Meal No. 4111: 2 x 2 Soup in Bread Bowls

With the return of Chris (a UNC chum and fellow Argonaut of the Order of the Golden Fleece) back on September 23rd, the occasion fell alongside a fall-like rainy spell with temps no higher than the upper 50s. Soup was a natural fit for that nasty weather, and I thought Chris might like to shake it up a bit with something served in a bread bowl. I went with 2 x 2 soup, so named because its ingredient list dwells mostly in two-fers: 2 pounds of ground beef, 2 cans of minestrone, 2 cans of Rotel, and 2 cans of kidney beans. The outlier is the 1 pound of Velveeta that gets mixed in at the end of the cooking time until it melts into a creamy cheesy smoothness before ladling into the waiting bread bowls. We enjoyed ourselves while we enjoyed this dinner.

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"2 x 2 Soup," from various sources.

Soup Bread Bowls from "My Mother's Peasant Bread," by Alexandra Stafford of AlexandraCooks.com. [07 November 2012 / Updated 11 February 2026]

Meal No. 4095: 2 x 2 Soup

This past Wednesday was cool and drizzly for much of the day, and that's all it takes for me to zero in on a soup selection for supper. A package of ground beef in the fridge spoke loudest at the moment of decision, and I thought it might not be a terrible idea to resurrect the more rare 2 x 2 soup that used to be in regular rotation here. It's not hard to throw together, depends heavily on canned goods from the cabinet, and includes the indulgence of a pound of Velveeta. It was Amy's mid-week visit, and having enough to send home to her hubby felt like a favored option.

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"2 x 2 Soup," from various sources.

Meal No. 4091: Bacon Cheeseburger Soup

Yesterday felt more like December than May, with afternoon temps that barely reached the low 50s and with chilling breezes under grey skies. I made the call early in the day that there would have to be soup for supper. With our street closed off for the EmpowerHER Women's & Mother's Day Parade, it kept me from a grocery run. So with pantry staples and a stash of taco-seasoned ground beef in the freezer, the soup choice was bacon cheeseburger soup. Hearty, somewhat cheesy, full of a triumphant mix of flavors and herbs, we were all inclined to go for seconds.

The day's winter-styled weather meant more inside time, and I don't think that bothered Sumner and Scarlett one bit.

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Based on "Bacon Cheeseburger Soup," from Catalina Castravet and Holly Nilsson of SpendwithPennies.com. [Published 01 March 2018]

Meal No. 4063: Roasted Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Threats of severe storms and tornadoes brought a premature end to my day at St. Christopher's School in Richmond last Monday, although I still had time to complete a presentation with the lower school faculty. The trip home was a bit rainy but otherwise blessedly uneventful and I got back to the house with enough time to dig a batch of broccoli cheddar soup out of the freezer and drop it into the sous vide immersion circulator to bring it gently up to a serving temp. It was hearty and cheesy and filling, and just right for the weird weather I was taking shelter from that evening.

Meal No. 4049: Egg Drop Soup

Rather recently, but for only the second time, I made egg drop soup. It was good that night earlier in the month, but I was anxious to try again soon. That occurred last Sunday evening, as our temps took another massive dip into below-freezing territory, and harsh brutal gusts shook and jangled even the things that appeared nailed down. Soup felt right, and it was enhanced with the recent addition of wide chow mein noodles to mix in for a bit of crunch.

But let me tell you how glorious to me were the earliest manifestations of the approaching spring season, as that morning I spied the emerging shoots of tulips having suddenly made generous progress out of their bulbed dormancy.

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"Egg Drop Soup," by Bill Leung of The Woks of Life: A Culinary Genealogy. [Published November 2015 / Updated 16 April 2025]

Meal No. 4037: Egg Drop Soup & Japanese Coleslaw

As National Homemade Soup Day arrived Wednesday a week ago, I was ready for something lighter than my usual thick or hearty or cheesy soups. That's when I thought it might be fun to bring back a recipe I'd made only once before, almost exactly 10 years ago: egg drop soup. I reviewed my printed recipe for it, tucked away in the Soups binder, but I also took another look at Bill Leung's Youtube video for it. I certainly don't have his technique but it was a pleasing bowl of delicious soup nonetheless. And alongside I had a ginger-dressed Japanese coleslaw. As temps dropped outside and some more winter mix of weather moved in, I was more than happy to indulge in an evening of Asian Soup and Salad!

