Soup

Classic bouquet garni is a mixture of herbs tied with string or wrapped in cheesecloth to flavor soups and stews. This French import does the work for you and will make your fall soups sing. Wrapped in bay leaves, each bouquet contains chervil, oregano, thyme and marjoram. Crafty caramels Jennifer Bell was just out of college in Oregon and strapped for cash when she began making caramels by hand and giving them to relatives for the holidays. The reaction she got to these incredibly luscious treats inspired her to sell them by the pound, in 10 flavors as varied as cayenne, coconut, cashew, and, of course, chocolate.

What's my secret for getting through a busy week and still serving healthy meals? Spending Sunday afternoon cooking soup. My grandmother kept a stockpot simmering on the back burner on Sunday afternoons. She'd add leftover vegetables during the week's cooking, fresh bits of herbs, a dash of salt. By evening she'd have a rich broth, low in fat and high in flavor. It became the substance of the next week's soup. Soups seem deceptively simple to make, but creating a truly flavorful pot is a test of any cook's skill.

When it's bone-chilling cold and fingertips are numb, there are few things more warming than a steaming mug of homemade soup. Sure, you say, but who has time to chop, stir and simmer for hours? The kind of soup we think of with nostalgia does indeed involve chopping, stirring and simmering for hours. But there is a way to come close without the time- consuming steps associated with traditional soupmaking. Take, for example, a package of instant soup mix. We may look on it with disdain - and with good reason.

Little Pumpkin has grown up so much in the last seven years, it received an upgrade to three bells last week. The tiny BYO's dining room has undergone a handsome makeover, with salvaged planks on the wall, antique tin on the ceiling, and a couple fewer seats, giving the remaining 26 more breathing room. But it's the addition of talented chef de cuisine Christopher Kearse to co-owner Ian Moroney's kitchen that has ratcheted the culinary ambition here to new highs - and a surprisingly elegant embrace of molecular gastronomy.

Did you hear just how cold it was on Soup Sunday for the Mummers? So cold that the soup wasn't hot, that ice formed in the beer, and that the cold snap snapped banjo strings. "The cold tightens the strings on banjos. The strings lose their flexibility and tend to snap - like this one just did," explained Jack Brennan, a banjo player for the Fralinger String Band, as he made an emergency repair. Bill Bowen Jr., Fralinger's captain, said: "No matter how cold, we have to drill outside so our guys get a good feel for the street.

A reader who spent his honeymoon in Charleston, S.C., asked for a recipe for She-Crab Soup, one of that city's specialties. Here it is. SHE-CRAB SOUP 1 small onion, minced 4 tablespoons butter 1 pound crab meat (about 12 crabs) 1 quart milk 2 cups light cream 1/4 teaspoon each mace and white pepper 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste 1/4 cup dry sherry 2 egg yolks 1/4 cup orange crab roe Rind of 1 lemon, grated Saute onion gently in the butter, add crab meat, and set aside.

Some long-ago book told me to pronounce pho, the Vietnamese word for a sustaining beef-and-rice noodle soup, as far. Because so many of the Vietnamese that I meet in restaurants don't contradict me when I order the far soup, I'm guessing that the book was right. I share that information because you might want to try out the pronunciation at Pho 75, a relatively new Vietnamese restaurant in the Italian Market area. Should you not, however, be aware that Pho 75 is conveniently subtitled Saigon Palace.

"What a perfect soup day," a young woman told her friend as they shook rain from their umbrellas and placed them in a corner by the vestibule of Van's Garden on North 11th Street. A perfect day indeed, especially when you have so many wonderful soups to choose from at this small Vietnamese restaurant. Van's Garden has been around for about three years. It's a basic-looking place that offers little in the way of interesting decor. It looks much the way the old Chinatown eateries used to look - a deep rectangle filled with tables.

A curious gust of chestnut soups has settled in this season, without apparent rhyme or, well, who needs a reason, overstaying the normal autumn run. No shared motive emerges. And sometimes stuff just happens - like the sudden uptick in local, house-made hot dogs and the remakes of, yes, scrapple (with crab, with just vegetables, and with foie gras, or partly foie gras.) At Meme, the corner spot at 22d and Spruce Streets, chef David Katz made a batch of his abidingly simple puree (just chestnuts, onion, chicken stock, and a dab of crème fraîche)

This is the type of meal you can make without a trip to the supermarket if you keep canned beans (any type can be used), frozen shrimp, canned tomatoes, chicken broth and rice on hand. Soups are great family fare, but most take too long to cook for a mid-week meal. Adding shrimp and rice to hearty black-bean soup makes a welcoming meal in a bowl that takes only 20 minutes to make. Wine suggestion: I'd try a nice soft red wine like shiraz.   Black Bean Soup With Shrimp and Rice 1. Heat a large saucepan over medium-high and spray with olive oil. Add shrimp and saute, turning once, until pink, about 2 minutes.

