Soup's on

It's my favorite time of year for soup. The winter rain has started, ugh. So I cook soup. If there was a breakfast soup, I would eat that, too. Eric is my taste tester for my hot pot creations. For those of you who aren't familiar with Hot Pot....it's an asian thing. My old roommate, Amy, turned me onto this a couple winters ago when she took me to a restaurant called Hot Pot City. It's when you put a pot of broth (your choice) on a stove burner or portable burner for the table, then you have dozens of fresh ingredients that you keep adding to it. It's so delicious and fun. At home, I typically choice a low sodium chicken or vegetable broth with lots of asian-inspired ingredients, like ginger, lemongrass, cilantro, fish oil, mushrooms, lite coconut milk, rice noodles, lime, shrimp, bok choy, and whatever else I can find! If I am not doing a hot pot creation, these are my favorites to cook: Tom Yum Goong (LOVE this when I have a cold), Brazilian Seafood Stew, and Chicken Curry Soup. I try to make the soups with lots of extra broth, so I have a tasty new broth to work for the next time.....however, my taste tester tends to finish off the batch before I can store it for later.