As a tasty treat at evening's end, I thought I'd try to be clever and fell far short. There was a fair portion of speculoos mousse remaining from the previous evening's carrot cake shells, so I made two small round Biscoff crusts and then topped them with all that remained of that mousse. It worked, but it was also unglorious.

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"Egg Drop Soup," by Bill Leung of The Woks of Life: A Culinary Genealogy. [Published November 2015 / Updated 16 April 2025]

Based on "Japanese Coleslaw," by Dan Coombs of The Curry Guy. [Published 24 August 2023]

"Japanese Mayonnaise (Kewpie Mayo)," by Namiko Hirasawa Chen of Just One Cookbook. [Published 01 April 2025]

Meal No. 4030: Ultimate Cream of Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

As our inch-and-a-half (or maybe two?!) of accumulated sleet from the weekend's winter storm remained fully in place everywhere, and while the city seemed mostly shut down, we took a real plunge Monday night very nearly into single digits. With four planned for a supper gathering, I was pretty set on having soup. This time, it was cream of tomato soup, along with grilled cheese sandwiches on either homemade Japanese milk bread or peasant bread. We certainly had our fill and seconds proved to be a powerful temptation to make it so.

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"Ultimate Cream of Tomato Soup," from Cook's Illustrated, November 1999. Recipe can also be found online at Cookography.com.

"Easy Same-Day Peasant Bread," from Jenny Rosenstrach of the CupofJo.com blog. [Published 02 February 2022] Adapted from Alexandra Stafford of AlexandraCooks.com. [07 November 2012 / Updated 15 November 2025]

Meal No. 4006: Cream of Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

As we reached the end of the week before Christmas, the weather finally moderated; that Saturday was gloriously sunny with fully blue skies and yet still was marred by some sharp cold breezes. (Sumner enjoyed that morning, as the photo at the bottom shows.) I'd already put into motion my plan for that night's meal, though, thanks to a loaf of homemade peasant bread in anticipation of grilled cheese sandwiches, the perfect accompaniment to steaming bowls of delicious cream of tomato soup.

It was the mid-day meal that Saturday and couldn't have been better timed. Partial atonement came from a brisk walk of nearly four-and-a-half miles in the final hour of daylight. Then: a honking huge slice of remaining chocolate meringue pie!

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"Ultimate Cream of Tomato Soup," from Cook's Illustrated, November 1999. Recipe can also be found online at Cookography.com.

"Easy Same-Day Peasant Bread," from Jenny Rosenstrach of the CupofJo.com blog. [Published 02 February 2022] Adapted from Alexandra Stafford of AlexandraCooks.com. [07 November 2012 / Updated 15 November 2025]

Meal No. 3999: Vierling Saloon Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

Our spate of unseasonably cold weather persisted, as of Friday last week, with the lightest smattering of snow flurries visible whilst I started the day with hot coffee and reading. When it was time to take the dogs out, I at first thought we were seeing graupel, but on closer inspection I was getting my first-ever exposure to absolutely gorgeous truly-iconic snowflake-shaped snow.

A longtime family favorite, now also considered a Roediger House crew favorite, was brought out for the meal that night: Vierling Saloon chicken and wild rice soup. If a third week of January-style temps was going to continue trying to bring me down, a third day (out of four) for soup was this doctor’s proposed remedy. Well, that plus the recurring joys of an evening with lots of dear friends around the table.

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"Vierling Saloon Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice Soup," formerly offered at the Vierling Saloon in Marquette, Michigan. Another online version of the recipe can be found at Miss Mary's Blog.

Meals No. 3997 & 4007: Broccoli-Cheddar Soup

The extended pre-winter cold spell almost broke last Wednesday, when the sun finally appeared and even with the breezes pushed our temps up to around 50°F. But I made my menu commitment much earlier in the day and proceeded, happily, toward a destination of broccoli-cheddar soup for the four of us at the table. And it was mighty good, pulling each diner back out of his or her seat for seconds, and you know that pleases the chef of the RoHo. No need for dessert on a filling night like that. Especially in a household with this kind of sweetness:

Addendum: I had some other broccoli to use up once we came to the day of the winter solstice on December 21. And because it was grey and windy and felt much colder than the thermometer suggested, I could imagine no better plan than to make yet another batch of broccoli cheddar soup again. Boy howdy, did it ever hit the spot.

