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Check It Out: Spoons up, it’s soup season!

By Beth Wood for The Columbian
Published: January 18, 2025, 5:59am

Winter is not my favorite season, but it does have its charms.

The luxury of cars with heated seats and heated steering wheels, for example. Kids wearing so much winter gear that they look like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Coming into a warm house with rosy cheeks from an outdoor walk. Seeing a cat shake out each paw after walking through the snow or a dog go completely crazy with snow zoomies. These are all small joys of the season.

However, my favorite joy of the season is soup. Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm.

This winter’s goal is to find at least two go-to recipes for soup or chowder using fish. I’m not there yet, but I still have about two months — and tens of cookbooks — to go.

Most recipe books have a chapter on soups and stews, or at least a few soup recipes, so don’t forget to check out cookbooks from different regions, or catering to specific dietary needs.

Here are a decade’s worth of cookbooks that put soup in the spotlight:

  • (2024) “Vegan Soups and Stews for All Seasons” by Nava Atlas: This revised and updated edition separates soups by season, using the fresh produce available in that season.
  • (2023) “Every Season is Soup Season” by Shelly Westerhausen: includes instructions for batching and freezing as well as adaptation for Instant Pot and slow-cookers.
  • (2022) “101 Greatest Soups on the Planet” by Erin Mylroie: described as “the only soup cookbook you will ever need.”
  • (2021) “The Oregon Farm Table Cookbook” by Karista Bennett: contains a chapter on Soups & Stews, all of which are focused on ingredients local to Oregon.
  • (2020) “The Chicken Soup Manifesto” by Jenn Louis: James Beard-nominated chef brings chicken soup recipes and know-how from around the world; over 100 recipes.
  • (2019) “The Soup Book” by Sophie Grigson and Amy Slack, eds.: Recipes are organized season by season, but also by ingredients, and include freezing instructions.
  • (2018) “Nourish Soups: Hearty Soups with a Healthy Twist” by Rebecca Woods: soups with an emphasis on well-being, including basic stock recipes and healthy toppings.
  • (2017) “Easy Soups from Scratch with Quick Breads to Match” by Ivy Manning: 70 mix-and-match soups and breads that you can whip up in under an hour!
  • (2016) “Soup for Syria” by Barbara Abdeni Massaad, compiler: soup recipes from around the globe compiled by chefs and cookbook authors; proceeds bring food relief to Syrian refugees.
  • (2015) “Chowderland: Hearty Soups & Soups with Sides & Salads to Match” by Brooke Dojny: 57 chowders with sides, salads, and desserts.

And for those of you enjoying the opening of the new Trader Joe’s store in Salmon Creek, the library has three Trader Joe’s cookbooks:

  • “The I Love Trader Joe’s Cookbook” by Cherie Mercer Twohy (2009)
  • “The I Love Trader Joe’s Around the World Cookbook” by Cherie Mercer Twohy (2011)
  • “Quick Prep Cooking Using Ingredients from Trader Joe’s” (2024) by Jordan Zelesnick

Soup spoons up, everyone!

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