My first experiments in making soups were pretty terrible. I tried recipes and different kinds of stews and soups.
Most turned out pretty blah over the years.
My MIL taught me how to make soup her way which was pretty unique.
Her methods were generally what I'd call Left Over soups. Cook a roast? Save the leftovers with the juice and use it later as soup broth.
Leftover veggies? Toss them in a freezer bag and wait until you have more.
Eventually take the leftovers, add some diced tomatoes and maybe some creamy mushroom soup and cook it up.
Viola. Left Over Soup.
I made some incredible Garbage Soup last week. It was amazing. I combined the left overs from two previous left over soups of venison veggie soup and pot roast [frozen ]. I put it in the crock pot, stirred it and let it cook all day.
It was amazing.
My interpretation of a foodie photo
done in AI art in an
abstract way.
Rich had been asking for another round of potato soup. Creamy potato soup. I'd made some a while ago and needed to finish up the tiny purple potatoes I'd purchased in October from the Farmer's Market.
I had 3 large regular russets that I peeled and cut up along with diced purple potatoes. I followed the idea of the soup I'd made last time but thought that I'd use up the rest of the bacon that was open. I fried that and added it to the soup.
Rich thought carrots would be a welcome addition. I added carrots. Now I had a soup that was mostly yellow, with bright orange and purple in it.
I recalled that I had about a bowl of the old soup in the freezer. I opened it up and grabbed what I thought was it and dumped it into the crockpot with the new ingredients.
I headed out to do our chores and go care for the neighbor's two dogs. I took them for a long walk on their property and then feed them and the cat [she hates me! and hissed at me!]. The dogs got their meds and I headed back down the hill.
When I got back, the new stuff had melted into the soup and it looked pretty good. It smelled good too.
When I got done with all the evening chores, we decided to have the soup.
I served it up and while I was doing something at the sink, Rich commented, "Wow! This is really good!"
He is always kind regarding my cooking. He won't/can't cook for himself, so he remains on my good side.
He slurped away and kept making mmmmmmmmm sounds.
I made it to the table and took my first bite. It tasted a bit sweet. Not what I'd expected at all. But it was really quite delicious. The carrots and the purple potatoes really added color.
I took another bite and then stopped. What was I tasting? Then I took another bite. Apple.
I hadn't taken the old potato soup out of the freezer, I took an unlabeled container of homemade apple sauce and added it to the soup!
Rich liked it so much he took a second full bowl of soup and ate it. I asked him if the soup tasted different to him.
He said it did, but it was just great.
When I told him what I did, he laughed.
I'm pretty sure I won't ever do that again, but hubby was happy that we'd have enough potato/apple soup for lunch on Monday.
And yes, I usually label what I put in the freezer. Apparently I didn't when I took the extra homemade apple sauce and dumped it into a container this past fall. It was what didn't fit into canning jars.
Happy Accident this time.
Next week I'll be cleaning out more leftovers. A turkey breast and some chicken to make another soup.
Then I can start adding leftovers again. This time...Labeled!