rainy days, cold and wet through and through

[Radio7]

Well its been raining here in L.A. since last saturday...this is my first official rain in the city, and I was slightly surprised at how chilly it is. I expected that closer to 'winter months', not when we're still in 'fall'.

After a day of exams, I biked home this evening in a rather cold and drenched state.

my self-prescription:

1.Hot shower

2. soup and crackers

3. some silly tv to induce napification.

And I wonder, fellow EGers, what are your favorite soup&cracker combos in rainyrainy soggy weather? (Assuming of course you partake of the soup...)

Mine is the old standby Cream of Mushroom soup (butternut squash being a close second) with soda crackers. Though my favorite crackers by themselves are wheat thins - they just dont melt properly in soup.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Well, the usual combination of clam chowder just begs for those oyster crackers ...

but I also like saltines with my vegetable soup ...

and matzo farfel in chicken soup ...

[torakris]

I am glad there is bad weather in other parts of the world, here in Tokyo we are on our 3rd typhoon in as many weeks and I think we have had about 2 or 3 sunny days all month!

Right now it is pouring and I am freezing!

I would love a hot bowl of tomato soup (Campbell's of course ) and a handful of saltines crushed onto the top, eaten really fast before they get too soggy.

[bloviatrix]

For the most part, on a cold rainy day my favorite soup is whatever is easiest reached in the freezer.

That said, last week I just HAD to have lentil soup (it wasn't raining but it was cold), but instead of crackers I went with a baguette.

Blovie really likes to make split pea soup on cold, rainy days and then dunk left-over challah into his bowl.

[Dana]

It was 93 degrees here today - not exactly soup weather, but I'm still making acorn squash soup tomorrow from some leftovers from the weekend. For cream-type soups, I like homemade garlic croutons. For broth-based, I like saltines, but i like them to be sorta soggy. Not crispy, yet not completely melted, either. It's a fine line....

[lovebenton0]

With any kind of vegetable soup I like a thick, rich cracker such as Ritz.

And nothing beats the oyster floaties in chowder.

But give me big croutons on my cream soups, especially squash, asparaqgus, or mushroom.

And a torn hunk of bread to dip in heartier soups like split pea or lentil.

[jackal10]

Campbells???

Has to be Heinz Tomato Soup, in a mug, with extra butter stirred in, and a big hunk of my crusty organic wholemeal sourdough for dipping.

[Squeat Mungry]

Today was our first rainy cold bleak day of the season, and it was a doozy! Rained like a monsoon this morning and took out the subway, so I (and thousands of others) had to walk miles through absolutely dumping rain to get to work.

By the time I got home (subway thankfully back in somewhat working order), all I wanted was soup: leeks, potatoes, bacon. Warming and soothing as it was, it proved to be cold comfort, though, as I watched to my horror the Yankees lose yet another game to the Sox. What is up with that?

Squeat

[phifly04]

Without a doubt (childhood fav. in Philly) Cream of Tomato and grilled Cheese for dipping into the warming Elixir mmmm

Dave S.

[suzilightning]

i've been eating soup out of the freezer this week: roasted onion with triscuits, smoky black bean with ritz and beer cheese.

the one soup i have NEVER liked is tomato from a can. johnnybird has had manhattan clam chowder with oyster crackers and tinned tomato soup with saltines.

[Mssmltzr]

Chilie in a sourdough bread bowl. You might as well light up the fireplace while you're at it. Of course I recommend this from a dorm room that lacks all three of the elements. Eh, a girl can dream.

Edited October 20, 2004 by Mssmltzr (log)

[Milagai]

any kind of tomato rasam:

grandma's traditional;

modern based on opening various cans;

garlic or no garlic;

any kind.

no crackers.

just slurp out of a mug.

must be steaming hot.

milagai

[birder53]

Barley Mushroom soup and oystercrackers.

My favorite rainy day lunch many years ago was a grilled cheese sandwich with tomatos, a big steaming cup of tea with milk and a package of Hostess' Twinkies to finish it off. The last time I tried the Twinkies they were not what I remembered. They've changed - or did I change?

[jgarner53]

I love soup.

Yesterday, after the worst of that dilly of a storm (Squeat was right), I got off work early and had some of mom's minestrone that I'd frozen last time I made it. Very much a mid-century recipe, but very satisfying with ground beef, zucchini, tomatoes, and topped with grated asiago. I ate it with a bit of leftover (homemade) baguette, toasted.

