What Has Come Over Me?

I told you I wasn't a "summer" kind of girl. As soon as my house is decorated for autumn my mind starts processing all things fall. It truly doesn't matter that it is still in the 80s outside...I suddenly think of warm, cozy autumnal things and soup is always right up there on the list.

I posted that I made a tomato-roasted red pepper soup last week. It reminded me how much I love to make soup not to mention the fact that it makes many brainless meals after it has been done and "what are we having for dinner?" is one of my least favorite things to hear in the whole world! It's too much pressure and even though I love good food, I would usually rather spend my time doing something more fun than cooking. I like cooking O.K., but I would so much rather be crafting, gardening, sewing, decorating or spending time with my family!

So the bug got me again today and I figured why not? I would make another big pot of soup and we would live on it for the rest of this week. Only problem with that is that I made one of my all-time favorites and I could literally sit with the pot and eat until I fall over!

This is a pot of Vegetable Soup with Vermicelli from Martha's cookbook "Entertaining". I not only love that cookbook but I love that recipe. I make it more often than any other soup. I love pasta, so I always add more vermicelli than called for and hence, I always have to add more stock so that there is a hint of liquid in the soup. I also use almost all vegetable stock (it calls for chicken) with just a touch of chicken for some body. I am not much of a salt person, but this soup needs a fairly good amount to bring out all of the other flavors. It is made with extra virgin olive oil and lots of fresh veggies so it is relatively good for you-if I could eat a bowl without having a huge hunk of buttered bread in my other hand for dunking.

Since I have "pinned" so many soup ideas, I think I am going to start trying one new recipe a week. I'll let you know what I find out there. Stay tuned.