Simmering Soup Giveaway Winners

Well, Simmering Soup Week is over - sigh. It was so much fun - I really hope you enjoyed it! You can still go back to get all the wonderful soup recipes: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5. I will be getting them all put together and putting one link on my sidebar so you can access those soup recipes anytime. There are more than 20 soup recipes including the ones linked up! Yum!

And now...the Giveaway winners!

First up is the winner of the soup bowls:

Carrie from Cottage Cozy

Congratulations Carrie!

Second is the winner of the soup mix:

Alicia from Confessions of a Snowflake
Congratulations Alicia!

And third, the consolation prize of soup coupons:

Dana from Mommy Madness
Congratulations Dana!

All 3 of these ladies happen to have lovely blogs, so stop by and check them out!

Thank you everybody for visiting and commenting and linking and promoting! I really appreciate it and it made the week so much more fun!

Did you enjoy the week? What was your favorite soup recipe? Have you made any of the recipes yet?

Have a wonderful, blessed week, my friends!

Simmering Soup-Last Day: Chocolate Soup!

Since this is a nice rich chocolatey recipe, I'm linking it up for the flavor-of-the-month (which happens to be chocolate!) at bake at 350!  I had a hard time choosing what to link up since I feature chocolate here every Friday, but I think this one is special.

Simmering Soup Week is coming to and end - it went fast! I hope you have had fun and are simmering a new soup recipe right now!  Don't miss out on the recipes!

Day 1 - Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Day 2 - Strawberry Soup, Link to Creamy Potato and Garlic Soup

Day 3 - 2 Chilis, Link up your favorite soups

Day 4 - Tortellini Soup

Some of you know that I like to write silly poems. I realized that I didn't have one yet for soup - shocking! So I wrote a little something (you new people should know that my poems are for silliness only, don't expect poetry contest material - LOL!).

Simmering Soup

by Lisa W.

The soup is on and simmering away,
Drawing us in from our weary way,
Filling our bowls,
Soothing our souls,
Warming our toes,
Healing our woes,
Bringing us together at the end of the day.

Now, usually I have chocolate here on Fridays - but it's Simmering Soup Week - but I love chocolate on Friday. So I have combined the two! What? Oh yes I DID!

Can you believe that this recipe was sitting around for a couple of years, and I had these mini liqueurs in my cupboard (either one could be used in the recipe) because I liked the bottles? All just waiting for Simmering Soup Week and I never knew it!

My friends, I give you:

Chocolate Soup

Chocolate Soup

3 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
5 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 oz. baking chocolate, finely chopped
3 tablespoons Frangelico or Godiva chocolate liqueur

Garnish:
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped, toasted hazelnuts or almonds
1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together cream, sugar, and vanilla. Simmer, stirring several times, until reduced by a third, about 40 minutes.

2. Stir in chopped chocolates until well-blended.

3. Remove from heat and whisk in liqueur. Can be refrigerated up to 2 days ahead (gently reheat to serve).

To Serve:
Whip the cream until frothy. Then add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Continue to whip until the cream holds soft peaks. Fold in chopped nuts and chocolate bits. Place a large scoop of the whipped cream in the center of each serving bowl and pour the warm chocolate soup around the whipped cream.

Makes 4-6 servings

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And with that fabulous soup, the week winds down.  I really hope that you have enjoyed Simmering Soup Week! I'm glad that so many people came by and joined in the fun! Thank you for your comments, your recipes, and for promoting my Soup Week - I do appreciate it.

Now go make some soup!!

Simmering Soup - Day 4

I am enjoying this week and hope you are, too! Day 4 of Simmering Soup! If you're just coming by, don't miss out on the previous days:

Day 1 - Giveaway, Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Day 2 - Strawberry Soup, Link to Creamy Potato and Garlic Soup
Day 3 - 2 Chilis, Lots of soup recipes linked up

If you have a yummy soup recipe to share, let me know! If Mr. Linky comes back, you can post it there on Day 3, otherwise let me know where to get the link to your soup in comments and I'll manually add the link.

What to do with all this soup? I always make extra and freeze some. It's so nice to pull it out of the freezer later when you are short on time! Another idea is to have some soup for your Superbowl gathering. You can keep the soup warm in a slow cooker and have heat-proof disposable cups and plastic spoons. I think some of the chili recipes would be really nice for this. You could do the same thing for a potluck.

