Chicken and Bacon Chowder - p.184

Chicken? and bacon?  What could be wrong with that?  The answer is 3 cups of chopped celery.  I thought this soup would be delicious.  Who doesn't love chicken and bacon...and chowder?  Well, I tried it, and I immediately thought it just tasted like celery.  I thought that 3 cups was a little much.  It was.  On the bright side, it wasn't gross.   So, 2.5 spoons.  I wouldn't make it again.  Not with 3 cups of celery, anyway.   Did I mention the overwhelming celery taste?  Yeah...that....

Cheesy Chicken Chowder -- Cha-Ching! - p. 178

Sorry.  I just had to add some extra alliteration to the title.  It sort of sounds gross, but it's a good one!  The usual suspects (celery, carrots, potatoes and onions) plus chicken, milk and cheese.  That's about all there is to it.  I did cheat a little.  I had some (like 3/4 cup) baby Brussels sprouts that I threw in from the garden.  But even without that, it was a solid hit.  Not too cheesy.  I'd have to say 4 spoons.  Why not 5?  Well, it has to really surprise me to get beyond a 4 spooner.  I can't imagine anyone disliking this soup, unless you hate the usual suspects.  I was thinking...maybe I should add together all the cups of carrots, onion, celery and potatoes I have to chop at the end.  Could be an interesting stat...

Clam Chowder - p. 173

Have you guessed yet?  I am making clam chowders in quick succession because I want to remember which one is the best.  This one?  In my opinion, not the best, but some of the family liked it best.  I personally have something against soup recipes that call for cans of soup.  Maybe that's it.  I did like the mushrooms in this recipe. The unpeeled red potatoes gave it character, too.  Be sure to warn your diners that it has white pepper in it, as adding black pepper may make it very peppery.  To sum up -- not my favorite, but the family liked it so I'll give it 3.5 spoons.

Mushroom Potato Chowder - p. 172

MMMMMushrooms!  If you don't like mushrooms, skip this recipe.  I think this one is my favorite new recipe.  (The seafood chowder is still the king.)  Really simple -- the only seasonings are salt and pepper.  Just mushrooms, potatoes, carrots, onions and celery to chop.  It was ready in 45 minutes, start to finish.  I have to give this one 4.5 spoons.  Definitely a keeper.

New England Clam Chowder - p. 175

Okay, so it finally got really cold.  This will be a good week.  I am making a series of chowders.  Two of them are clam, and this is the first one.  Pretty basic, I'd say, although I expect it to be better than the other one.  I think what I didn't like about this is the thyme.  I'm not a huge fan of that herb.  But, the recipe was easy to make, and it was tasty.  Just not quite "the world's best" clam chowder.  At any rate, the family liked it.  I'd give it three spoons.  Better than average, but not "wow". 

Due to the Amount of Similar Recipes..

I think I'll start rating them with "Spoons".  If the recipe gets one spoon, it was gross.  Three spoons would be average, and five spoons would be great.  This way, you can differentiate between the 20+ potato soups, chilis, and chowders that are forthcoming.   So, yeah, spoons...

Cheeseburger Chowder. page 187

So in this cookbook, preceding each recipe is a little blurb from the creator of the recipe.  This one read. "After tasting a wonderful chowder at a restaurant, I dressed up a can of cheese soup to see if I could capture some of the flavors.  I then took things a step farther by adding chiles and and Southwestern spices.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do."  

Really?  If that was dressed up, I have to say that restaurant's got to be out of business.  It was really bland.  It didn't taste bad, just not memorable...at all.   The plus-side is that it is edible and easy to make.  It's just one of those soups that you don't hate, but you don't like either.  I'd call it Neutral Chowder.  Even the garnish (crushed corn chips, cheese and green onions) don't give it enough flavor for me to highly recommend it.

Congratulations on Having the Best Potato Soup Ever!

Just kidding, (it's an Elf reference) but it was very good.  When I started out, I thought it would be average, but I had all of the ingredients... Anyway, it was much better than I expected.  I think it was the cheese.  I love cheese.  The whole family liked it, too.  The only difference is I used peppered bacon.  To sum it up, it was simple but good.  Oh yeah -- the recipe is called Best Potato Soup Ever and it's on page 89.

The Great Pumpkin...Soup!

Actually, this is the Fresh Pumpkin Soup from page 144.  My daughter, Keeley, was going to make a Rachel Ray pumpkin soup recipe and I convinced her to do this one.  She didn't follow it exactly, omitting the apples, and adding onion, half and half, paprika and basil.  But, unless someone protests, I'm counting it, because we cooked up 8 cups of fresh pumpkin, and I don't want to do it again.  Maybe I'll add apples to one of the other two pumpkin soup recipes to make up for it?  It was very good.  If I didn't know it was pumpkin soup, I would've thought it was butternut squash.  She grated sharp cheddar cheese and made bacon bits for garnish, also good additions.  She roasted pumpkin seeds with a cajun spice, and those were also good.  Thanks, Keeley, for taking one of these.  She's going to be a better cook than I am if she isn't already...