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Saturday Soup Day

December 9, 2009 # 2:18 am # Cooking # 30 Comments

soupsIt’s sure is winter all of the sudden!  I’m not complaining…I actually prefer the cold.  Even though our house was built in 1893, it’s actually way better built than any home I’ve lived in before.  Multiple courses of brick and limestone protect us from the elements, fabulous cherub and decorative scroll work radiators chug away in each major room, and any of the 4 fireplaces are ready and waiting to crackle and burn.  But this is Chicago….and it’s cold and drafty even in the newest of homes.  So when it gets this cold I usually bake or cook to help warm up the first floor of the house.  I mean, I’m pretty much always baking or cooking, but when it is this cold I make a marathon of it:

Saturday started out as just a morning to slow roast a chicken (my original plan was just to roast it and turn it into two or three meals that needed diced or shredded chicken in them.) Then the snow started to fall..and when I took the chicken out of the oven the wonderful smells filled the house and all I could think of was soup! So I routed through the pantry and freezer and fridge to see what my options were.

  • Black beans, Avocados, Cilantro, Green Chili, diced chicken? Jackpot! That plus the the drippings from the roasted chicken (meant for gravy but oh so much better when used to make an enriched broth) equals Mexican Chicken Avocado Soup
  • Crushed Tomatoes, Garlic, Shallots, Dried Pasta, Basil (a stash I froze at the end of the harvest season) and shredded chicken – equals Italian Garlic Pasta Soup
  • Potatoes (I ordered too many for our Thanksgiving meal), Roasted Garlic, Enriched Broth, Heavy Cream (yeah, we still keep a steady supply in the house to help the wee kahunas keep gaining weight), Nutmeg, Onions, and the handy dandy stick blender equals Creamy Roasted Garlic Soup

Add in a stash of restaurant containers that I keep in the back of my pantry because they are perfect for freezing liquids in and it’s Saturday becomes Saturday Soup Day!

Freezer is now full of meal options for the next week – with enough left over to share with Jordan and Mark’s father. with the bonus of a nice toasty warm house.

I’ll be posting the recipes and methods I used in the next day or so.

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