Waiter, There's A Birdie In My Soup!

I make soups because they are generally cheap, filling, easy and healthy. Sometimes the soup tastes great and sometimes the toast I serve alongside it is the best part of the meal. When the latter happens, we suffer on through, looking anxiously forward to the day it's all gone and we can have something else for dinner. Anything else.

Because of this hit-and-miss proclivity I have with choosing soup recipes, it may seem strange that I would take the chance of trying new soups at all. But I do. Maybe it's like how the Hubs describes golfing... how it can be frustrating, maddening, and infuriating... and then you hit the ball just right and in that fleeting instant, the planets are in alignment, a choir of angels sing, and you have just made the most perfect shot off of the most poetic swing in the whole entire glorious history of the sport. Or so he says.

Maybe that's how I am with soups. Because I have made great soup before, and regardless of any lackluster soups that may come afterward, I know that another great soup might be right around the corner. I just have to keep swinging.

 

Last month I made a soup that was so good—so amazingly good—that I wanted to drop everything and post it right then and there. With fanfare. I couldn't though. Too much else going on. Frankly I was lucky to post anything at all between Thanksgiving and New Year's. So what did I do? I made the soup again.

This is the kind of soup you look forward to having for a few nights in a row. The kind you're disappointed in finding out that there's no more of. The kind of soup I wish I had a bowl of right now.

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup from What Megan's Making

Notes: First time out substitutions... I used dried mushrooms, turkey stock, brown rice, smoked turkey meat. I used 3/4 cup half &half and made up the difference with 2% milk. Second time making it, I used vegetable stock (it's what I usually have on hand) and brown rice. Don't freak out over the amount of spices! I almost cut back on the quantities, but ultimately decided to trust the recipe. So very glad I went with trust. It all came together magically and with a little pinch of sea salt at the very end... unbelievably delicious.

*For non-golfers (or people without golfing friends to ask)... a "birdie" is when you get the little white ball into the cup in one less hit than they think it should take you. It means you're a better golfer than most. See, each hole has a number assigned to it which is referred to as "par" ... as in the saying "par for the course". This is the number of hits or strokes it should take a good player to get from point A to point B. If you're better than good, and can do it with one less stroke (e.g. 1 under par)... that's a "birdie". Well done, you! If you're able to do it in two strokes under par... it's called an "eagle". If you make eagles all the time... well, maybe think about giving up your day job and go out on tour (you hotshot, you).

(Just For Fun) Favorite golfing movies: Guys will undoubtedly say Caddyshack or Happy Gilmore, while gals will say Tin Cup. Then there's the one most people all like... The Legend Of Bagger Vance, which is all kinds of wonderful on all kinds of levels... even if you're not into golf.