Put the soup on, Ma. It's time!

     I had my first-of-the-season soup yesterday.  During our October staff luncheon, we were served Weight Watchers Potato Soup and Taco-Chicken Soup.  Both were homemade and yummy!
     Of course, when you get a bunch of people together and they can bring anything they want, the meal is really exciting. 
     We had not only soup, but cracklin' cornbread, sweet potato dumplings, carrot and raisin salad, and a table full of desserts to include pecan pie, pumpkin creme cake, brownies, and candy corn cookie bark.
     This morning when I opened my door to come to work, the temperature was a cool 55 degrees.  Yep!  It's soup time.  And for me, also stew time.
     That's when I said to myself, "Put the soup on, Ma.  It's time!"  Time I headed to the grocery store and bought all the goodies it takes to make my favorite veggie soup, Aileen's potato soup, and Mama's old fashioned stew.
     And, of course, once I reached the library, I thought about finding books with good soup recipes.  How about these:
     *   Campbell's Condensed Soup Back Label Recipes (641.5C).  There are just so many ways you can cook with Campbell's soup, including adding a can of Campbell's to whatever soup you're making to jazz it up.  A winner for sure.
     *   The International Soup Book (641.8F).   It's always interesting to read recipes from other countries.  We have so many things in common with each other, across nationalities and countries, it's no wonder we have soup in common also.
     *   Soup, a Way of Life (641.8K).   Many people think that soup is the starter course for any meal.  Many people like their soup cold.  Many people swear that chicken soup (Mama's, of course) will make your cold all better (well, that's what she told me).  Here's a book to tell you it's a way of life.
     *   The Southern Heritage Soups and Stews Cookbook (641.5S).  Don't go looking for this one, because I'm going to check it out for a while.  You can, however, put it on hold.  I'm sure I'm going to collect a few of these recipes to add to my old fashioned recipes for an additional supply of soup in my freezer.
     And we don't want to forget the kids, too, when we are making our soups and stews.  Teaching those youngsters the awards of a good bowl of soup or stew is passing on a family legacy...we all love Grandma's vegetable-chicken soup and we pass her recipe around the family! 
     Here's a couple of books you can read to the kids while you're making your big pot of soup:
     *   Growing Vegetable Soup (EE).  Lois Ehlert tells the story of a father and a child growing vegetables, and then making their veggie soup.
     *   Stone Soup (J398.2B).  This has always been a favorite of mine.  Marcia Brown tells the folktale of three soldiers who come to a town where all the food has been hidden.  They begin making soup with water and a stone, and invite the townspeople to join them by bringing something to put in the pot.  Love it!
     OK, now you know what to do.  Get your groceries, prepare them for cooking, and make that big pot of soup or stew.  
     The weather will be cool for a while, the weatherman says.  Of course, "we" know that the weather will turn very warm again before long.  But for now, make that soup and enjoy the wonderful cool fall weather.  Keep some soup or stew in the freezer though.  You're going to want it when the weather gets really cool in January and February.