Empty Bowls, Soup Day continues....

Empty Bowl Day in Denton,Texas

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This week we decided not to make a new soup as we had a large container of the vegetable and pesto soup we had made last week still in the freezer . So with a little help from some ham and a few spices plus some new ciabatta rolls we managed to have a pleasant Soup Day as usual. The soup actually didn't seem much tastier as we had hoped it might but we knew we had a much tastier soup meal coming up on Saturday .This would be the day we would go with friends Sally and Joe to the annual “Empty Bowls” day in Denton.

Empty Bowls is a marvelous idea as it is a fundraising event with proceeds going to the local food pantry which helps by giving food to the many people who just don't have enough money to buy food . Yes, not all Americans are rich in fact many struggle each week just to make ends meet and this year we were told it seems to be worse than ever.

Our selection of bowls

So we paid for our tickets ( $15 ) each and off we went on a beautiful crisp sunny morning to Denton .We arrived to find the soup lunch was going great and the church hall where it was being held ,almost packed to capacity with lots of people and an equally large number of willing volunteers. There were two very long tables just full of the most lovely bowls made by local artisans. The idea is that you can select one of these great bowls to take home with you so everyone was picking up bowls to find just the right bowl for them. What a difficult choice to make! There were so many kinds. You could tell they were all lovingly made by a great many adults and children as their way of helping.

I had done some pottery making in the past and I could tell that many were truly wonderful pieces of art. Some bowls, made probably by the kids, were colorful and charming with finger prints all around the edges. The wooden bowls were lovely as well. So many different kinds.

The wonderful bowls

After we had selected our bowls we found a place at one of the long tables and then went to choose a soup. We did not use our art bowls for the soup. These were too special for that purpose. There were many soups to choose from; tomato, gumbo, vegetable ,chicken and noodles , sweet potato,chili , sausage and without exception, all were excellent and homemade and very tasty.

We all tried  different soups and each one was voted a 10 plus as just delicious. You could go back for  refills as many times as you wanted . I think Joe and Mike tried them all.

Vegetable Chili Soup

Meanwhile at the table we chatted about our pots and with the other people that were sitting there or just passing by . What a interesting time we had with such friendly people.

We talked to one of the organizers and she said that one man, Mr Reed had made over 300 various pots and these were much prized. He made them each year as his contribution. Some people who come every year collect his pots. Mike and I had actually inadvertently selected two of his pots .The fun part of the bowl was not only the skill, beauty and individual design but underneath on the base Mr Reed writes different inscriptions which are really fun to read. For instance on Mike's bowl it said” Reed 26 April 2012 Mowed the lawn this morning, played ball with the dog .Did this. Need to feed the fish “Then just as we were finishing Mr Reed came over to say “HI “ and we were so pleased to shake his hand and say "Thank you".

Joe and  Mr  Reed

There was also a silent auction with many beautiful paintings,bowls, dishes jewelry, scarves and other very special craft items all given by caring talented artists .All to swell the coffers for a good cause.

Just a lovely soup day and one which we will remember and be sure to attend in the future.

Butternut Squash soup

Butternut Squash soup

So this week we bought the illusive butternut squash . I got the right thing this time. Mike made the soup that friend Ruth had recommended as a lovely tasty soup. Well she was quite right . The main ingredient was, and I bet you can guess it , butternut squash. Added were carrots , celery, onions, green apple , stock and various spices. The biggest problem we encounted was peeling the squash and getting the seeds out with a spoon. Ruth later told us the easiest way to do this was to partially bake the squash and then you can scoop the flesh out easily. Now why didn't we think of that?

We had invited friends Ruth and Ros to eat with us and to give us their opinion on this new soup. Both thought the soup turned out excellent and gave it a 10 plus grade. In fact , so did both Mike and I. It was smooth and creamy with a very nice taste. This is one we know we will try again. Just a great soup for a cold winter evening and not at all difficult to make.

I made bubble bread to go with it and then nearly ruined it by sitting outside drinking a pre dinner drink and chatting with our friends. Suddenly smells of burning drifted out from the kitchen and I rushed in just in time to save the bread from becoming “blackened” bubble bread. It complemented the soup very well and is so easy to serve as you just pull the individual bubbles apart from the main loaf.

