Cool Weather is Coming. We Hope

In preparation for fall I wanted to test my skills in remembering how to make my favorite cool weather soup.

It's September. It's Back-to-School. It's almost FALL, my favorite season of the year. I love that first week when the temps start dropping and the rain moves in to the central U.S. where I am. Okay, perhaps I shouldn't be so happy without saying I feel bad for the hurricanes coming in off the Gulf to Central America and our Gulf Coast states, but being in Missouri, September means lots of rain and a re-greening of the lawns as the temperatures drop. Wait. Maybe I should define "drop". Sure, it's a balmy 85 degrees (farenheit) here right now but that feels like refridgerator temperatures compared to the last month of 105 degrees with shirt-sticking humidities. The windows are open without that death-suck of hot air coming in from outside and people are less cranky than they have been for weeks. THAT'S what I like about Fall.

To kick off September and hopefully hasten the cool temperatures along by suggestion, I made a pot of three bean soup this week and gladly took it in my dinner for work. Unfortunately, we had an extremely busy evening so I didn't get to eat it but right before I left the hospital one of my co-workers was spooning it into her mouth and simultaneously moaning and thanking me for sharing. I bet she also enjoyed my two almond windmill cookies that have been a favorite of mine, and most of the people I know, since childhood. I don't know the official name but I confess that even more than loving home-made cookies at Grandma's house, I loved those almond ginger windmills

You'll notice that I used a regular plastic-ware bowl for the soup. I know I can be slow on the uptake but has anyone else noticed that soup doesn't do very well in the bento-style lunch boxes? Perhaps it's just me that's had soup juice spilled all over my scrubs but hey, I'm a quick learner. It only took two, three, maybe four times before I learned my lesson and picked up the Glad bowls with screw on lids just for soup days. :-)

One of the things I love about this soup is how easy it is. I make it in the crockpot so it's all about sauteing the vegetables, throwing the rest of the ingredients in the pot, and forgetting it until dinner time.

Easy 3 Bean Soup

1/2 medium onion, diced
1/2 cup carrots, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 tbsp oil or butter
Sauté over medium heat until tender.
Into the crockpot they go, along with:
1/2 cup each dried pinto, kidney, and great northern beans
1 cup ham, diced (optional)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic, minced
32 oz beef, chicken, or vegetable broth
salt to taste
Directions: Cook on "high" for 5 hours or "low" all day while you're at work. Voila!

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This post was written by Glenna from A Fridge Full of Food.