DEBORAH CROMBIE: It's hodgepodge Sunday here on the blog, and what better place to start than with the weather! We have had a long, and I have to admit, glorious, Indian summer here in north Texas. We had two inches of rain back in mid-September and since then we have been pretty much 90 to 70 degrees every single day. (With pollen, I might add.) The mornings and evenings are lovely, and with the days getting shorter, it's not even unpleasant to be out in the warmest part of the afternoon.
BUT. I am a self-confessed pluviophile.
And, no, that's not something kinky. A pluviophile is defined as "someone who loves rain and feels happy, calm, and peaceful during rainy weather." Too much rain in mid-winter can give me a bit of the blues, but most of the time a rainy day makes me feel happy and creative, and I've been very deprived.
And on top of that, it's SOUP SEASON, and it really hard to get in the mood to make soup when it's ninety degrees! I love soup as much as I love rainy weather, and with the first little cold snap the possibilities beckon.
Finally, yesterday, we had a little front and a few light thunderstorms, just enough to cancel my granddaughter's soccer game and barely "piss off the grass," as we say in Texas. But enough to get out the stockpot and put on some lovely lentil soup.
We are getting to the delicious books, by way of soup. I subscribe to the writer and cookbook author Ella Risbridger's substack as I adore everything she writes. This week her email was about soup (and she's also going to be reposting her huge soup blog from last year) but what caught my eye were two new books. She's edited a selection of poems by women and girls with amazing illustrations called AND EVERYHING WILL BE GLAD TO SEE YOU which I ordered for Wren's Christmas from Amazon before discovering it was available from Blackwell's in the UK for a lot less and with free shipping.
As is Ella's upcoming IN LOVE WITH LOVE, described as her "love letter to romantic fiction," and which is getting rave reviews everywhere. Happy pre-Christmas to me!
So, dear REDs and readers, happy soup, happy Sunday, and what is floating your autumn boat?
P.S. I tried my first ever pumpkin spice latte from my favorite coffee stall at the farmer's market yesterday and DID NOT LIKE IT. Boo. I call that a way to ruin some good coffee...
We've had lovely warm weather until the nor'easter blew in . . . now it's chilly . . . and definitely soup weather, so I went and bought all the makings for chicken noodle soup . . . .
ReplyDelete[And there are some really yummy recipes in Theresa Carle-Sanders's "The In Death Cookbook".]
Chicken noodle sounds delish, Joan. Is that cookbook based on the J.D. Robb In Death books, by any chance?
DeleteI love making the chicken soup and . . . why, yes, the cookbook is based on J.D.'s In Death books . . . .
DeleteYea, verily pumpkin spice is the Devil's invention and should not be tolerated by decent folks.
ReplyDeleteBut soup, however is...what's the word I want?...Souper!
Souper, indeed, Jerry!
DeleteHighs in low 80’s and lows in the low 60’s with practically non existent humidity here in Ocala, FL also means the soup pot has made an appearance. We have had chili and this past week a veggie stew with veggies from a produce stand at a local farm we discovered.
ReplyDeleteI will be reaching for some darker things on my tbr like Gothictown by Emily Carpenter, The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith, and the soon to be released The Perfect Hosts by Heather Gudenkauf. And then Christmas books!
Brenda, perfect weather! My daughter and I did like The Hallmarked Man, although we both had to go back and reread the last hundred pages to make sure we'd followed all the plot!
DeleteHappy Sunday! I made a big gumbo yesterday after a huge happy peaceful demonstration for democracy in my little town. That poetry book looks gorgeous. I wonder if it would be too old for an eight-year-old?
ReplyDeleteYeah Edith- and we had 100+K happy peaceful demonstrators. Nice turn outs.
DeleteEdith, I think the age range was maybe 8 to 14? I'll bet it would be fine.
DeleteGumbo! My mom made fabulous gumbo! I have made it a few times, but the roux is such a process.
No soup here for me as yet but I do have some Campbell's Chicken Noodle if I get the urge because we all know I'm not about to make my own soup.
ReplyDeleteAnd Deb, pumpkin spice is a good way to ruin ANYTHING.
There is nothing like Campbell's Chicken Noodle with saltines, Jay! Unless it's Campbell's Cream of Tomato with grilled cheese sandwiches!
DeleteI have never had a pumpkin spice latte, and never will. I commented on the same last week: why would one want to drink such a thing. Our weather in KY has been very strange this fall. Lowish temps at night, but day-time temps in the 70s and 80s. Not normal at all. My husband calls me the "soup queen." My creativity may be lagging a bit lately, but I do my best to "invent" a soup that will make use of the vegetables we have in the house. Of course nothing beats homemade chicken noodle soup for comfort, with homemade chicken broth, of course. That's not something that happens often here, though my sister makes it every week, I think, something about something to feed the dog. Every once in a while I will make a fish soup, which usually turns out quite well - either with a white fish or with salmon. This particular post is making me long for beef barley soup.