2 ounces butter 6 large Spanish onions, peeled  and julienned 2 sprigs thyme 1, 12-ounce bottle hard cider 2 quarts beef stock Hard, crusty bread 8 ounces aged cheddar cheeses, cut into four portions Salt and pepper 1. Melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions and caramelize until tender and slightly brown. Add thyme and cider, turn heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add beef stock, cover, and simmer for approximately 1 hour.

An excerpt from the blog "My Daughter's Kitchen. " I know the last recipe for Thai lettuce cups sent my daughter in search of unfamiliar ingredients, namely lemongrass and fish sauce. So in the interest of thrift, not to mention continuing to expand her horizons, I offer a second recipe to use up those ingredients while they are still fresh: Thai Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup. It seems a perfect restorative for these March days, when the weather can't make up its mind.

An excerpt from the blog "My Daughter's Kitchen. " Some recipes are so great that you don't want to change a thing. Each time you make it, you only hope that it tastes as good as the first time. This recipe for Curried Butternut Squash Soup is one of those I've been making for 20-some years, since it was published in the The Silver Palate Cookbook . Blessedly, what has changed over the years is that this soup has become much easier to make. For one thing, butternut squash is now available peeled, chopped, and packaged at many grocery stores, eliminating the scary prospect of sticking a knife into a rock-hard squash and risking the loss of a finger if the knife slips.

Little Pumpkin has grown up so much in the last seven years, it received an upgrade to three bells last week. The tiny BYO's dining room has undergone a handsome makeover, with salvaged planks on the wall, antique tin on the ceiling, and a couple fewer seats, giving the remaining 26 more breathing room. But it's the addition of talented chef de cuisine Christopher Kearse to co-owner Ian Moroney's kitchen that has ratcheted the culinary ambition here to new highs - and a surprisingly elegant embrace of molecular gastronomy.

Despite the fact that it has been unseasonably warm in 2012, February is still the time of year for comfort food, and we're making soup. Rugged, simple, and full of flavor. Because of its white-bean base, this recipe is reminiscent of a traditional Tuscan bread-based soup called ribollita. Ribollita is Italian for "reboiled. " Traditionally, the soup was made by reheating leftover minestrone soup from the day before, and thickening the mixture by adding vegetables and bread. Like much Italian food, ribollita comes from humble beginnings.

WINTER'S a great time for soup, if only because it's a great time for catching a cold. And what's better for restoring health than venerable chicken noodle soup? That ancient folk remedy is so well-known that science eventually weighed in on its mysterious power. Two get-better benefits were established: The steam from the hot broth helps to decongest; and the antioxidants in veggie-rich soups boost the immune system. Sorry, no chicken-specific gain was found. Soups are a great opportunity to work in more plant-based meals, especially at this time of year.

A reader lamented that she had never been able to find a vegetable soup that comes close to Coral Tree Cafe's in Southern California . "I know they must have a secret ingredient in there that gives it that extra something special! With fall here, I would love to make this soup at home," wrote the reader. Coral Tree Cafe was happy to share its vegetable soup recipe, which we've adapted below. Enjoy!   Coral Tree Cafe Vegetable Soup Makes 8 to 10 servings 2 tablespoons oil 2 cups diced carrots 2 cups diced onions 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme 3/4 cup pearl barley 1 quart vegetable broth 1 1/2 cups prepared marinara sauce 2 cups quartered mushrooms 2 cups diced zucchini Salt and pepper 1. Heat a medium, heavy-bottom pot over medium heat until hot. Add the oil, then add the carrots, onions, bell pepper, thyme, and barley.

At my house, Thanksgiving isn't about what's on our plates the day of the Big Meal. Sure, we prepare the usual turkey with mashed potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, jellied cranberries, and pumpkin pie. The cousins, aunts, and uncles show up for the high school football game; everyone catches up on all the news; and we all reflect on what we have to be thankful for. But these things are just a prelude to the...

Chinatown's Michael Chow and his Sang Kee noodle machine is in rapid suburban expansion mod, branching out simultaneously into Cherry Hill (where he's co-owner) and Newtown Square where he's just consulting). Crafted in the modern spirit of his successful Wynnewood locale, the Cherry Hill space is a sleek but tiny 45-seat BYO with no reservations. But a recent weekend meal showed why there are steady lines already. South Jersey has few Chinese kitchens that can match Sang Kee for its fresh, affordable, authentic Hong Kong flavors.

* Rich Landau and his wife/partner Kate Jacoby have expanded their horizons with their new vegan restaurant, Vedge (1221 Locust St., 215-320-7500), which is serving now but opens officially on Monday. The setting - formerly Deux Cheminees and long before that, the tony Princeton Club - retains its dark moldings, parquet floors and tiled fireplaces but has been lightened with white marble and brighter walls. Judging from a tasting preview this week, the uptown move (from their former Horizons in Queen Village)