To finish the meal I had decided to make Queen of puddings. This is a very old British recipe .I hadn't cooked it before and it looked lovely in the recipe book and not at all difficult to make. It had the advantage of using some items I had already in the pantry. There were breadcrumbs, sugar, milk and eggs which made the base which is covered in a blueberry jam and then served with a layer of meringue to finish. I felt it certainly looked better than it tasted. It has the texture of the bread pudding that I just don't care for. Mike and the ladies thought it was just fine and so that was the main thing.

We so enjoyed their company. Ruth has a million and one stories and can always keep the conversation interesting. Ros brought lovely fresh laid brown eggs and so we enjoying lovely meals with eggs that have bright yellow yolks. I don't think we will make egg soup though.

Vegetable Pesto soup

Have you noticed that in the fall there are lots of different kinds of vegetables in the grocery stores? There are squashes of all kinds and root veggies and at least some I really have no clue about. I felt a bit like that when I was the person who shopped this week for the ingredients for this week's soup, Vegetable Pesto .It sure had a lot of vegetables!! it had spinach, onion, mushroom ( is that considered a vegetable?)carrot, potato, tomato, parsnip, turnip, celery, green pepper, leek, garlic, green beans, peas, squash, and cannellini beans

You can see by looking at the photo it was chock full of veggies. Mike had made the pesto with Parmesan cheese,basil and garlic and we had some in a small dish on the side as well as some included in the soup.

I had planned to cook French bread in the bread machine but it wasn't until I had the machine whirring away kneading all the ingredients that I realized that this loaf would be ready approx 2 hours after we had finished eating our soup. What to do? Fortunately I had a loaf,all be it, a rather sad looking thing in the freezer that I had made about 4 months ago. I quickly defrosted it and hoped it would be okay. I reckoned we could always toast it if needed. Thank goodness no visiting friends were coming today.

The soup turned out to be just fine and looked a lot like the photo in the book . It was very tasty especially when the pesto was added and stirred into the mix. The fun was in eating it and trying to recognize the individual tastes of the many veggies. We both gave it high marks, 8.5. I would have like a few less veggies and a bit more juice or liquid.. Mike would have preferred it to be more spicy. That has been duly written in the cookbook for next time.

I have to mention that the recipe made many helpings of soup and as you can see, we have enough for another meal or maybe two in our fridge. I have a feeling this is a soup that will also be better when it has time to mature just like a good wine. I'll let you know.

PS Time to mature doesn't work with bread!!

Soup Day Begins Again

Celery soup

Fall is Here- Soup time again.

So with the start of the cooler weather in October, we began to think of soups again.When we were looking into fresh ideas to try, our friend Ruth said she had recently tried butternut squash soup and it was ”wonderful”.

Well that was something we hadn't attempted. Now I really didn't know what a butternut squash looked like but not deterred went off to Sprouts, the local farmers market store, and there in a display were all kinds of squash and yes ,some were in a box labeled “butternut”. So I picked one up, a large dusky red tuber. Meanwhile Mike had found a recipe and we were all set to try the new soup.Only one problem on the day we were to make the soup, Mike looked at the squash and said,” If this is a butternut squash why does the  grocery label say, Red yam?” Oophs!  A quick check on the Internet showed I had indeed picked up the wrong thing. Not a good start to Awesome Soup Days !!

A quick look in the fridge and there we found a large bunch of celery. Just the thing for a quick soup. Mike hastily checked his recipes and in no time at all had made a light , very tasty celery soup which he served with crusty ciabata rolls. We both thought this was a great soup and gave it high marks and as Mike said ''really easy to make” having so few ingredients.( celery, broth and spices). Soup day was saved.

However a really nice surprise came a few days later when our friends Sally and Joe invited us to their lovely country home to participate in their Soup Day. Sally said she had taken our idea and decided she would serve a soup to her book club members when they come for their weekly meetings .What a good idea and so simple for everyone including the cook. So she had made a huge dutch oven full of a lovely Chicken Parmigiano soup and having made so much, invited us over to share it the next day.

Sal, Joe and Mike at lunch. Guess who is taking photos?

And what a lovely fresh soup it was. It is a combination of chicken ,onions and tomatoes with added spices served over  garlic flavored parmesan toast.

The texture was just right; a thin spicy broth which flavored the bread with a hint of garlic and lots of cheese. Jo and Sally also served  fresh fruit and some great wine with the meal and we had a lovely time. As Sally said “a truly balanced meal”-good friends, good food, good wine and plenty of interesting conversation.

However the best thing was knowing that our idea of a fun soup day had spread and other people were enjoying the fun you can have with a simple meal and sharing with friends .

Shirley enjoying her soup.