Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Soup in Summer

My husband loves to bar-b-que and he would gladly do it year-round if the weather permitted. There has been many a chilly--no, cold--January or February Saturday that he has asked me if firing up the 'Q' sounded good. It always sounds delicious, as my husband is very good at the grill. Anyone who has had his bbq-grilled rib-eye steaks, medium-rare, knows they're better than any steak at any restaurant in town. (And that's not bias, it's a fact!) Still, the whole grilling thing for me is more than just the food; it's sitting outside, kids playing in the backyard, smelling that smoke, and watching him do what he loves to do. Kinda hard to do that mid-winter, but once in a while on a not so inclement day, he'll cook up a nice dinner on the grill.

Well, today, on this warm summer day, I'm turning that scenario around a bit and I'm making a hearty, wintry Lentil Soup for dinner. The meals that go so well with the chill winds of the winter months are the ones I love to prepare. Soups and stews, chili with warm cornbread and honey, just about anything in the crockpot. I love it when my husband hurries in the front door at the end of his workday, collar turned up, hat and gloves on, sleet sticking to his coat, and we all come to the table to steaming bowls of comforting soup that not only warms us from our fingers to our toes, but it warms our hearts too, as our little family is cozy inside while winter rages outside. Mmmm... there's nothing better that time of year.

Well, today I'm more than several months early as I watch the mercury rise outside. But Lentil soup just sounds good to me, and if hubby can 'Q' in January, I can make soup in August! And you can bet that even though we have no need to warm our fingers or toes on this summer day, a good heart-warming knows no season.

8 comments:

thetimman said...

I love lentil soup, any time of year.

Great little slice of life post. Family times are the best.

cmziall said...

I've never had lentil soup. I bought lentils last year during LENT (lentils, get it) ;) swearing that I would prepare them SOME way as a sacrifice for our family to try them. Never happened.

I, too, have many soups that I enjoy and was just thinking yesterday how it sounded good, but it was just to warm to prepare it. Why should that be any different than turning on my oven and baking up a HOT meal?

My crockpot has beef tips in it now for tonight's dinner Beef Tips and Noodles :)

Great post! Loved it!

HSMom said...

Thanks to you both!

Cmziall, I have a recipe for meatless Lentil Soup that I make every Good Friday. The ingredient that makes it special on that day is vinegar. I bring the pot to the table with the vinegar (2 T.) on the side. My husband recounts the Passion, and adds the vinegar at the table, remembering how Our Lord thirsted and was offered vinegar on the cross. It is very nice, and the soup recipe is good to boot! I'll share it with you if you like. :)

Gregory Thaumaturgas said...

I really think it's funny that people have "food for certain times of the year" now in America.

Though we hear in the news, in the pulpit, and on the radio that America is a room of Hell, we are so blessed: we don't have to save up lentils until winter thus why should lentil soup be considered a "winter food" in the United States?

I know it may sound funny, but as I'm sitting here one of the tastiest things sounds like lentil soup! Strange how thinking about it makes me think that way.

G.T.

Erin said...

Sounds great to me! I posted a similar happenstance on my blog a few weeks ago, oddly enough with the exact same title. :) Glad to know I'm not the only one!

HSMom said...

Welcome, CH, glad you stopped in! I took a jaunt over to your blog to read your Soup entry. Very nice.... And I like that '40s look too. :)

Delena said...

Oooh...lentils! I made tacos with lentils as the filling (with black beans) and I thought my husband was going to vomit at the suggestion, but said, "These really aren't that bad! I also added hominy, rice, cheese, tomato...they're my new favorite way to eat tacos! I could skip the meat without even noticing!

HSMom said...

Oooh, thanks for the tip, Delena! I'm going to have to try that for a Friday night dinner. Do you just soak/cook them and then drain them, mix with black beans and season as you would ground beef for tacos?