Soul Food/Chickpea Parsnip Soup

As a budding food photographer with little knowledge of photography in general, I always find myself wondering how and why certain pictures come out better than others. I usually gauge this based on which pictures are accepted or rejected by Tastespotting and Foodgawker, those two food photography blogs that take the notion of food porn to a new level. Seriously, I have gotten multiple friends addicted to these sites and they love/hate me for it. So as I was questioning my photography the other day I turned to my best friend who, lucky for me, is also a photographer. Wifey, as I fondly refer to her, takes some of the most beautiful pictures I have seen and I am convinced that this is because of her beautiful soul. To see what I am talking about, go to http://saramkmoody.blogspot.com. This week when I asked her why soup always looks so beautiful in pictures her very simple and honest response was that soup just is beautiful, because it's comforting and it heals your soul.

Soul is a funny word, it get's thrown around all the time yet so few of us actually understand what it means. Soul food, soul music, soul mate; something about all of these makes them sound like the epitome of their kind. I confess, I too throw around the word soul a lot and although I may not fully understand its meaning or significance I know that it is something that I want to believe in. I want to believe that everything is made up of more than it's physicality, because to believe this is to have hope. Actually I think it shows faith, we may not always know what it is in someone or in music or in food that makes it better or healing, but that power is undeniably there. To accept this without fully knowing what it is renders the notion of soul both more foreign and more exciting to me.

Well I assure you, although I can't specifically identify it, this soup has soul. The color isn't striking and the ingredients aren't necessarily special, but as a whole it truly is beautiful.

Classics/Grilled Cheese + Tomato Soup

I have been itching to make grilled cheese and tomato soup for a while now, especially as winter progresses and food needs to be increasingly comforting to ease those winter blues. For the same reason, I also feel that this meal should be a communal experience; it's good when you're alone, but better when you're surrounded by friends. Imagine my surprise when I sat down to dinner, dipped the crispy point of my grilled cheese into my soup and my friend looked at me and said "hmm, that seems like a good idea!" I was shocked, apparently in Canada grilled cheese and tomato soup is not a classic combination. The two are well loved but as separate, albeit delicious, entities. Well all I have to say about that is that my Canadian friends have been missing out one of the best classic comfort foods I know.

At the very moment my friend said that I was slightly appalled and saddened by the cultural divide. That being said, I was glad that I got a chance to share some American culinary classics with our friends up north. The truth is, however, that for me these grilled cheese sandwiches have a much more convoluted cultural history.

Frustration/Sweet Potato Cauliflower Soup

In my life there are three kinds of recipes: the ones I make on a whim; the ones I bookmark and forget about; and the ones I bookmark, look at for months, keep saying I want to make, but never do. Well, until I do, at which point I usually yell at myself for waiting so long to make something that I knew would turn out so well. That's what happened with this soup, which was so good it made me sad that I only have about six weeks left of winter, and therefore only have six weeks left to make it again. Ok, that's a lie, I am dying for winter to be over but I do wish I had made this soup earlier that way I would have had more opportunities to make it.

All of this started last week when I finally bought garam masala. Forgive me for ranting, but I hate how busy the gym/yoga is in January. For those of you whose New Year's resolution is to lose weight or work out more, good for you. Seriously, I respect it, but why is it that every January newbies start crowding the gym/yoga studio, leaving no space for nuts like me? The point is that last week when there was no space for me at the yoga studio, feeling dejected and frustrated I made my way to the kitchen supply store down the street.

Staying Warm/Red Lentil Barley Soup

Since I have all but fallen off the face of the earth, I am sure most of you were just overwhelmed with concern over my absence in the past week. Has the library consumed her? Has the bitter cold frozen her solid? Has she starved to death? Well, with regards to the starving part, that's never a concern. If you're wondering how I managed to survive an intense exam week and a snow storm and long library days, the solution is quite simple. I like to call it soup. Red lentil and barley soup to be specific.

My love for soup is a little excessive, let's just say it's verging on an obsession or addiction. I legitimately think I could eat soup every winter night.

Keeping Warm/Easy Split Pea-sy Soup

It actually snowed here the other day. On October 22 it snowed. I still can't get over it, I know it’s supposed to be colder this far north, but snow, already!? Until this weekend, I have stubbornly been pretending it wasn't all that cold even though the thermometer has already gone as low as 28 degrees (that’s -2 degrees for all you Canadian readers). Not surprisingly, I found myself sick as a dog and navigating an October snowstorm wearing nothing but a flimsy scarf and light jacket. Clearly, being stubborn did not work in my favor. So, I finally had no choice but to give in to winter, my gloves and boots are officially in use and I turned the heat on in my apartment.

The only good news about this ridiculous weather is that soup season has officially begun, and although I may not like the cold, I love soup. It is the only dinner that can actually thaw me out after a long session in the frigid library. Also, I love eating anything out of a bowl with a spoon; you can try and figure that one out because I still haven't.

Daring Cooks/Pho (Fuh?)

So apparently, the classic Vietnamese noodle dish Pho, is actually pronounced fuh? Yes, the question mark is part of the pronunciation. I am all about authenticity, but fuh?, seriously? I was home this weekend and I kept talking about the pho (fuh?) I had to make for this month's Daring Cooks challenge. Each time I said pho the Americanized way I would correct myself, try to say fuh? and then my sister and I would just erupt in laughter. Maturity central. I eventually had to resort to mispronouncing this dish because the absurdity was getting really out of hand. I am all about authentic flavors, but when it comes to pho, I think I am going to have to stick with the inauthentic pronunciation.

The October 2009 Daring Cooks’ challenge was brought to us by Jaden of the blog Steamy Kitchen. The recipes are from her new cookbook, The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook.