I've been able to salvage some of it adding more tomatoes, sautéed bell peppers, onions, garlic and cooked down to a not-so-bad spaghetti sauce. I may freeze what's left and use it as a base for things like that. Very disappointing, though, because I love tomato soup and was looking forward to having some on the shelf. Appreciate the suggestions, but not interested in making condiments out of it. I didn't like the flavor as it was, so I'm pretty sure wouldn't like it more concentrated. My second choice is to use Deanna's suggestion to add more tomatoes. It's good to know I could do it that way and still can it. My next question is why it wouldn't have to be acidified? Jill

Here are some of our favourite thick soups: CREAM OF CHICKPEAS - Crema de Garbanzos 3/4 lb chickpeas (300 grams) 5 cloves garlic - peeled 1 medium onion - peeled and chopped 1 bay leaf fresh ground black pepper tarragon - to taste salt 1) Put chickpeas in a pot, cover with cold water and let soak about 12 hours. 2) Once that time has elapsed, drain chickpeas and cover with fresh cold water again, adding the onion, garlic cloves, bay leaf and salt. 3) Cook for about 2 hours or until the chickpeas are tender. 4) Drain chickpeas, keeping some of the cooking liquid and put into blender together with tarragon and a little pepper. 5) Blend, adding some of the cooking liquid until you have the desired consistency. 6) Pass through a sieve, gently reheat and put into a soup tureen, garnishing with chopped parsley. Serve hot. Source: Translated from Cocina Hoy S.L. --------------------------------------------------------- Here's one of my favourite Spanish dishes: - Although I have been making it for years the way a Spanish cook once showed me, I have also tried the preparation seen recently on a Spanish Cooking TV channel. Their ingredients included a small pice of or pork fat and a stewing chorizo (chorizo para guisar). If choosing a chorizo for this dish, be sure it is the right type which has the red pimiento colour. of the ingredients. The small piece of tocino can be seen just to the right of the sprig of rosemary. 350 grams (1 1/2 cups) of small dark lentils - put them to soak the night before in water to cover 100 grams (3.5 oz) red stewing chorizo sausage - lightly pricked over with tines of a fork 50 grams (1.7 oz) salted tocino pork fat - cut into large diced pieces 1 TBSP flour 2 carrots diced fine 2 medium leeks, using only white stems sliced finely in rounds 1 lg clove garlic (this was optional but I wouldn't leave it out) - pass through garlic press 2 cups beef broth (I used 2 Knorr cubes) 1 bay leaf fresh rosemary - small sprig olive oil - about 1/4 cup 2 cups extra water to add after 1st hour 1. Soak lentils the NIGHT BEFORE in water to cover. 2. Next day drain and rinse lentils, put aside. 3. Heat olive oil in heavy cooking pot. When sizzling, add carrots, garlic and leeks. Lightly brown while stirring. 4. Add 1 TBSP flour and keep stirring for about a minute. 5. Add lentils, beef broth, whole chorizo, tocino, laurel and rosemary 6. Put on lid and simmer very gently for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Check after 1st hour and add up to 2 more cups water as needed. 7. Adjust seasoning and serve. ----------------------------------------- Ingredients: lentils - 250 grams (slightly over 1 cup) garlic - one whole head onion - 1 large - quartered Kasseler smoked pork chop - 1 large (or 250 grams other smoked pork or bacon) ham or pork bone as for making stock 4 medium carrots - sliced into coins 2 stalks celery - diced 5 medium potatoes - peeled and cut into 8ths 6 flowerettes of cauliflower green beans - handful sliced tomato puré - small 4 oz tin olive oil - 4 TBS fresh garden herbs: 1 bay leaf, several sprigs thyme, Italian flatleaf parsley 2 or 3 sprigs chicken stock 1 liter (4 cups) or water and 3 Knorr chicken stock cubes salt & fesh ground pepper water to cook lentils vinegar - 1 teasp garlic croutons - optional garnish Method: 1) Turn on oven to 350F. Put lentils in large heavy bottomed stew pot with water to cover plus about 2 inches, bring to boil and simmer 45 minutes. Check water level and add more as needed. 2) Meanwhile put whole head of garlic into shallow baking pan together with quartered onion, Kasseler or smoked pork and ham or pork bone, drizzle with olive oil and roast in oven at medium heat about 45 minutes. 3) Remove baking tray from oven when all is nicely browned and cut meat into small dice and add to lentil pot along with onion. Squeeze garlic from skin into lentil pot, adding ham/pork bone along with oil and juices scraped from roasting pan. 4) Add rest of vegetables to lentils, chicken stock (or water and stock cubes), tomato puré, fresh herbs and bay leaf, parsley - reserving one sprig, fresh ground pepper. Bring to boil and simmer about 1 hour until vegetables are done, adding more water if needed. 5) When vegetables are tender, remove ham/pork bones and any bare thyme stems from pot, check for flavour and add salt as needed. Add vinegar and stir. 6) Serve with a bit of chopped parsley and more fresh ground pepper. Homemade garlic croutons are also nice as a garnish. Source: Recipe as I learned from a Mallorquin housewife years ago. ------------------------------------------ The next day I made the rest - about 4 cups - of our previous day's stewed lentils into ... I started out using my hand cranked food mill and when I realized it wasn't going to do the job I put it all into my food processor, adding the following: 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth (using Knorr cube and water) 2 lg cloves of garlic crushed and browned in 1/4 cup oil in small frypan 2 slices brown bread broken in small pieces and fried in the garlicky oil until brown Processed the above until smooth and then heated it gently. Diced some more pieces of brown bread and toasted them in the frying pan with oil and garlic salt for the croutons. Closeup Lentil Puré. It was super tasty and Wolf really enjoyed it as well ! We were both full after two bowls each. ----------------------------------- Garlic Soup (Sopa de Ajo) ************************ A garlic soup recipe from the Mediterranean Island of Mallorca. Ingredients: 9 oz (250 grams approx) *shaved dry brown bread 6 garlic cloves 6 fine stalks spring onions 1 small cabbage 2 medium size ripe tomatoes fresh Italian parsley 1/2 cup good quality olive oil 1 teaspoon red sweet pimento powder salt water * Note: this refers to a type of local bread often used in soups (sopas) as a way of using up stale bread. It's a round, flat and heavy tan-coloured dense country bread loaf which is sliced crosswise paper thin, the cut pieces having a half-moon shape and being as thin as a slice of salami. (An electric meat slicer does the job well if you can find a heavy loaf of brown country bread.) Method: Heat the oil in an open, shallow casserole dish and add the peeled garlic cloves; remove them when browned and set aside. Add the finely chopped spring onions to the oil and when lightly golden add the finely chopped cabbage. Stir fry together then add the pimiento powder and enough water to cover all. Mash the browned garlic cloves in a mortar and pestle, add a little water to dilute the paste then add to the casserole. Season with salt and cook until tender at a low heat on the stove top. Then add the bread slices, scooping up the cabbage mixture and piling it on top of the bread to sink it down. Let return to a boil and remove from the stove. This soup is usually brought to the table and served out of the same casserole. I don't have a photo of the finished product but I do have my Mallorquin clay casserole which is what is normally used. Called a I brought mine from Mallorca over 20 years ago and whatever comes out of it tastes wonderful. It works equally well in the oven or on an open gas flame. SharonCb

Here's one I've been craving lately. Fresh Noodles LoMein 1 TBLSP dark sesame oil (look for this in the asian section of the supermarket, it is a specialty product but REALLY adds a wonderful flavor to the soup.) 1/2 lb. firm tofu, cut into 1 inch cubes 4 vegetable bouillon cubes 5-6 cups water (start with the smaller amount and add more if it seems to sparse. You might want to add more boullion to taste.) 1 TBLSP grated fresh ginger root. (I hardly ever have fresh ginger root around, so I imagine you could use 1 tsp. or less of the dried, ground ginger) 1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper 3 TBLSP teriyaki sauce (I dunno, if you don't have teriyaki perhaps some soy sauce, cider vinegar and brown sugar? I have teriyaki around usually for stir fry. I think plain soy sauce would work just as well if you want a milder taste, I get the low salt kind.) 1 large clove garlic, minced or equivalent garlic powder (I use the minced garlic in a jar) 8 oz. linguine or buckwheat noodles. (The buckwheat noodles are soooo yummy. You might be able to find them in the asian section of your local market. I get them at the health food store. They really make the soup, but you can use wheat linguini pasta too. I break the long noodles up into four section before adding to the soup, makes it easier to slurp up!) 1 bag of oriental style frozen veggies (or whatever you like fresh--carrots, onion, broccoli, peas, chopped pea pods, baby corn, bok choy, etc.) 1 scallion, sliced I have a crockpot which I use to make almost all my soup now, but you can make this the regular way, simmer all the ingredients together and boil til veggies are tender. Add noodles and cook until they are done. Garnish at the end with the chopped scallion. I might add some green stuff like spinach for more vitamins and color or mild red pepper, which you definatly don't want to simmer in the crockpot for very long. Here's one more I have never made because I don't use Miso enough to have it around. I might try and get some though, because it is very good for you. Maybe you can get powdered miso. Anyway, here it is for what it's worth. Miso Soup 1 tsp. sesame oil 1 onion, sliced pinch salt 5 cups water or veg bouillon 1 cup chopped leafy greens (kale, chard, spinach, etc.) 1 carrot, sliced 2 TBLSP miso (or to taste) Saute onion in oil. When onion is slightly transparent, add salt and water and remaining vegetables. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat. Dilute miso with a few tablespoons of the soup broth and stir into the soup. Or let each person add their own miso at the table. Cover the pot and let steep for about 5 minutes. The miso should NOT BOIL, as this desrotys the valuable enzymes in the miso. Serves four

There are a lot of containers that look like that soup container, so make sure to read the details carefully. The plastic one you posted is polypropylene which is the same thing that the supermarket containers are made of, and is the most food safe plastic we know of, especially for hot and cold. New Rubbermaid brand is probably fine (#5=PP=polypropylene), but just don't do soup in any other kind of plastic. Any other maker with the #5/PP mark should be fine, but dollar stores often get goods that are mislabelled, which is why they're cheap, so make sure you trust the bona fides. The deli style ones are fine if your ladies don't have hand issues. The ones with the good seals can be a bear to open. The part you just lifted reseals! And they're very flexible, so if you have a good grip on a full container, the soup can slosh out. The ones with the less good seals leak and can be a real mess. They also don't stack really well until frozen, though probably fine against a wall. I don't know how they do when dropped frozen, however. That was the issue wasn't it? The price is great, but the only ones I have experience with freezing soup in and dropping. The price is the best part, however. It's much easier to ladle soup into a shorter, wider container, as well as easier to stack and store, and rectangles taking less space than rounds. If you're not using specific for freezing containers, you could just use the regular disposable ones. Even the discount house brand ones are polypropylene, at least that I've seen, though some of the cheapies are thinner and might crack more easily. Others are the exact same quality as the name brand ones. I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be freezing something like a brothy soup in the paper ones. I've used them for other things. They're worthy but can leak. The paper's rigidity breaks down, as well. If thin soup is chilled before it's put in the paper, it might hold up better. They'll probably work if people don't mind taking extra care, and making sure they don't fall over. At least they'll be frozen during transport. Perhaps set in a pot to defrost.