Soup for the Snow

It's snowing, it's snowing, it's snowing!! *jumping for joy*

In case you couldn't tell, I'm a bit excited. Is that weird? In Montreal it might be, especially when nearly every Montrealer I've met so far, on hearing that I'm new in town, has treated me to an ominous "*GASP!* It's your first winter here??!" Not exactly something to inspire confidence in someone from the wet and mild west coast.

These look a bit ominous as well. They've been popping up all over the place, which I guess should give me a hint as to the amount of snow that's normally expected here. Lots!

It's an awning for your driveway, in case you couldn't tell. No need to break your back shoveling every morning! Clever.

In an ironic twist, it's been snowing back home for several days now and we had yet to see a single flake here before today. However, that's not to say it hasn't been nose chillingly, ear achingly, finger numbingly cold anyway. Normally under such circumstances I'd make a nest of blankets and empty muffin wrappers (muffins ingested, of course....no muffin left behind!!) and hole myself up until it's all over... but I had to venture out into the cold to buy the ingredients for this soup so I could warm up.

That makes sense, doesn't it?

I received this recipe at one of my bridal showers a few years ago (...that really makes it sound like I have bridal showers all the time, but I promise I don't!) and I tried it out for the first time the other night. Normally I'm distrustful of soup recipes that call for the addition of a can of soup - doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose?? - but in this case, I think it really pulls it's weight.


Hamburger Soup

The original recipe calls for 3 10 oz cans of consommé, but I used three cups of vegetable stock instead, which tasted lovely. Also, the recipe says to let everything simmer for at least 2 hours, but I think that's a bit much. I left mine for a little over an hour, and I thought the vegetables were just the right firmness.

1 1/2 lbs ground beef (or turkey, if you prefer)
1 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, diced
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
2 cups water
3 cups stock
1 10 oz can tomato soup
Several carrots, chopped
Several stalks of celery, chopped
1/2 cup pot barley
1 bay leaf

Brown the meat and onion. Drain it well.

Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Bring just to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover.

You can leave this to simmer for quite a while (ie: all day) if you want, but I took mine off after about an hour and 15 minutes and it was perfect.