RECIPE FOR BEER AND CHEESE SOUP

For Labor Day 2009, the hubs and I went on a week long vacation with some friends to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. There were about 14 of us in a house. Unfortunately, it rained almost the entire week. Fortunately, there was beer and cheese soup that was nice and creamy. It was so good, I got the recipe and started making it.... I had some yesterday, and it reminded me how good this soup is. Here is the recipe!

(Shout out to Ron and Betty Flitcraft - this is their recipe. It is entirely too good to keep it a secret!)

Ingredients:
3 cans cream of celery soup
3 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 can cheddar cheese soup
16 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
32 oz. Velveeta cheese
3 cans of beer (should be light beer - nothing dark)
3 cans of milk (= 2 cups)

Mix beer, soup and milk in a large pot. Use less liquid for a thicker soup and more for a thinner consistency. Put on over medium heat. Stirring frequently, do NOT let the soup boil. Once mixture is hot - about 15 - 30 minutes, strain if desired (I strain because of the celery bits in the cream of celery soup).
Add Velveeta and shredded cheese, stirring constantly. Let simmer for about 30 minutes, not letting the soup ever get to a boil.
Serve with croutons on top (this truly makes the soup out of this world. I can't eat it without croutons).

You can also make this in a crock pot, it just takes a good bit longer. Place the soups, milk and beer in crock pot over low heat and allow to warm (about 1 to 1.5 hours). After straining and adding cheese, let simmer for another 1 - 1.5 hours before serving. If you are making this in a crock pot, you must still stir this soup constantly!!!

Enjoy!

PS - Didn't I tell you that I was going to post some AWESOME stuff this week and LOTS of it?????

Happy Friday!

Autumn in a Bottle

I love Fall. It is my favorite season. The crunchy leaves, the smell of fireplaces burning the first fire in months, the briskness in the air - and the pumpkin. Oh, the pumpkin. Pumpkin, for me at least, is the measure by which the proximity to autumn can be gauged.

You start seeing ornamental pumpkins and gourds at the grocery store in early to mid-September and then, bam! Everything is pumpkin or pumpkin spice. The lattes at Starbucks (which I am moderately obsessed with at present), the coffee creamer in the dairy section at the grocery store (which I was disappointed with), and most importantly, the beer.

There are two beers of autumn: pumpkin and Oktoberfest. In much the same way that there are two true beers of autumn, there are two categories of people that drink autumnal beer: those that love the pumpkin beer (and will usually also drink the Oktoberfest beers); and folks that can't stand the thought of pumpkin beer, much less the taste (and will only drink the Oktoberfest offerings this time of year).  I fall into the former category.

I love pumpkin beer, and typically can not consume enough pumpkin beer in the short time it is available to suit me. Unfortunately, I have been duped this year in my search for pumpkin beer.

The Blue Moon Seasonal pumpkin beer was a complete let down. It should be ashamed to call itself a pumpkin beer. In my opinion, if you put yourself out there to be a pumpkin beer, I should taste pumpkin. This beer is actually closer to an Oktoberfest than a pumpkin beer, unfortunately.

The Samuel Adams Oktoberfest is a decent Oktoberfest beer. I don't love it, but it is not the worst beer I have ever had (that distinction is reserved for the EKU 28 Kulminator).

I understand that Cottonwood and Big Boss breweries (both NC breweries!) have great pumpkin beer. It is my goal to try them both this weekend, if the forces of nature align and allow me such good fortune.

I will update my quest for the best pumpkin beer available this fall and it progresses.