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"The Best Broccoli Cheese Soup (Better-Than-Panera Copycat)," from Averie Sunshine of Averie Cooks. [Published 09 January 2015 / Updated 15 July 2025]

Meal No. 3996: Bacon Cheeseburger Soup

I was really disturbed by the deep chill that rolled in to the northwest Piedmont on Thanksgiving and then lingered for almost three weeks. But if daytime temps are gonna remain in the low 30s on a Tuesday in early December, I’ll just go ahead and rail against it with a hearty pot of bacon cheeseburger soup. Well-seasoned and happily herbed, built from a Marsala-spiked mirepoix base, meaty with beef and bacon, populated with potatoes and with cheeses that pleases: our steaming bowls were eagerly attacked while a grey afternoon light barely penetrated the kitchen nook.

But kitchen pursuits were not wholly concluded with dinner cleanup, especially since that was National Pastry Day and I had something on my mind to prepare for it. While one is guaranteed of a far superior result if creating cream cheese danish pastries from scratch, as I did back in 2021, the trade-off involved in shortcutting the process with storebought refrigerated puff pastry does still have its compensations. That's how I handled dessert last Tuesday evening, knowing we were pretty full from that delicious soup, and still craving something sweet to finish up the night.

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Based on "Bacon Cheeseburger Soup," from Catalina Castravet and Holly Nilsson of SpendwithPennies.com. [Published 01 March 2018]

"Starbucks Cheese Danish (Better Than the Coffee Shop Version!)," by Chahinez Tabet Aoul of Lifestyle of a Foodie. [Updated 11 October 2025]

Meal No. 3976: Cheddar Potato Soup

Although there was a no-show guest on tap for Thursday night, dinner proceeded as planned, albeit a bit later than normal. In the bowls was such a thick cheddar potato soup that it was almost like a cheesy mashed potatoes soup, in part a consequence of its long simmer time while waiting for the absent member of the dinner party! But was it still tasty? Of course!

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"Cheddar Potato Soup," from the Roediger House. Adapted from "Potato and Cheese Soup," from KitchenArt: The Store for Cooks [now closed] in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Meal No. 3974: Bacon Cheeseburger Soup

With a full day of UNCSA student filming taking over the house last Saturday, I was glad to have stored away in the freezer a batch of bacon cheeseburger soup, brought back to life thanks to the ease of the sous vide immersion circulator. An untaxing supper at the end of a fine day (with an early start!), it was more than all right.

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Based on "Bacon Cheeseburger Soup," from Catalina Castravet and Holly Nilsson of SpendwithPennies.com. [Published 01 March 2018]

Meal No. 3973: Roasted Broccoli-Cheddar Soup

Last Tuesday was my one weeknight to make dinner, thanks to an unexpected two-day reprieve from what was originally planned as a full week working in Virginia. But I do love being at home and the fall weather put me in a mood for soup. Roasted broccoli-cheddar soup, in fact, which was thick and creamy and absolutely delicious. While the recipe (noted below) was my launching pad, I confess that I don't refer to it anymore when I'm making it, and yep: it comes out just a little different each time. Last week's pot was as good as any I've made thus far!

In anticipation of the weekend of filming by students from the UNC School of the Arts, some of the crew were here doing preliminary set-up and staging late Tuesday afternoon. The big task was the prop desk that had to be carried upstairs for an office scene; otherwise, it was mostly staging and decorating the North Parlour for the other scene that will be shot here at the house.

We can also count on a collection of production crew members, the director, the cinematographer, the producer, and several faculty to conduct a location or tech scout ahead of the actual filming, which is the occasion for these final two pictures.

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Based on "Panera Broccoli Cheese Soup," by ChefNini and posted to GeniusKitchen.com.

Meal No. 3964: Cheddar Potato Soup

Last Monday took a turn toward the cool, with an autumn feel and strong breezes, and leaves were abundant on the driveway and around the yard. The latter half of October was at last sending up the warning flares of the colder days coming, and which put me on the trail of a fine pot of soup. Without making a grocery run, I knew I could pull it off with pantry staples, and into our three bowls for the latest boys' night was cheddar potato soup. We all went back for seconds of that tasty grub, leaving just the right amount for a single to-go container when Mookie headed out for the night.

