Well I am not sure that there is anything better than soup season and it is finally here! Today the temperatures are not getting out of the forties and there is a freeze watch. This means that it’s time to get cooking! Soup is amazing! It feeds your family for several meals, it’s comforting, fairly healthy, and warms the soul.
When I was a young girl we frequented a wonderful little gem of a restaurant called “The Elsah Landing Restaurant.” This quaint two room building was located in Elsah, Illinois, off the Great River Road. Elsah is nestled in the valley between the beautiful bluffs and looks reminiscent of a New England village. We spent our summers in Chautauqua, Illinois and we would hop on our bikes and make the two mile ride into Elsah to indulge in the most amazing soups, homemade bread, sandwiches, and desserts. We also would head up in the autumn to see the glorious fall foliage and stop for lunch on many occasions beyond the summer months. Although the restaurant has been closed for many years, I’m lucky enough to possess their original cookbook, and it is my go-to in the fall and winter months. If it was the only cookbook I possessed, it would be enough. From the most delicious chicken noodle soup, to cream of broccoli, and corn chowder, everything is amazing. The recipes are classic and simple.
Today I’m sharing a few of their recipes and I also urge you to seek out this cookbook. I have my mother’s original copy, but in an effort to preserve it because it was falling apart, my dear husband found me another copy on eBay. I have also seen them pop up online at secondhand bookstores.
You won’t believe the fabulous array of recipes and they also have entire meal plans for the holidays. Here are a few of the recipes. Hopefully you can try them for yourself and see what you think. I’m also going to share a link for another fall favorite, Italian wedding soup. Our favorite recipe for that comes from Giada on food network!!
These are just a sampling and each one, I promise you, will not disappoint! You can adapt these recipes very easily to be gluten free, and dairy free. I have made the cream soups with Andreas cup for cup gluten free flour and I have used almond milk instead of evaporated milk, and it turns out beautifully. I double these recipes every time, but with the cream of broccoli, I DO NOT double the milk at the end because I like it to have a slightly thicker consistency! Here is the link for the Italian wedding soup and one side note on this recipe is that I use kale instead of endive and I also use pork sausage and ground beef to make the meatballs instead of plain ground pork! As always, if you have any questions let me know. Enjoy these fall favorites and happy “souping!!” That’s my dish!
xoxo Deb
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/italian-wedding-soup-recipe-1915916
Deb Vuagniaux Designs and Home 
Do you actually make your own noodles for the Chicken Noodle? Also, any shortcuts on that one? Chicken Noodle soup is on the menu for a dinner party we’re hosting this Sunday, but I so is Chili, so I need some time savers.
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Kathleen so sorry I missed your message. Somehow it went into my spam box and I missed it. I do not always make my own noodles, I often buy Reames frozen egg noodles and they are the best. They’ll be near dumplings and such, in the freezer section of any grocery store. Another shortcut is to use premade chicken stock and then follow the rest of the recipe. But if you use premade stock I would still add some stock base like Better than Bouillon to make the flavor more like homemade. (You may need to cut back on the salt though, so taste it and adjust it accordingly) I hope this helps for future soup making!!
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