Smells like winter at our house... Bean soup!

Bean soup, chicken soup, soup with macaroni

Cream of broccoli soup, minestrone
Potato soup, tomato soup, chowder made with clam
Miso soup, mushroom soup, split pea with ham
Bouillon, scallion, tom kha gai with lemongrass
Matzo ball, chili bean, cream of asparagus

John McCutcheon is one of my all-time favorite musicians. If you're not familiar with him, he's a contemporary folk singer who composes songs for adults and children alike. And he's one of those rare breeds whose children's songs appeal to adults as well. He's humorous, poignant, and not too sappy.

I think our favorite is his seasonal series. Right now, we're listening to Wintersongs. There's a great song on there called "Soup". We decided to cook our way through the song this winter.

Today was bean soup. We modified a recipe from The Waldorf School Book of Soups. And it was yuuuummmmy!

We soaked about 2 cups of pinto beans overnight. Then today, I put them on to boil with a bay leaf. I then transferred them to the crock pot with a cup of barley, some chopped up celery and onion and parsley. I tossed in a couple cups of water and salt and pepper and let it simmer in the crock pot. Oh, we also tossed in a couple of ham hocks. About an hour before dinner, I added some tomato paste. I served it up with some parmesan cheese.

He's got a big soup smile all over his face!

Next week: chicken soup!