Cream of Mushroom Soup

My mother used to buy this soup by the case, always the Campbel label. When I got married I bought a case and then carted it around with me as I moved from place to place. I finally threw it away. Until recently Campbells soup didn't really understand that some people are allergic to MSG. It was in all of their soups. I hear that they are changing that, but too late for me to be their customer.

I made my own today; it was relatively easy. It's just one more step on our journey to clean, local, organic food. I got the idea when a fellow blogger mentioned that she had just made her third batch of cream of mushroom soup. The light bulb went on, I found a recipe I liked and mushrooms grown in a nearby community. Nothing fancy about the mushrooms; just like the ones in the picture. But boy does the soup ever taste good. I used leeks so the onion taste is a bit milder. I filled two pint jars that are now in my refrigerator.

I also started marinara sauce in my slow cooker. A local produce market sells from the owner's farm so you always know if you are getting their stuff or someone else's. They are still producing delicious tomatoes thanks to the hoop houses they use to protect them from frost. I cut up two pounds of tomatoes, added leeks, oregano, basil, and red wine. It's slowly cooking its way to sauce. The house smells great.

Meanwhile, I have pork ribs slow cooking in the oven. That's our dinner tonight plus roasted cauliflower. The ribs came from our local Coffee Pot Ranch. Tomorrow I'm making broccoli cheese soup to put in jars so we have soup for lunch or dinner on these cold days. I know that cold is a relative term when you live in northern California, but it was only 39 degrees when we got up this morning. Brrr.

So here we are 18 months after listening to Michael Pollan's "Omnivore's Dilemma." I love "foraging" for food and making wonderful simple dishes with locally grown in-season food. Foraging means that I have to go to several places to get what I need for us to have a healthy diet. I like to forage. It's amazing how little time I spend in the mainstream grocery stores.