ReplyDeleteI love anything with barley, Beth. I'm going to look up a good beef and barley recipe. I'd be happy to make fish sound but my hubby wouldn't eat it, boo.
DeleteI have to confess that we cook chicken for our dog, too. Thank goodness for Costco.
Debs, love seeing your garden, and the soup, and the books! Thanks for the Sunday treats!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Roberta!
DeleteIt's still shorts and T shirt weather in Cincinnati. I'm slowly transitioning to lasagna and chicken parmesan from lighter summer suppers. Apples and bananas instead of summer fruit.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, I'm in Lexington, so not so far from you. Wouldn't you agree that this fall has been "not so fall"? We had mac' and cheese last night. Even though the nights have been cool, our heating has not gone on once!
DeleteWe ate outside the last two nights!
DeleteI am glad to be able to turn off the air conditioning for a day!
DeleteMargaret, one of my vendor pals at the farmer's market drove up to Arkansas and brought back a truck load of fresh Arkansas apples, so I've been eating apples every day! We don't really do apples here in Texas, so this is a big treat. I guess our peaches and pecans make up for no apples, though.
Beth, I agree! The leaves aren't turning pretty colors, they're withering into brown dust and dropping on the ground. Our a/c has been on, and due to the seven week drought, we've had to water the gardens and deep water the trees. When I lived in Atlanta, shorts for Halloween weren't unusual. But in Cincinnati? We have enjoyed local orchard apples and cider.
DeleteIt is still clean-up time, as we have not had frost here. Nor have we had rain. September was 0.6 of an inch, and so far this month it is up to 0.8. Yes drought. It has been since June. The weather person promised rain, and then nothing comes. If you go on radar, you can watch it skirt out to sea every time – I hope the Atlantic is happy! I wonder if you people who live along the Eastern Seaboard are getting any more?
ReplyDeleteTomatoes are still everywhere, so soup is not on the agenda. Another BLT anyone? Maybe it will freeze, and so will they…
Last night I cut into the first squash – lots of them. It was a turban, and very tasty. Now I have ¾ left to figure out how to store – not soup.
Today is either move the strawberry bed, plants some daffodils, or make spiced apple and hot pepper relish. I boiled the apples down to make the fluid to gel yesterday, and it is going through the jelly bag today. It will keep another 24 hrs if necessary…
Margo, Connecticut is on the East Coast, so I'll answer your rain question. It's been hit or miss. We've had a couple storms bring much-needed rain, but we've also watched them swerve or stall elsewhere. I also used to love rainy days and the occasional quiet gray day. But fear of a deluge that might flood my house has taken most of the pleasure out of it. Climate change has meant that some places get all the rain all at once while others get little or nothing.
DeleteWhat Judy said about the US northeast coast rain. The threatened frost didn't happen here, so tomatoes are still (slowly) ripening and the daytimes have been clear and sunny, lovely fall weather.
DeleteMargo, your spiced apple and hot pepper relish sounds amazing. Wish we could all sample!
DeleteIt is raining here in Cincinnati right now, for the first time in a month. We need it so bad here, and because of the drought the leaves are just falling without bothering to turn color first.
ReplyDeleteI made four loaves of bread (three for the freezer) and a big pot of chili the first day we were home from our trip. After eating three restaurant meals a day for over two weeks we have really been enjoying having simple food for a change. Not that we didn't have delicious meals in Greece, we did. There was just so much of it, and we aren't used to eating that way.
I need to bake bread - tomorrow!
DeleteI view PSLs the same way I view fruit-flavored beers: they are for people who really don't like coffee or beer.
DeleteFruit flavored beer sounds awful, Edith. I'm not really a beer drinker but would like it even less with fruit flavoring.
DeleteI have been contemplating chili but it's not quite cool enough yet. Rick loves chili made with the packaged mix but I'd like to try something a bit different. I saw this recipe for slow cooker chili in the NYT which I thought sounded delicious. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019903-slow-cooker-chili
That was Karen, but I agree - fruit doesn't belong in beer!
DeleteWhat a lovely garden Debs. Here in So Cal it is still warm, but we had real rain last week. What's nice about a windy, rainy day is the next day is usually bright and sunny with clean air and sky!
