Rising to the Occasion:
Tips for Seasoning
Your Meals with Soul
with Karen Mitchell-Wilcher
My
Annual Souper Bowl Celebration
I bet when you hear about a Super Bowl celebration you automatically
think about football don’t you?? In our house, January does
mean bowl time too but of a completely different type of competition.
The venue is in my kitchen and the menu lineup features some perennial
favorites and the occasional wild card that makes the cut.
For me the answer is soup. It is starting to get cold outside.
After all, it is wintertime. It is also the time slot after the
holidays when we are looking to simplify what we eat thanks in
part to all of the festivities and eating occasions. For some
of us it is time to start the proverbial New Year, new me diet.
Annually come January, I find myself making all kinds of soup.
I inherited my soupspoon from my mother. Every year my mother
serves ham at our Christmas dinner. The hambone is always destined
for the soup pot. If my mother keeps it, she will make Split Pea
soup. If, and when I get the hambone, it is more likely to become
Navy Bean with Ham Soup.* My husband and neighbor like for me
to make Vegetable Beef Soup.* My kids are always cheering for
a chicken noodle soup.
I like to make soup for a variety of occasions. I make it when
I need to put together a dinner that will not require much tending
to once it is started. I like to make it to take to new mothers
since it reheats easily and tastes even better with time. Not
to mention that soup is a hostess friendly option when company
comes over to watch football too.
To round out the experience add a tossed green salad and Garlic
Cheddar Biscuits* and you have all the trappings for some real
comfort food. We definitely pull out the big soup bowls on such
occasions but I admit that I have been known to walk around with
a mug of soup while I am multi-tasking… waiting in the carpool
line, working at my desk or folding the never- ending basket of
laundry.
Whenever and whatever the reason joining the souper bowl team
will be a fantastic addition to your menu planning rotation. And
not to worry if you make substitutions during the soup season
you can’t go wrong because they are all winners!!
Recipes:
