Do you have a soup library?

Do you know what this is? It's my soup library. We're not into soup season yet. I look forward to making soups - lots of soups - when the weather turns colder. That certainly hasn't happened here in Southern California - the weather turning cooler I mean. It's been hotter in the last couple of days than it's been all summer. In the 90's. Sticky. At least it's sticky for us. Yet I really love soups any time of year. But hearty soups don't frequent my table when it's hot. Except yesterday.

Soups are so comforting. Yesterday, my DH was (and still is today) suffering from a reaction to a drug he was taking, so I thought about defrosting some soup that will go down smoothly. His tongue is swollen. He's itchy all over. Has a sore throat as part of the drug reaction too. So I said, how about I defrost some soup for lunch? He nodded yes since it hurts to talk.

When I make soup I usually make extra. Usually a lot of extra. It's basically the same amount of work to make a soup for 4 as it is to make it for 10. Maybe a bit more chopping and mincing, but that's it. But then we've got leftovers for a day or two later AND some to freeze.

My standard operating procedure is to pour hot soup out into a large flat pan (one of those quarter sheets) or anything large and flatish. Then I label the Ziploc half gallon size freezer bags (not the kind with a zipper) using a grease pencil, so the writing doesn't come off in the freezer. I even write the quantity so I know how many each bag will serve. When the soup has cooled enough to handle, usually within 30-60 minutes, I scoop, ladle, or pour it into the bags, trying to portion out the contents - like getting equal amounts of chicken pieces or other chunky ingredients equalized. When I do this task I make sure there's virtually no air in the bag. This is do-able with some patience by laying the bag flat on the counter and leaving just a corner of the bag open. Holding up that tiny open corner I slide the air bubbles toward the corner, easing air out of the bag before sealing it tight. Then I lay the bags flat on our cool granite countertop for a little longer to cool some more (maybe 20-30 minutes total, usually about 10-15 minutes per side, moving the bags to a different - cool - spot). Then they're plopped into the refrigerator to cool down completely.

A couple of hours later, using a smallish cookie sheet that's just the same size as the Ziploc bag, I lay a soup bag on the sheet and place it in a level place in the freezer. The levelness is critical because you don't want to stand up bags later that are heavier weighted at one end. They cause problems in the "library." I carefully straighten the bag first, so corners aren't crinkled (wrinkled corners will sometimes crack in the freezer if you juggle the frozen "flats" around now and then. Once frozen solid, another bag goes onto the sheet and I continue until all bags are frozen. Once frozen the bags stand upright in the "library." Much easier to handle. Much easier to see. Much easier to remove from the shelf too.

I still have 11 soups lined up in waiting, even after removing one today. We had some tomato soup for lunch. Some of that wonderful cream of tomato soup I made in June from the French bistro cooking class in Sonoma. You can spot the bags of tomato soup in the library - all the same color, all lined up like soldiers. Or sardines in a can. Or books on the shelf.