ReplyDeleteThe garden has been beautiful. All of our bougainvilleas have been blooming like mad and the colors are so gorgeous. Also, the autumn asters are blooming in the front and are so pretty. But just in the last two days the leaves are really starting to fall.
DeleteMmm, soup! When I was in France in June, I was introduced to a lovely green gazpacho that was delicious. It contained cucumber, zucchini, peas, green peppers, yogurt, lemon juice, and olive oil. I went to seven stores before I found it in September and was planning to bring several cartons home. Alas, when I went back to stock up, it was all gone. Time to switch to more wintery concoctions, although it was in the 80s here yesterday.
ReplyDeleteLisa, I'll bet you could recreate that soup. So you are back in Long Beach?
DeleteWe are - I have jury duty. Then back to Nice in December.
DeleteI love your Hodgepodge autumn post, so cozy!
ReplyDeleteYesterday was a perfect lovely day in war-ravaged Portland for a HUGE and peaceful NO KINGS march. My family, my church peeps, and my walking friends were all there, along with frogs, unicorns, sea otters, dinosaurs, chickens, all manner of critters. The badly-needed rain returned last night. I hope it continues with some dry days interspersed, because I have yard clean up to do. This might be a good week to break out the crock pot for some soup too.
My daughter also marched in Portland, Or. She said the same -- "war-ravaged" which in PDX is people walking around smiling, chatting, enjoying the weather.
DeleteI haven't talked to my Portland daughter about it yet, but I think she and her boyfriend and a bunch of other friends were planning to march, also.
DeleteWe saw pictures of the Portland march, Gillian. Just wonderful.
DeleteWe have had a beautiful autumn, with mostly clear sunny days but enough rain to allow autumn colors. Our nights have been cold and we finally had a frost one night last week. It's been soup weather, for sure.
ReplyDeleteI saw a recipe I couldn't resist on Epicurious, bought the ingredients and WOW. Ricotta stuffed shells in a marinara sauce. Irwin never orders anything like that at Italian restaurants so I didn't know if he'd like it, but one can't live on chili alone. OMG it was delicious. If I find the link, I'll put it in comments later.
Do that, Judy! We would love that.
Deletehttps://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/vegetarian-skillet-stuffed-shells
DeleteOne of the great things about the recipes on Epicurious is that there are comments from cooks and bakers who have tried the recipes and adjusted them to make them their own. I do it all of the time because of allergies, sensitivities and preferences. For instance, I did not use 6 cloves of garlic. Absolutely not necessary! I separated the mushrooms and used half in the filling and half in the marinara. Otherwise, go for it. Best vegetarian Italian dinner I've ever made!
I love New York Times Cooking for the same reason and always read at least some of the comments. Also nice to save in my Recipe Box.
DeleteThanks, Judy! It sounds fantastic!
DeleteKaren
Deborah ~ That soup looks delicious! Here in America's Hometown the temperature will reach a high of 65* today. After a week's worth of Northeaster' weather in the form of rain (6 plus inches) this sunny day is welcoming. We are enjoying an extended Indian Summer and even most of our summer annuals are still blooming and happily co-inhabiting with our autumn display of multiple pumpkins. This year's theme are yellow pumpkins with splashes of bright orange and forest green flecks splattered across them like Jackson Pollock paintings. Many of them are "Knuckleheads" (warty pumpkins) that are striped with festive fall colors. I wish I could display a photo of how colorful they look nestled among all the ornamental kale. Although I miss the all too short summer season this is always my favorite time of the year. The "gateway" to the holiday season. Right now I am in our little courtyard enjoying my second cup of coffee. It's a balmy 55* and I'm loving it. :-)
ReplyDeleteI wish blogger would let people post pictures. That sounds delightful. I just have mini pumpkins on the porch and in the living and dining rooms.
DeleteI love the minis! They seem to last forever. Displaying them all through the house makes it feel like a welcoming change of season.
DeleteEvelyn, not to appear dense, but where is “America’s Hometown”? — Pat S
DeleteEvelyn, you can post photos on the JRW Facebook page. Then we could all see the splendor of your pumpkins!!
DeletePAT S: Plymouth, MA, I believe.
DeleteMorning all, Paula B here: I’m in Arizona, the soggy. We ended a sort of mild summer (for Arizona anyway) with that huge storm. My place is fine but many are not. I watched as the wild wind brought sand and dust to my patio and then it rained. And rained. And rained. Yes, we needed it quite badly, but now that things have dried out enough to clean (ever tried to sweep wet sand/dust) it appears the rain pounded the sand/dust into the bricks resembling mortar. I spent over an hour trying to clean them up and made headway but then the back said ENOUGH, stop it, so I did. Another hour or two might get it clean again. And as for Pumpkin anything - absolutely not. Tried pumpkin ravioli. It’s hard for any ravioli to be bad. This was. Never again. If it’s pumpkin, it’s no. Weather is now beautiful and if the weather person stops with predicting 90+ weather, I’ll plant my “Arizona spring” flowers. Soon my patio will have many flowers to sit among with my morning coffee.