My all-time favorite soup, though is tomato, preferably with homemade cracked wheat bread to dip in, or a grilled cheese, but saltines are OK, too. I've lately switched to the Trader Joe's asceptic packaged organic tomato instead of Campbell's.

Or split pea (again with the cracked wheat bread - maybe I should make some today)

My freshman year in college, I was in a small village outside of St. Louis, and the (one) cafe in town made amazing soup and homemade bread. One of my favorites of theirs was the macaroni & cheese soup.

This time of year (and even during summer, here in SF), I could probably eat soup every day. Pho, tom yum, tom ka gai, hot and sour...mmmm soup!

[eunny jang]

Roasted/charred tomato soup. Cream, butter. Grilled cheese, ollllllllld cheddar. Or buttered saltines.

Big roaring fire.

[StudentChefEclipse]

Clam chowder and Ritz. Tomato (Andersen's) with extra-sharp cheddar to float and melt, and sweet gherkins and unsalted saltines (is that an oxymoron?). My mom's 15-bean soup with sourdough bread.

[Dejah]

Rain and snow flurries the last couple of days. Temperatures are around 3C during the day. Soup pot is in full use now.

On Monday, I made a curry soup with yellow split peas, lots of leeks (on sale!),

diced celery (including the leaves), carrots and potatoes. I pureed some of the veg so the final product was thick and chunky. This was great with baguette.

Today, I am making Hungarian mushroom soup, with lots of fresh dill and sour cream. Not sure what I'll have with it...perhaps buttermilk biscuits.

[chile_peppa]

Mmmmm... soup...

I made beef barley soup on Sunday, which I've been eating with Asiago cheese bread for dinner since. You just can't make just a little soup.

For today's lunch, I emerged from my cave and drove to the cafeteria (about a mile away and too cold to walk) just for the split pea and potato soup. It was worth the trip.

No. 1 Son just called to say he got out of work early today and is stopping at the Mitsuwa store on the way home. He will be bringing home some fixings for kitsune udon -- hooray!

The Biker Dude likes Campbell's tomato soup made with milk, topped with oyster crackers, with a grilled cheese on squishy white bread on the side. I just don't see how he can eat that stuff. Can this relationship survive such differing tastes in food?

[jo-mel]

Mushroom/Barley is a good one.

BUT-- it comes in second to New England Corn Chowder. I'll pass on the crackers and simply have another bowl of the chowder. It is also the soup I make when we are in a blizzard.

Actually, I like the chowder better from a mug rather than a bowl. I commune better with the close contact!

[StudentChefEclipse]

No. 1 Son just called to say he got out of work early today and is stopping at the Mitsuwa store on the way home. He will be bringing home some fixings for kitsune udon -- hooray!

Fox Noodles? More info please?

[sassybat]

mmmm.....soup......

one of my all-time favorite soups is my mom's oxtail soup. no crackers, but dumped over white rice. yummy.

another favorite is clam chowder with either oyster crackers or a warm chunk of sourdough bread.

and i'm planning on battling the rainy weather by making potato leek soup tonight. ^_^

[torakris]

Fox Noodles?  More info please? 

←

lot's of kitsune udon (fox noodle) talk starting with this post:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...43entry310143

[chile_peppa]

Fox Noodles?  More info please? 

←

lot's of kitsune udon (fox noodle) talk starting with this post:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...43entry310143

Aburaage ("fried tofu," but more like a thin skin than the chunky tofu you might know) is supposed to the favorite food of foxes. And in Japanese stories, the fox is the trickster!

It's very simple as most Japanese home cooking is -- just udon noodles, dashi-based broth (katsuobushi fish flakes and soy sauce -- can be bought premade as mentioned in Torakris' link above), aburaage, maybe some kamaboko (fish "sausage"), and some green onions on top -- at least that's how my mom makes it and how I make it, too! Eat with chopsticks and slurp away!

[StudentChefEclipse]

Swoon! I feel like a trip to House of Rice tomorrow

[Radio7]

Raining so hard here I couldn't sleep from the noise of the gutters last night.

Its tapered off this afternoon. I just got home and am contemplating making a run to the local chinese for a seafood noodle soup. Though I'm in a miso soup mood, there are no good japanese places around here.

Reading everyone's entries has been a blast. In particular, potato-leek and mushroom barley are on my 'to-do' list.....

(btw, I dont think I've ever tried oyster crackers. I'm not sure what they look like .I typically prefer my soup crackerless, but sometimes like last evening the crackers just seem a necessity to the 'comfort food' factor.)