This may be the year of tea for me. I think I should try everyone's favorites. I am so fond of tea time. The ritual of it, sitting down with a tray and a tea pot, pouring it into my cup, adding sugar or honey or milk, the sound of the metal against the ceramic of the antique cup. I used to sit for tea quite often. I think it is time to resurrect this tradition in my life.

... this means I need a new tea pot...

lol ....i think the tea pot thing is being taken care of .......or has been?

[COLOR="rgb(153, 50, 204)"]Recipes pretty please :)[/COLOR]

[COLOR="rgb(153, 50, 204)"]Protein? These days I'd say chicken, always fish, and coconut milk. When my ex's mum was young, chicken was a bit of a luxury.[/COLOR]

[COLOR="rgb(153, 50, 204)"]Could you give us the recipe please? And if avocados aren't available (because they are imported and so expensive and usually those green ones which I don't like as much).[/COLOR]

In South Korea, seaweed soup is the staple for mothers who have just given birth, as well as traditional for birthdays :) I like it a lot.

[COLOR="rgb(153, 50, 204)"]I think I'm excited about all these soup suggestions because it doesn't involve an oven and therefore a lot easier for me. If you lovely lovelies ever remember, I'd love it if you included alternatives to things like avocado. Things like avocado, apples, oranges, berries are imported. Strawberries are grown in the 'highlands' in a cooler, more temperate climate. I'm so hungry right now![/COLOR]

Here you go Lusciouskiwi :)

Chilled avocado soup
http://startcooking.com/blog/238/Avocado-Soup

It's super easy.

As for an avocado substitute, you might get something texturally similar from a can of chick peas (drained, and mashed). But flavour-wise, I don't know if there's anything like it.

I like the flavour of chickpeas too, they're just different - kind of nutty.

I was thinking of chilled soups, and it occurred to me that the raw food movement would have a lot of recipes, so I did a little googling and came up with this page: http://vegetarian.about.com/od/rawfo...up-Recipes.htm

Some of these look really good - and all of them would be so healthy.

Wishing Kris was more of a soup lover right now!

Edited to add: the google search I did was - raw food soup - just in case you wanted to do some further exploring :)

I don't have a juicer and would love one. Fresh juice hmmmmmmm! There's a deal on with Groupon Malaysia for a juicer, it would be around $65.00. If anyone can give me feedback I'd really appreciate it :)

http://www.groupon.my/deals/national..._2&a=715827970

https://static.groupon.my/57/60/1356751926057.jpg

That's so funny, I was only saying to Kris a few hours ago that we should get a juicer!

Kiwi, I am trying to think of what all goes in those soups... They turn out a little different every time, because I really do not have a recipe for them.

Sausage and Cilantro Soup
I start with chicken stalk, bringing it to a boil I drop in a pound of sausage pinched off into small bits. As that gets close to done I add a small handful of noodles, usually shell pasta. As it gets close to finished I add frozen corn, and chopped cilantro. Use salt and pepper to taste. I have also added chopped red pepper to this from time to time.

Zucchini Chicken Soup
This is much like a stew only I use zucchini instead of potatoes. The zucchini falls apart and thickens the stalk. I add chicken, and other vegetables that sound appetizing. Season with whatever tickles my pallet... sometimes simple salt, pepper, and garlic... but I have been more adventurous as well using cumin or even turmeric.

Pumpkin Curry Soup
At Halloween I like to use the bits of pumpkin the kids carve out of their jack-o-lanterns, but carving pumpkins are very watery so they don't tend to make good pies unless you first freeze and then drain off the water. So I make soup instead. Bake the pumpkin and then take it off the skins, throw it in the blender with a bit of garlic, a can of coconut milk, and some spices. This year I used curry and turmeric. I served it hot then with some bread, and had the left overs cold the next day. It was excellent both ways. I have also made this using acorn squash.

I think it's a safe bet to place on you having Nutcracker tea.

If I ever have a wedding, I would gladly offer my catering to be done by you and a couple of others who post quite a bit on this thread. It would probably be outside, someplace warm or at the very least someplace green friendly.
For breakfast I had cereal with soy milk. Lunch was a Thai chicken salad with mandarin orange pieces & for supper I'm trying to get out of the fried bologne sandwich on white bread my husband has apparently made for me.

Something Delicious: my mom's gorgeous Split Pea Soup. my freezer is full of it.. along with her Goulash and sausage gravy for biscuits and gravy. *heart eyes*

for this evening: the soup. NOMNOMNOM!!

I'd love to play around with more soups but I'm usually pressed for time. Do you have any suggestions for something quick, easy & delicious?

People still eat this? I have not seen a fried bologne sandwhich since I was a child living in the projects on the westside of L.A.

Unfortunately for me, yes. If it's your thing I don't mean to sound snobby. but the idea of fried processed bologne, white bread and an inch of ketchup isn't my prime meal of choice.

A quick technique that I teach when I do cooking workshops is to have some stock or broth on hand for a soup or sauce on the fly. You can either use stock that is:

1. Boxed and easy to use one portion at a time (if you use canned broth and have extra broth you can freeze it in an ice cube tray, put the frozen cubes in a ziploc bag, and have small portions of stock to use as needed)

2. Frozen stock or broth.

Take some leftover cooked vegetables and add them to the stock or broth in a blender. Season as you go.

Here is an example:

Chicken broth - one can
Cooked broccoli 1/2 cup
Cooked potato 1/2 large or one medium

Blend in blender on medium speed.

Pour into small saucepan. Heat up. Add seasonings.

This is a quick alternative to a canned soup. I usually start a quick soup off with sauteed vegetables like garlic, onions, spinach or whatever I am in the mood for. Often I will make soups that are infused with the flavors of garlic, ginger, jalepeno, soy sauce, using vegetable broth or chicken broth, I fill the soup up with fresh vegetables such as baby bok choi, spinach, collards, chard, whatever greens appeal to me. I may add some chinese cabbage or eggplant. Perhaps some roasted or grilled protein. Splash it with hot sauce before serving. Make some rice to have on the side.

Soups are liquid flavor so it can be fun and educational to experiment with them.

Oh I love split pea soup so much I could write songs about it.
mmmmm soup.

True story:
I play with spoonerisms with my daughter (http://www.fun-with-words.com/spoon_example.html) and mix up words for her to figure out and sometimes we just talk that way... yeah we are a little weird. If you don't want to click the link, spoonerisms are just some letter place switching when putting together sentences, like if I want to say go take a shower, it's go shake a tower, or stop giggling is gob stiggling

So one day I was pouring her a nice bowl of split pea soup and I told her to come eat her sea poop. She rolled her eyes and asked me how I made it and I said it was squished sea horses. Apparently I went too far. Now she won't eat split pea soup anymore. I think she's starting to pull out of it, it's been a couple of years since the incident but it's still no more than a couple of bites. My poor kid.