like I've been living in the Sahara!

Last night I made corn chowder, the night before that spanish rice. I baked Terri's honey wheat bread last night, and I'll bake more tonight, into the freezer for the "wedding party" next weekend.

Meanwhile I have just a few sweet Bing cherries in the fridge, I'm thinking some cherry struesel muffins would be good. When the chowder is gone I'm going to either make some chunky lentil soup or tomato basil. Probably tomato because the lentils will keep and the tomatoes won't.

Annie

ItÂs still to hot to bake here but I have been thinking about it more each day. CanÂt wait for the day I can make soup or chili while baking something, anything, this summer has been to hot and to long.

Tricia Would you share your 1 cup oatmeal/ 1 cup milk starter recipe?

Claudia

Since the advent of air conditioning I eat all types of soup all year long. I just made a large pot of cream of chicken and a pot of Zuppa Toscano. Now I'm ready to make some Mexican Chicken Chowder. I love keeping two or three kinds in my fridge all of the time. I don't particularly like squash soup or red chili which is what many people think of in the fall and winter.

Sure, Claudia. Here's my 'standard' muffin recipe:

TRICIA'S GO-TO MUFFINS

1 Cup Rolled Oats
1 Cup Milk

Mix together, refrigerate for 15 minutes to one hour.

Combine in a medium-sized bowl:

1 Cup AP Flour (or WWW works very well in these)
1/3 Cup Sugar
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder

In a one-cup measuring glass:

Add 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
1 Egg

Beat until blended.

After the oats/milk have had a chance to soak for a few minutes, dump them into the dry ingredients. Add the oil/egg mixture & lightly stir.

Add whatever add-ins you're using such as cherries, dates, apples, raisins, blueberries, pecans, walnuts, pineapple, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, etc. I usually toss the add-ins with a spoonful of flour to keep them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin cups.

Oh, I also add flavorings, spices to match whatever add-ins I'm using such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamon, vanilla, etc.

I bake in oversized muffin cups & get 6 muffins from this recipe. I set the oven at 350 degrees & they take about 22-25 minutes depending on what I've used for add-ins (apples, blueberries that have a lot of moisture take a couple minutes longer). I like the crust better baked a little longer rather than baking at 375 degrees like many muffin recipe state.

/tricia

I canned a bunch of Tomato Basil Soup last weekend, so I am prepared! LOL

Actually, we went from 90 degrees, humid, air conditioning on Monday to freezing my @$$ off and turned on the heat today! Could have used the heat yesterday, too but I was too stubborn to turn it on!

Making a pot of Kansas City Steak Soup for dinner tonight. Brrrrrr... It's still only 63 degrees outside!

My sister in the northern part of the state got frost last night! It's barely September for heaven's sake!

Linda

Thank you Tricia

This is exactly the kind of recipe I was looking for. I have been looking forward to using the Bennington muffin pans every since I got them. I did bake a pound cake in the loaf pan and was amazed that nothing stuck. Muffins are in my future as soon as the weather cools down. ItÂs in the mid 90Âs here but finally getting down into the 50Â at night.

Thanks again

Claudia

Gads, Claudia...I just re-read my post & I made a typo!

It's 1/4 cup of oil...not a half cup.

:( Tricia

Darn you, LindaC! I read your post at work today just before going into the lunch room and discovering someone had brought in a garbage bag full of tomatoes for public consumption. After consulting with my co-workers, I ended up taking the lions share home to slow roast and turn into cream of roasted tomato soup.

I also decided to make some pesto while the tomatoes were roasting. My plan was to make some grilled cheese sandwiches with a good schmear of pesto in each to accompany the soup. I have some serious cuts on both my index fingers, so I asked for and received my husband's help in de-stemming / de-bugging the fresh-picked basil. I also had him re-fill the pepper mill.

This is the part where I now blame you for starting this thread and getting me craving the soup: while stirring the soup and grinding pepper into it, I noticed my husband hadn't killed or escorted outdoors all the bugs, because there was a very large Daddy-Long-Legs on the spoon with which I was stirring the soup. Now, I'm not afraid of creepy-crawlies, but I didn't want to eat Cream of Spider soup, so I spastically flipped the spoon around in an attempt to keep Daddy from jumping into the pot. Because both hands were full, and because I have a limited attention span, I accidentally set the pepper mill into the simmering soup pan while juggling the spoon. I fed the critter, complete with roasted tomato sauce, to my (very appreciative) dog, realized my pepper mill mistake, removed it from the pot, and attempted to rinse it out in the sink, soaking all the internal peppercorns in the process.

I shook the mill hard, but only managed to evenly disperse the water within the mill in the process. I attempted to continue grinding, but only got paste... so much for the pepper.

Anyway, dinner was wonderful in spite of everything... Definitely one of those meals I dream about all year long... sans Phalangoidea, anyway. I really want a drink right now, but frankly I'm a little afraid to make myself one... who knows what other culinary ineptitudes doing so may uncover!

My point is: I really wish you'd think of the possible ramifications before starting a thread like this...

(P.S. If you let peppercorns dry out in a bowl overnight, is it OK to put them back in the grinder? Just wonderin'...)

LOL Jaz! Good story, hope you managed a drink.

I'd spread those peppercorns on paper towels to dry.

Nancy

Thanks for the correction Tricia.

Claudia

Jazz, hon....you NEED a drink!
And yes, of course I thought of all those ramifications....I was jist layin' a trap for ya, don cha know??Hope the fingers are feeling better...
Glad the supper was good
And dry out thaos peppercorns and dump them into the next soup pot....well maybe half of them.
Linda C

I am looking forward to the thick, heavy, long-cooking soups/stews/curries/gumbos of winter. Generally, I freeze a few meals worth of those things for when I suddenly find myself missing them, even in the heat of summer, and I am pretty much out. Oh, there are a couple of packages of bean soups and burgundy beef in the freezer still, but I've pretty much gone through them.

We've had a few early mornings lately that have been chilly enough that I actually pulled a blanket over myself. They got me to thinking about chicken & dumplings, good, rich beef or pork stew, thick and spicy dals, and my own good baked bread, slathered with sweet butter and drizzled with honey.

Yes, summer is long gone. My zucchinis got frosted the other night. I've picked some of the tomatoes (still very green) while the rest are covered with bubble wrap which should protect them from a few degrees of frost. Maybe...

I'll be making tomato corn chowder next week, but not with my own produce. I make the same muffins as triciae and I can hardly wait to make them again. But I'm camping in my basement while the kitchen is being re-done. I can hardly wait to have an oven again. But so far, I'm doing OK with a single burner hotplate, microwave, and crock pot.

Still too hot here for soup but I can smell Fall coming. The Farmers Market is spilling over with all the beautiful Fall veggies. As much as I love the summer, I love Fall foods.

Given I'm going to roast a bushel of red peppers this weekend I think I'll be making some of my Roasted Red Pepper Soup!