"Is chicken soup good for your health?" "Not if you're the chicken."

Today's soup can be given as a gift mix (and is featured in my giveaway). I'll give some instructions after the recipe for making the mix. The recipe came from The Mason Jar Soup-to-Nuts Cookbook:

Very Veggie Tortellini Soup

Very Veggie Tortellini Soup

2/3 cup dried tortellini
1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1/3 cup green split peas
1/2 cup dried chopped carrots (I haven't found these; I use 2-3 fresh sliced carrots and saute them first)
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon granules (or substitute chicken broth for some of the water)
1 tablespoon dried minced onion (or use 1/2 chopped onion and saute first)
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
5 cups water

1. Place all ingredients except tortellini in a medium pot. Add the water and stir well.

2. Bring to a boil over med.-high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 35 minutes while stirring occasionally.

3. Add the tortellini to the pot. Cover and simmer another 10-15 minutes, or until the tortellini is cooked. Serve hot.

4. Refrigerate any leftover soup in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

4 (1-cup) servings

My variations:
- I use fresh onion and carrots, cut them up and saute first - then add the other ingredients.
- Sometimes I use the bouillon and water, and sometimes I use chicken broth - add extra water if the soup tastes too salty or seasoned for you.
- I use more tortellini than called for - I like it to be a thicker soup rather than a brothy one.
- I add chopped, cooked chicken to the soup to make it a heartier main dish soup.
- I ALWAYS at least double and usually triple the recipe. I like leftovers!

If you want to give this soup as a gift mix, layer ingredients in a pint-size jar (for 4 servings - or double ingredients, use a quart-size jar and don't forget to double the water in the recipe you give with it!) in the order given:

Bottom to top:
2/3 cup dried tortellini (in plastic bag)
1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1/3 cup green split peas
1/2 cup dried chopped carrots
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon granules

Make layers as level as possible. Secure a lid and decorate. Attach recipe.

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I hope you give that one a try! Don't forget to look back at the past days for more soup recipes! Come back tomorrow for the last day of Simmering Soup! If you have soup recipes to link up, remember to let me know - let's keep adding them to Day 3 so we'll have one spot full of fabulous soup!

Simmering Soup - Day 3 - Chili and Soup Link-Up

Day 3 of Simmering Soup Week. A week of soup recipes is working for me and I hope it is for you, too! I hope you are having fun and finding some new recipes to try! If you have missed anything, here you go:

Day 1 - Giveaways, Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Day 2 - Strawberry Soup, Link to Creamy Potato and Garlic Soup

Today I have some chili recipes to share with you plus links to other soups I have posted in the past.

Did you know that soup is even in the Bible?

And Elisha returned to Gilgal, and there was a famine in the land. Now the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said to his servant, "Put on the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets." 2 Kings 4:38

That is the kind of soup I'm talking about today - soup that needs a big pot and is hearty enough to feed our sons.

"How do you make gold soup?" "With 22 carrots."

First, a yummy favorite of mine, from Perfect Recipes for having People Over by Pam Anderson:

White Chicken Chili With Hominy

White Chicken Chili With Hominy

2 store-bought roast chickens, meat picked from bones and pulled into bite-size pieces, bones and skin reserved
2 quarts chicken broth
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup ground cumin
4 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 large onions, cut into medium dice
2 jars or cans (4.5 oz each) diced mild green chiles
2 cans (20 oz. each) hominy, rinsed (about 6 cups)
6 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 cups frozen corn, preferable white shoepeg

Combine chicken bones and skin, chicken broth, and 4 cups water in a large pot and bring to a boil over med.-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer until bones release their flavor, about 30 minutes. Strain broth into a large bowl; discard bones and skin. (You can skip this step to save time, but substitute chicken broth for the 4 cups water.)

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large pot on med.-low heat. Add cumin, oregano, and cayenne and cook, stirring, until spices sizzle and are fragrant, about 1 minute. Add onions, increase heat to medium, and saute until soft, 4-5 minutes. Add chicken and chiles and stir to coat. Add 4 cups hominy and all but 1 cup broth and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, to blend flavors, 25-30 minutes.

