Soup

(Carrot Soup Pictured Above)

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Would you like me to make some soup?

When I was a young girl and I was sick, my mother would ask me that question. I would immediately perk up and say, “Yes, tomato soup with the little macaroni’s in it.”

This soup is my most favorite in the world. I eat this meal often, along with a peanut butter sandwich with the bread toasted. As simple as this soup is, (a can of Campbell’s Tomato soup w/ water added and some macaroni noodles) to me it tastes like heaven. It is also the soup that I made for my children when they were sick.

It just wouldn’t have been a “Soup” blog post without including it.

Soup doesn’t have to be fancy and elaborate, it just needs to taste good to YOU.

Campbell’s Tomato Soup w/ some Macaroni

and a Toasted Peanut Butter Sandwich

Dedicating this blog post to my childhood self.

The little girl that would perk up at just hearing,

“Would you like me to make you some soup?”

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Italian Wedding Soup

I, Julie, have no recipe for this soup. I bought a ready made kit that only required that you add some water, and sausage meatballs to the soup once it was done. There is nothing wrong with cutting corners. Not everything has to be made from scratch.

Besides, this soup was delicious!!

Bon Appitit!

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Click Here For: Cooking with Brodie and Mackenzie, Onion Soup

Our son Brodie and his girlfriend Mackenzie have an excellent Onion Soup for you to try.

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Bay Leaves Fished out of Soup

Bonnie Elizabeth Parker’s Carrot Soup

(Of Bonnie and Clyde Fame)

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I believe that most people have heard of Bonnie and Clyde. The notorious gangsters of The Great Depression era. Bonnie and Clyde were known for their robberies of banks and small stores and gas stations in rural areas. They also killed about 9 policemen, and 4 civilians. Bonnie was born in Rowena, Texas but also lived in the Dallas area with her mother. She was only 24 when she and Clyde were killed by a hail of bullets in an ambush by The Texas Rangers.

My step-father’s grandmother was a Parker from the Dallas area. Wonder if there is any relation between them? There is also another Texas Parker in my step-father’s family that had some fame as an actor most known for his role in Evening Shade with Burt Reynolds. His name was Jacob Parker.

Clyde Chestnut Barrow and Bonnie Elizabeth Parker

Regardless of what she did in her life, she did have a great fondness for Carrot Soup. Here is her recipe. We did expand on it a bit.

(See Recipe Down Below)

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Recipes Start Here

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Vegetable Soup

(Vegetable soup to me, Julie, is a very delicious, comforting, and low calorie meal that I feel like I can eat as much as I want and I don’t have to worry about my waistline. I can have second’s if I like. This soup also reminds me of my grandmother as she was always making that Weight Watchers soup and then eating the entire pot throughout the day. Also, am I the only person in the world that cannot eat soup without some Saltine crackers with it?)

A great way to use your favorite vegetables to make a low calorie meal!

Ingredients:

2 Quarts Chicken Stock

3 Cans Petite Cut Canned Tomatoes

Carrots sliced

1 Yellow Onion chopped

4 Garlic Cloves minced

8 Button Mushrooms chopped

~1/2 Cup Chianti Italian Wine

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

2 Bell Peppers – we used Yellow and Orange diced

6 Okra sliced

2 Each Summer and Zucchini Squash diced

2 Turnips diced

6 Tbsp Butter

1/2 Cabbage sliced and chopped

2 Corn Cobs – corn sliced off

8 Red Potatoes diced

1 Pinch Saffron

3 Green Onions

Salt and Pepper to taste

Use a large pot and begin to heat the Chicken Stock

Chop your vegetables … I started with the Turnips…

Pour your cans of tomatoes in the pot

I placed half of the chopped onion in with the Tomatoes and Chicken Stock which will give it a different flavor and texture.

I also sauteed the Button Mushrooms and the other half of the Onion in butter over medium heat.

Part way through, I added the Chianti… this will enrich the soup giving it some great depth of flavor.

Then when mostly cooked, I placed in the Minced Garlic and cooked for another 3 min.

Slice your Bell Peppers to a nice chunk size.

In a pan heated with your Olive Oil, place your sliced Bell Peppers and Okra

Saute your vegetables a little then…

Add your Summer and Zucchini squash.

Flip /Saute your vegetables until tender, adding a touch of salt and pepper to taste.

When done, simply pour them into the soup pot.

Here, I diced the Turnips…

Then placed them in a microwaveable pot and lid with a few pads of butter and a little water.

Microwave the Turnips for about 10 min. or until tender.

Once cooked, add to your soup pot.

Slice then chop your Cabbage and add to your soup.

Stir your soup to ensure no vegetables are sticking to the bottom of your pot.