ReplyDeleteGlad you were okay in the storm, Paula!
DeleteI've never had any pumpkin coffee drinks. I should try but I've just never been interested. The only thing pumpkin that I like is pumpkin pie.
ReplyDeleteI think if you never taste a pumpkin coffee drink you will not have missed out!
DeleteYour garden looks lovely with the rain, Debs. We've had rain overnight. Yay! Took a walk with youngest nephew yesterday--he couldn't believe how dry the creekbed was--I haven't seen it that dry in the 20 years I've lived here. But on to soup, we've had a couple of chilly days then zoom back up to high 70s. I've been wanting to make a Tuscan bean soup that became a staple on my winter rotation last year. This may be the day!!
ReplyDeleteOoh, I love Tuscan bean soup. I want to make a bean soup every week and that is on my list.
DeleteOh what a fun blog! With you on the PSL—bleah bleah bleah. Xxxxx
ReplyDeleteMy coffee guy convinced me I should try it. Ugh ugh. Whoever dreamed that up?
DeletePumpkin Spice Latte is not for everyone. Your story reminds me of a friend who tried coffee at this place where they serve coffee, which tasted like dishwasher water. So they decided they Did not Like coffee. I am quite picky these days about coffee. I remember when Catriona came to our local Sisters in Crime meeting and we were going out for coffee. I steered her away from the place where they served bad coffee and we went to another place that served better coffee.
DeleteThe lentil soup I made last night had a teaspoon of curry in it, and the result was magical! So good! I would never have thought to put curry in a lentil soup. And now my house smells like curry this morning, which is a nice thing.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it's 55 degrees! The fall fairy has arrived. The first sweater morning! And I am off with my pals for our Sunday morning bakery run, then will be back to chat! Happy Sunday!
I also make a curried lentil soup--with sweet potatoes, onion, and diced tomatoes and a little bit of jalapeno. It's delicious with a dollop of sour cream
DeleteDebs and Gillian, your lentil soups sound yummy to me.
DeleteOoh, sour cream would have been delish. Will try that with our leftovers.
DeleteThere are lots of Indian recipes that use lentils of all colors. I would love to have a lentil soup recipe with curry. I have a cabinet full of various curries and love to use them in new recipes. So, Gillian B., recipe share?
DeleteJudy, sure. It's easy, not fancy in my Better Homes and Gardens big book of soups and stews, in the slow cooker section: 2 med sweet potatoes (about 1 lb) peeled and coarsely chopped. 1 cup dry brown or yellow lentils, rinsed. 1/2 c chopped onion. 1 medium jalapeño chile pepper, seeded and finely chopped, one 14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes, 3 cloves minced garlic, three 14 oz cans of vegetable broth or 5 /14 c homemade vegetable broth, 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger , optional sour cream. It says to put it all together (except the sour cream, that's for each serving) and cook on high for 4-5 hours or low 8-10. I find this makes the sweet potatoes too mushy, so I cook it for a couple of hours on high and then add the sweet potatoes.
Deleteoops forgot to mention the tablespoon of curry powder. Mine is yellow, just from the supermarket.
DeleteGillian, that sounds delicious. I'll try it! King Arthur Flour's Sunday recipe blog was about baking with sweet potatoes and it featured some yummy sounding cakes and breads.
DeleteLet's switch places, Debs - it's perfect soup weather here in southern Maine: highs between 55/13 and 65/18, nice and chilly at night - but not freezing yet, which, alas, is another sign of our changing climate.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, I have a fridge full of salad ingredients, and it just doesn't feel warm enough for a dinner salad! I definitely need some of that Texas heat.
You're just trying to confuse us with the Celsius temps, Julia! You'd think that as much time as I've spent in the UK it would be easier for me to translate. Have salad with soup!
DeleteWhen I had my MINI Cooper (made in Oxford), I set the temperature readings for Celsius so I would get better at it.
DeleteDEBS: Happy hodgepodge Sunday! The word "hodgepodge" sounds familiar to me. Is that a word from the Beatrix Potter stories? I'm one of these people who love rain! We got some rain last week, which is a relief because it is usually fire season here in California. This morning was foggy and not too cold when I went for a walk outside. I Must take several walks daily for health reasons. I am picky about my soups.
