soup is served

Making a delicious soup need not be difficult or time consuming. In my experience of making soups, I am most inspired by the ones that do not require a recipe, but rather meld together with whatever available ingredients I have at hand. Tamar Adler's book, An Everlasting Meal, gave me even more inspiration for the creating of tasty soups economically by using food parts that might be tossed into the garbage as waste (ie, cheese rinds, skins, peelings, or end parts). 

During the winter months I would take one morning a week, usually Thursdays, to make a soup with the leftover meat and vegetables sitting on my refrigerator's shelves. The comforting aroma of soup would be wafting throughout my house about the time that Charlotte's violin teacher would arrive for her lesson. Then the girls and I would either eat the soup for lunch or it would be our dinner that night when my husband came home.

Now that summer is here with the rich supply of local, fresh vegetables, I am making soups on a regular basis once more. Cream soups, which are wonderful when served cold, or a mish- mash of vegetables chopped, sauteed and left to simmer with homemade chicken stock to make a more stew-type and heartier soup.

I totally agree with her statement that one does not have to be a professional to cook well. This book is an enjoyable read, and who doesn't appreciate reading a good cookbook especially in the summer months? She gives a no nonsense approach to cooking and you even find several recipes thrown in here and there to try.