I don't know about you but there are days that I just don't want to fix dinner but, as the chief cook and bottle washer in my household, if Mama doesn't cook, we are stuck eating popcorn (not a bad option just can't be a daily routine). In New York City, four friends must have felt the same way because they have been participating in the "Soup Club" for years and have shared their tips, recipes and encouragement for starting your own Soup Club in this paperback volume. The basic premise it to begin with four people so that no one has to prepare the meal that frequently yet not so infrequently that it is easily pushed aside. Once a week, one member prepares enough soup and sides/garnishes to feed all four families. That member delivers the soup and the other members have a meal ready to go. Their only responsibility? To drop off clean jars to the person who is in charge the next week to be refilled and to prepare and deliver the same type of meal on their appointed week. Feel as if you are too busy? Isn't everyone? Wouldn't you rather cook one in four nights rather than four in four or worse yet pick up your favorite unhealthy fast food in place of cooking. Who wouldn't want to come home to a meal of a delicious soup ready to feed a family with leftovers?
I am a soup lover and my family enjoys it as well. I chose this particular book more for the recipes than for the idea of starting my own soup club but who knows where this idea will lead? The book begins with tips on getting your own club started including stocking your own pantry, tools you will need to get started, and then is followed by pages and pages of recipes. Whether you love broths, hearty soups, chilled soups (No thank you), meaty or bean soups, you will find recipes sure to please. What about the second half of the book? There you will find salads, vegetables, breads and grains, full meal ideas like lasagna and stew, as well as appetizer type food to compliment your soups. There is something for everyone. Each recipe comes with tips on how to deliver and serve the items.
The book is nicely, colorfully illustrated with more recipes than I expected. Several recipes call for ingredients that I never buy but would be easily found in your local grocer or simply replaced with another item or left out entirely. The only "fault" I find with the book is that it is paperback and not spiral bound. I don't know about you, but I like a cookbook to lay flat so I can look back at it to remind myself of ingredients and quantities. But perhaps those drips and stained pages are what makes a cookbook worth handing down.
I did receive this book free from the publisher and was in no way obligated to leave a positive review.
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