ReplyDeleteBefore I developed allergies, I loved eating French Onion Soup with melted cheese and bread crusts. These days my favorites are clear soups, though I love coconut lentil curry soups.
One of the reasons I loved living in England was the rainy weather. I loved walking in the rain. I do not know if these cafes attached to churches still exist. When I lived in Oxford in 1990, I went to this wonderful cafe, attached to a tiny church, because it had wonderful soups AND NO SMOKING allowed! At that time, smoking was allowed everywhere, except in churches.
The ban of indoor smoking in the UK in 2007 was one of the greatest things ever! I'm sure there are still cafes attached to churches, Diana. I know of several really nice ones in London.
DeleteDebs, do you know where in London the nice ones are?
DeleteThe Crypt at St. Martin in the Fields is always one of my faves. St. James Piccadilly has a nice cafe, and also St. Peter's Church in Notting Hill, or at least there used to be a cafe there.
DeleteI second the Crypt!
DeleteI’m glad I have a fellow pumpkin spice latte hater, Debs. Actually I don’t like flavored coffee at all. But love good soups!
ReplyDeleteI don't like flavored or sweetened coffee or tea, Rhys.
DeleteDoes anyone here dislike garlic?
ReplyDeleteI will put garlic in just about anything, so I'm a definite garlic lover.
Deletethe dislike of pumpkin spice latte comments reminded me of a story about the late Queen Elizabeth II dislike of garlic and how Meghan loves garlic.
DeleteLast weekend was perfect soup weather, IT RAINED but I was too busy. This weekend has been too warm. Once it gets really cold, I'll usually make a pot roast which gets turned into a stew the next day and I can extend if I want with more carrots and potatoes and some broth into a soup.
ReplyDeletePumpkin pie spice is great! Of course I only really used it to make play dough when I was a preschool teacher.
I do like pumpkin pie, Deana! I've been contemplating pot roast, too, in the slow cooker. As much for the smell while it's cooking as the eating of it.
DeleteWe had actual rain in San Diego this past week so I made Chicken Orzo soup which was delicious. The next night I made pot roast. This weekend was predicted to be hot, although, other than yesterday when I was standing in basically one place waving at cars and holding our sign, it was quite lovely. A perfect Autumn day. My point is that it’s a little warm for soups right now, but we enjoyed the leftovers for a couple of days. Happy Sunday, everyone! — Pat S
ReplyDeleteHappy Sunday, Pat! Chicken orzo soup sounds great. That chicken soup in the ronfofe link I posted had barley and orzo, added at different times.
DeleteOne of the friends I went to the bakery with this morning marched in downtown Dallas yesterday in pouring rain (which we didn't get here.) There were about 3000 people.
Ooohh, lentil soup! It's been on my mind in anticipation of cooler weather. Thanks for the recipe, Deborah. I'll be stocking up ingredients and waiting for the first cold snap.
ReplyDeleteIt is fall here in Bern with cool, foggy days, cold nights (great for sleeping), and magnificent leaf colors. I've recently made brown lentil soup (with homemade chicken broth and just a bit of bacon for flavor) and before that fish chowder--fall and winter are definitely soup seasons. Tonight we had company, and I made a vegetable quiche (fresh spinach, onion, bell peppers garlic, and mushrooms) with Parmesan and a whole wheat pie crust. It was a success. \
ReplyDeleteI drink coffee with no sweetener at all, so the thought of putting sweet, flavored syrups in a cup of coffee, even one with hot milk, really turns my stomach.
Birke, 59 :In my part of Germany, we already had lots of rain. This weekend was dry, sunny and cold. I like rain in the summer after a long warm and dry period, when I am sleeping, cosy at home or when I´m at the North Sea on holiday
ReplyDeleteI also like soups of all kind, often with different vegetables and meat. I often use a big pot, cooking soup for two days (alas, my son and husband often eat everything on one day, so it does taste great)
I like your book proposals. At the moment I´m reading something funny (Jerome K. Jeromes : Three men in a boat) for my english bookclub and Alice in wonderland for myself...
I live at the very southern end of the Bay Area. We have settled into low nineties during the day and sixties at night.
ReplyDeleteAll the roses and most other flowers are in full bloom.
Fall starts here after Thsnksgiving.
I love soups! Once it gets cool we often have a “hodgepodge” soup for lunches - chicken stock for base (I make and freeze whenever I roast a chicken) and then beans or lentils and whatever needs to be used up in the fridge, plus herbs and spices. Debs, curry in lentil soup will happen this week for sure! We’re due for maybe an inch of rain today (hooray!) so there will be soup and curling up with books.
ReplyDelete