In a food processor, process remaining 2 cups hominy and reserved 1 cup broth until silky smooth. Stir into simmering soup. Stir in minced garlic and corn and simmer to blend flavors, about 5 minutes. Turn off heat, cover, and let stand for 5 minutes.

Ladle into bowls and serve with accompaniments of your choice (like tortilla chips, shredded cheese, cilantro, sour cream, etc.). Serves 12.

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I know, it takes some work, but it is so worth it and makes a big pot - it's delicious and good enough for company! I hope you give it a try!

OK, the next one is a little easier and goes in your slow cooker. It comes from Fix-It and Forget-It Recipes for Entertaining. I prefer chili without beans and just love this version:

Spicy Chili

Spicy Chili

1/2 lb. sausage, either cut in thin slices or removed from casings
1/2 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced (I left these out)
1/8 cup chopped celery (I forgot this in the batch pictured)
1/8 cup chopped green peppers
1 cup salsa
16-oz. tomato juice
6-oz. can tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon pepper

I also added the following:
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
15-oz. can whole-kernel corn, undrained
- You could add a 15-oz. can black beans, undrained, if desired.

1. Brown sausage, ground beef, and onion in skillet. During last 3 minutes of browning, add mushrooms, celery, and green peppers. Continue cooking; then drain.

2. Add remaining ingredients. Pour into slow cooker.

3. Cover. Cook on high 2-3 hours.

Serves 4-6

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I would at least double this recipe - it just makes sense. It's so yummy - kinda spicy, but not overpowering and still kid-friendly. If you like it hotter, add more chili powder. Yum - I could eat another bowl of it right now!

I posted another good slow cooker soup recipe before:

Old Fashioned Beef Stew

And have some soups posted on my other (less chocolatey) blog:

Squash and Pear Soup

Creamy Potato and Garlic Soup

WW Garden Vegetable Soup

Stop by Works-For-Me-Wednesday at Rocks In My Dryer for more great ideas. Enjoy the soup!

Simmering Soups From Readers

1. Janelle (Split Pea Soup)
2. Grace (Shrimp Chowder)
3. Kim (Hamburger Minestrone Soup)
4. Becky (Taco Soup)
5. Dana (Two Bean Soup)
6. Dana (Baked Potato Soup)
7. Dana (Thai Coconut Milk Soup)
8. Kirstin (Ham and Bean Soup)
9. Sarah Mae (America's Best Baked Potato Soup)
10. Ruth (Italian Bean Soup With Pasta)
11. Rhonda (Chicken Corn Chowder)
12. Tammy (Meatball Minestrone)
13. Tammy (Tuscan Chicken White Bean Soup, White Bean Chili)
14. Susie (French Onion Soup)

Simmering Soup - Day 2 - Tea for Two-sday

Are you enjoying the start of Simmering Soup Week? Welcome back! Did you enter the giveaways yesterday? You still have until Sunday evening 1/18 to enter - don't forget! Thank you to those of you who are spreading the word about the soup - the more people that come by, the more this feels like a party! In case you missed out, take a look at:

Simmering Soup - Day 1

I still wanted to keep with my theme of tea on Tuesday - soup didn't stop me! When you have a full lunch tea, you are often served a small bowl of soup. I have served this soup at a tea. It would be lovely for a Spring or Summer tea.

"To soup - may it be seen and not heard."

Without further adieu, here is:
Strawberry Soup

Strawberry Soup

2 cups strawberries (I used thawed frozen berries for this batch)
1 cup buttermilk
1-3 tablespoons sugar (according to taste)

Puree and chill. I like to pour it into bowls and swirl a stream of buttermilk on the top.

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Did you know it was that simple? There are many varieties of fruit soups. This one is particularly easy and I like the tangy flavor. You don't have to serve fruit soup at a tea though. You could serve a broth soup or a vegetable soup instead. On my other blog, I posted a soup recipe that would also be nice. You might want to click over there to look at:

Creamy Potato And Garlic Soup

That's all I have for today. You won't want to miss tomorrow - there will be 2 new soup recipes here and one more on my other blog. Mmmmm...can you smell it all simmering on the stove?

Thanks for coming by!