Stir, stir, stir…

Add more stock or water as needed.

Slice off the corn from your cob and add to your soup.

Here, I am adding some Saffron… this will give your soup a unique flavor and brighten its color.

Note: If you wanted, you could have simply just chopped all your vegetables and added them all at once to your pot and cooked them.

I like to cook the vegetables in multiple ways which will give the soup a more unique flavor.

Another way to cook your vegetables would have been to grill them. This will add some great smokey char tastes, adding to the depth of flavor and complexity of your soup. The vegetables best for this application would be the Onions, Squash, Bell Peppers, and Corn.

You could even grill slices of your Cabbage if you like, restaurants sometimes grill Romain Lettuce as a twist on a salad.

Be creative with your soup… it will taste better in the end!

SOUP’S ON!!!

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Corn Chowder

Old Mill Signature Corn Chowder

This is an excellent corn chowder from The Old Mill Restaurant in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

If you would like one for yourself, here is the link:

Click Here For: The Old Mill Restaurant

Obviously this isn’t a recipe of ours but it is an excellent dinner for your family that is quick and easy and you can make it on the stove top.

Just follow the package instructions.

Done in no time at all!

Just add some croutons and some leftover bacon from morning’s breakfast.

Excellent the next day for lunch as well.

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The Old Mill Restaurant’s Signature Corn Chowder

The last time I ate at The Old Mill Restaurant was years ago.

I always order my favorite, Corn Chowder and Corn Fritters. Here is their Corn Chowder recipe that is a postcard and can be purchased there. They do omit their secret ingredients in the recipe write up but do offer up substitutions for you to use in their place.

Don’t forget the Corn Fritters!

We even love to give the gift of Old Mill Cooking for Christmas.

Enjoy!

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Bonnie Elizabeth Parker’s Carrot Soup

Ingredients:

6 Cups Yellow and Orange Carrots – grated

2 Cups Yellow Onion – diced

8 Tbsp. Butter

3 Cups Chicken Stock

3 Cups Turkey Broth

1/2 Cup White Wine – we used a Sauvignon Blanc

3 Bay Leaves

1 Tbsp. Sweet Paprika

1/2 Tbsp. Ground Chipotle Powder

1 Tbsp. Ground Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. Ground Nutmeg

1 Tbsp. Ginger

Salt and Pepper to taste

Garnish the soup with some chunks of Gorgonzola Cheese

Some of our Ingredients, Including our Walking Dead Wine 🙂

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Slice your onion in half…

Then dice it and add 1 Tbsp. butter to a large pan on medium heat.

Once the butter has melted, add the diced onions.

Saute the onions until translucent and soft.

Once done, remove them from the pan and place them into a large bowl.

Grate your carrots into a medium sized bowl.

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In the pan you used before to sautee the onions, add two Tbsp. butter over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add about 2 Cups of the grated carrots to the pan.

Add more butter (2 Tbsp.) to the carrots and saute them turning often so they don’t burn.

Add 1/3 of your Chipotle, Sweet Paprika, and Ground Cinnamon seasonings to the sauteing carrots. 1/3 of the seasonings are added because I repeated this step three times.

Add 1/3 of your Nutmeg as well.

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Also add some salt and pepper to taste.

Next add 1/3 of your Ginger.

Saute the mixture stirring occasionally until the carrots are soft.

When softened, (about 20 minutes), add the sauteed carrots to the bowl with the sauteed onions and set aside.

Add butter again to the pan and repeat sauteing the carrots.

Add more butter if needed and add your seasonings as before.

When ready, about 20 minutes later, place the carrot mixture into the same bowl with the onions and other sauteed carrots.

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Sauteing the last batch of carrots in the butter and don’t forget the seasonings.

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When done, add all the sauteed carrots and onions to a large pot.

Add your three Bay Leaves to the pot.

Then add your chicken stock, turkey broth, and wine to the pot.

Turn the heat to medium, cover the pot and let it cook for about an hour.

Stir the ingredients often so the ingredients don’t stick to the bottom.

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It was at this point that we allowed the mixture to cool down and then placed it into our refrigerator overnight.

You can see how the butter congealed overnight in these photos below.

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Time to remove the bay leafs …

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Ladle the carrot mixture into your blender.

Blend the carrots until smooth.

Here is what our blended carrots looked like…. very smooth and creamy.

Place the blended carrots back into the pot and heat until warmed.

Here, I wrapped the corn in wet paper towels and microwaved them for 5 min. Then, I pulled them out of the microwave and formed a sheet of aluminum foil making a ridge in between each cob to keep them in place. Smear some butter on each cob and grate Parmesan Cheese over the top and broil them for about 2 minutes. This will melt the cheese over the heated cobs… delicious!