Favorite Fish Chowder -- pg. 191

Normally, I dislike titles that assume things like "Favorite" or "Heartwarming" that they could not possibly know.  I guess that's still true.  I do like this recipe, though.  It was very easy, and only had one kind of fish in it -- cod, which also happens to be inexpensive.  The only seasonings are salt, pepper and lemon juice.  I was worried this would be bland and one-dimensional, but everyone really liked it.  Was it their favorite?  No.  Remember back at the beginning, I told you about the "Seafood Chowder"?  That's the favorite, the soup by which all other soups will be judged.  So I was going to give this four spoons, but you know what?  I am giving it 4.25 spoons because it's easier and tastes almost as good as the way-more-complicated and expensive "Seafood Chowder".  Don't call it Favorite.  Call it Easy Cod Chowder.

Oodles of Noodles Soup -- pg. 19

This soup is just ramen with a lot of work.  You chop up chicken, carrots, onion and celery.  Cook it and put it in your ramen.  That's about it.  Not impressed.   My family liked it only because they already like ramen.  So, just make a package of chicken ramen and save yourself some time.  Two spoons.

Tomato & Creamy Mushroom Soup -- pg. 109

Uhhh -- I didn't name this soup -- obviously it should be Creamy Tomato-Mushroom Soup because mushrooms are rarely creamy.  But in the end it doesn't really matter because this soup will never be made again.  It sounded like it would be good.  But it was just weird.  The flavors really didn't work together.  I used blue oyster mushrooms, and sauteed them.  They tasted good.  I chopped up the usual suspects (minus potatoes) and they usually work together -- so where did it go wrong?  Maybe that it called for beef broth, mixed with tomato sauce.  I don't know for sure, but I do know that no one liked it very much.  It was edible, though, so 2 1/2 spoons.

Asparagus Chicken Chowder -- pg. 172

Finally a modest hit!  Everyone loved this soup.  I'm a little nervous about the fat content, however, as it has 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream in it.   But, that's for 18 servings...still... Maybe next time I'll try it with evaporated milk or maybe half and half.  Pretty simple, too, so four spoons.  Steve said four and a half, but the consensus is four.

Hungarian Goulash -- pg. 54

It must stink to be a Hungarian.  Particularly if this goulash is the best you get to eat.  1.  I didn't like the pork and beef stew meat.  I'd do just beef.  2.  I think that it needs tomato sauce.   I think the Hungarian goulash I ate as a child had tomato sauce in it.  This recipe only has paprika and marjoram, and a lot of sour cream.  It was pretty bland, and did I mention the two different meats didn't work?  When I got a piece of pork it tasted wrong.  In a nutshell, it was a very bland beef stroganoff, with no mushrooms...and weird pork pieces.  I'd give it three spoons, for variety and it was very easy to make.  I think picky eaters would like it just fine.

Canadian Cheese Soup -- pg. 85

This soup is kind of like Americans view Canadian food...bland, eh.  Nothing special about this soup.  The family liked it only because I had grated cheese, crackers and bacon bits on the side.  It didn't taste bad.  It's just that if you're going to go through the effort of  making a soup, I'd make something else.  2 1/2 spoons

Heartwarming Chili -- pg. 216

I was so ready to have fun with this post.  You're just asking for it when you name anything "heartwarming".  Like Jaws is a heartwarming tale of a rogue fish trying to survive in a vast ocean...  But, the family loved this chili, so all my plans are for naught.  I'm scratching my head as to why this chili was "...the best chili I've ever eaten" -- Steve.   There are only three things different from the chili I used to make all the time:  1.  Green pepper, which I reluctantly added to be true to the recipe, because Steve claims to hate them (Is it clear that I added them because the recipe called for it and not because Steve hates green peppers?  I don't want to come off as a psycho wife.)  2.  It was half ground beef and half ground pork, and I usually only use ground beef because Steve is Jewish (just kidding on that one)  3.  I used the "Hot" chili seasoning packet and not the mild this time because Steve likes his food spicy (This is actually true.)  I doubled the recipe, and used one "hot" packet and one "mild" packet.  In the end, I think it has to be the hot seasoning because the pork didn't seem to change the texture that much and I actually disliked the green peppers (which I, too, am not overly fond of).  So because Keeley and Steve think this recipe is awesome, and it was super easy to put together, I have no choice but to call it indeed, heartwarming, and give it four spoons.