soup's on

If there are secrets to making a good home-made soup - and I'm inclined to think that are a few - one such secret is as simple as sautéing all (or most - individual judgment and taste always to the fore...) the ingredients you plan to use that take the longest to cook. The brown from the sautéing in olive oil adds a dimension (and color if it will be mostly a clear broth) that is really most apparent when you cook the same soup twice - once following the above advice and once ignoring it. The difference is worth the notice.

Today is a good soup day in Houston - dark skies, thunder and rain all day - soup for a afternoon lunch after a wet trek on the bayou to satisfy the needs of our pups (not really pups since the two ladies are as ancient in dog years as the A Lady and I are in human years). The soup is on.