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"Cheddar Potato Soup," from the Roediger House. Adapted from "Potato and Cheese Soup," from KitchenArt: The Store for Cooks [now closed] in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Meal No. 3950: Beef Bourguignon

Last Sunday night was a long-overdue reunion of the Roediger House regulars, and the shift into fall and the bit of rainy drear we'd had leading up to it made beef bourguignon seem like just the right bowl-filler for our evening together. Rich and silky, all hearty and hale, this is a winning recipe for just about any occasion. And it's just better if I serve up a cast iron skillet of cheddar bay biscuits to go with it, y'know.

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"Beef Bourguignon (Julia Child Recipe)," from Karina Carrel of CafeDelites.com. [Published 18 February 2018]

"Easy Cheddar Bay Biscuits (Red Lobster Copycat)," from Amy Nash of House of Nash Eats. [Published 11 August 2023]

Meal No. 3949: Vierling Saloon Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

On the final weekend of September, it was time for the terrific Bookmarks Festival of the Book, and that's the draw that brings dear UNC friends Margaret and Tathy to the house for a few days. They are pretty busy with the daytime events but then we get to enjoy visiting with one another in the front parlour once they've come in for the night. We also set aside time last Saturday night to have supper together, and the rain and drear of that early morning set me on a course for Vierling Saloon chicken and wild rice soup. Always a crowd pleaser, this hearty dish signals the advancing autumn season and has been a long-time favorite of the household.

I also had some fresh-baked rosemary-garlic focaccia to go with it, and it too fit the bill well. And while we did have our periods of rain, by that evening it was pretty nice for a good sit and visit on the front porch.

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"Vierling Saloon Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice Soup," formerly offered at the Vierling Saloon in Marquette, Michigan. Another online version of the recipe can be found at Miss Mary's Blog.

"Easy Rosemary Garlic Focaccia," from Adam and Joanne Gallagher of InspiredTaste.net.

Meal No. 3944: Taco Bacon Cheeseburger Soup

The call of easy comforting dishes remained strong last week, so I unearthed a small vacuum-sealed bag of long-ago prepped taco meat and let it stand in for regular browned ground beef in a hearty pot of bacon cheeseburger soup on that Monday. After the frozen bag-o-meat had heated via sous vide, and all other elements were correctly combined in the pot, the south-of-the-border style concoction sent me north of my happy line once the soup was ready to slurp up with joy.

Having a fantastic companionable dog always makes things a lot better, of course.

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Based on "Bacon Cheeseburger Soup," from Catalina Castravet and Holly Nilsson of SpendwithPennies.com. [Published 01 March 2018]

Meal No. 3920: Succulent Braised Pork Stew

It’s not your ordinary hump day if Wednesday rolls around and that delightful couple Mr. and Mrs. Fernandez are here. It’s a peak good time. And I always hope to serve them a good dinner, if I can pull it off, and the menu was set by the steady rain and weighty petulance of our miserable week of crappy weather: I decided to go with succulent pork stew. And as I'm sometimes inclined to do, I reviewed the blog to find—and be shocked— that it's been over four years since I last made this. (One other tidbit about this recipe: I first made it within the first two or three weeks of the coronavirus pandemic shutdown in 2020.)

The bonus item perched on the edges of our bowls last week was one (or two!) cheddar bay biscuits, baked up all perfect and spectacular in the cast iron skillet. It was a night where seconds were had, much to the grinning pleasure of this bumbling kitchen tinkerer, before several competitive rounds of pool were played upstairs.

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"Succulent Braised Pork Recipe," from Melissa D'Arabian on FoodNetwork.com.

"Easy Cheddar Bay Biscuits (Red Lobster Copycat)," from Amy Nash of House of Nash Eats. [Published 11 August 2023]

Meal No. 3915: Roasted Broccoli-Cheddar Soup

By the time we were into a third day that felt much more like November than August, the persistent drear and rain hanging about, I just wanted soup. That's what happened on Wednesday, mid-day, and it was a stupendous pot of the roasted broccoli and cheddar variety. I ought not to have eaten quite so much of it, but any regret you hear in this is a contrivance.

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Based on "Panera Broccoli Cheese Soup," by ChefNini and posted to GeniusKitchen.com.