Soup's On!

This Saturday and last were both simmer up crushed tomatoes and make soup days. Last Saturday I made some butternut squash soup using the last of my homemade chicken stock from the freezer. I had to use the stock or there would not have been room for some of the soup. Today I made cream of potato and leek soup. Each batch was about 7 cups of soup which is enough for a 2 weeks worth of lunches. Yum.

In the fall and winter I often make soup on the weekends so I have something reliably good, healthy, economical and ethical for lunch during the week. I hate spending a lot of money on a sandwich or something at school when I know I should have brought my lunch. I would rather wait until I had lunch plans with someone to spend the money.

There is something really homey about soup. When it is cooking up on the stove it makes the house smell like someone has been doing some heavy cooking, although most of the soup I make is pretty low maintenance. Admittedly, this Saturday and last, I made soup that needed to be pureed in the blender. That's unusual for me.

But this morning at the farmers market, walking though the stalls now fewer in number than in the height of summer, I thought I ought to take advantage of having some leeks still available. Winter squash will hold over longer. And next weekend I am out of town at a conference in California, so no farmers market for me. When I return, it will be just days before the last farmers market of the season and I will really have to think ahead of what I can buy and store for the long winter.

But as of right now I have 18 cups of crushed tomatoes in the freezer, 2 cups of butternut squash soup and 4 cups of cream of potato and leek soup in there. There are also several cups of diced white onion, of celery and of bell pepper. There are 9 cups of sliced strawberries and another 3 of blackberries with a few strawberries and raspberries in there for good measure. I have 8 cups of dried tomatoes and 6 cups of dried nectarines. I still have to get some apples to dry. There are 5 pounds of onions and 10 of potatoes for storing in the dark part of the fridge. I have 15 pounds of whole wheat flour, too.

Clearly I am starting to take stock of what will be available for the winter. It is harder to eat locally for me in the winter, although this will be the first winter with the Co-op, so I am interested to see how much that helps in my endeavors. (Above that's the cream of potato and leek soup with a crisp of Parmesan and provolone on top. Delish!)

There will certainly be more soup in the weeks to come and soon there will be casseroles and other hearty warm dishes to ward off the cold that comes to the inland northwest as the late fall creeps into full winter. I am looking forward to the noodle and rice casseroles, the polenta with mushrooms and dried tomatoes polenta with crisp pancetta and shavings of good Parmesan cheese and a glass of dry red wine. Maybe winter won't be so bad after all!