Simmering Soup is Finally Here - Day 1

*Giveaway now closed.*

A week of Simmering Soup begins today! I'm so glad you stopped by. Be sure to come back each day this week to get new recipes and join the fun!

The term "soup" seems to have come from an English term "sop" which referred to bread soaked in a liquid. However it started, we enjoy coming up with new ways of preparing it and we enjoy eating it!

From The Tale of Despereaux: "LONG LIVE SOUP!"

Perhaps you would like to hear about the giveaways first and then today's soup recipe. Here are the giveaway pics:

#1 - 2 soup bowls, 2 older soup cookbooks, bag of soup crackers


#2 - tortellini, homemade tortellini soup mix, recipes from soup week

And I decided to have a consolation prize :)

#3 - soup coupons

There will be 3 winners drawn randomly on Sunday night 1/18/09 and announced on Monday 1/19/09. To get entries:

~ Leave a comment on this post.
~ Earn an extra entry for each daily comment the rest of this week.
~ Earn an extra entry for promoting Simmering Soup Week (blog post, button on sidebar, twitter, facebook, e-mail, etc.), but you must come back here and let me know about it.
~ Earn an extra entry for linking up a soup post on Wednesday or leaving a comment with your favorite soup recipe if you don't have a blog.
~ Earn an extra entry for subscribing to my blog (or letting me know if you already do!).

On to today's soup! Today I give you:

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
It's a nice, comfort-food soup - perfect for cold winter weather. I think I've had the recipe for 10 years, from a magazine. I would say it's my go-to soup.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

1 box (6 oz) long-grain and wild rice mix, prepared according to pkg directions
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
8 oz (about 2 total) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, chopped
2 cups (8 oz) sliced fresh mushrooms
1 1/4 cups (1 med.) chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 3/4 cups (two 14 1/2 oz cans) fat-free, reduced sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon, crushed
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups (12 oz can) evaporated fat-free milk
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons dry white wine (optional)

1. Heat veg. oil in large saucepan over med.-high heat. Add chicken, mushrooms, onion and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, for 5-8 minutes or until vegetables are tender and chicken is no longer pink.

2. Add rice, broth, tarragon, thyme and pepper; bring to a boil over med.-high heat. Combine small amount of evaporated milk and cornstarch in small bowl; stir until smooth. Add to saucepan with remaining evaporated milk and wine. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-5 minutes or until soup is thickened. Makes 6 servings.

per serving: 270 cal., 4 g fat, 3 g fiber

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When I make this soup, I always double the recipe at a minimum. I want a BIG pot of soup!

I hope you've enjoyed the first day of Simmering Soup! Don't forget to enter the giveaways. Come back tomorrow for another soup recipe!

A Pinch of This, A Dash of That

So many fun things going on, including my week of Simmering Soup (you can read about it at the bottom of this post)!

~ My friend Sarah Mae at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee is having a Modesty Blog Fashion Show on the 15th! Isn't that great? Feel free to join in and please spread the word.

She is also having a giveaway - a $25 Christa-Taylor gift certificate! Stop by her blog to get all the details and get entered!

~ I finally started doing Twitter. I resisted and resisted as I have to be careful of how much time I spend on the computer. After seeing more of my friends and fun bloggers do it, I decided to join in. I put the updates on my sidebar. If you would like to follow me, just click the link at the bottom of those updates. See you there! I'm sure you'll love hearing the most trivial information about what I'm doing - LOL!

~ Don't forget that it's "Would You Like Chocolate With That?" tomorrow (Friday)! I'll have a yummy recipe for you and you get to link up your chocolate posts - old or new - recipes, pictures, videos, etc. You can find more info here or look at last week or the week before for some yumminess. Please share the chocolate!

~ Last, but absolutely not least (!) - it's a week of soups starting on Monday!

There will be: a new soup featured every day with a recipe and picture, an opportunity for you to link up your favorite soup recipes on Wednesday, giveaways and more! It will be lots of fun - do stop by!

And you can start getting entries for the giveaways right now! How? Promote my Simmering Soup week - post about it, tweet it, share it on facebook, put the button and/or link on your sidebar, e-mail people about it, etc. Just stop back here to let me know what you've done and you'll get extra entries into the giveaways next week. Thanks for helping me spread the word!

Don't miss out on any of the fun!