Blue Moon Soup : A Family Cookbook

Rating:
Summary: Passable soup recipes in an enchanting format
Review: If this were a picture book illustrating fairy tales or nursery rhymes, I could honestly give Blue Moon Soup five stars. Jane Dyer's illustrations have just that perfect, whimsical charm that makes such children's books unforgettable. Unfortunately, this is a cookbook that seemed to forget that its main objective is to provide a collection of soup recipes that the whole family will love.

The introduction hinted at such promising soups that were fun and simple to make that I really wanted to like BMS. In fact, the recipes did turned out to be simple; averaging about 11 ingredients each, including spices, and involving nothing more complicated than chopping vegetables, herbs etc. and throwing everything into a pot to simmer. Occasionally, you have to put something or another into a blender and puree. So far so good. The names and concepts of soup were even fun; Hot Diggity Dog soup (hot dogs), Polka Dot Soup (black beans), Abracadabra (Greek lemon-and-egg), Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater (obvious), and Believe It Or Not Soup (Ice Cream), to name a few examples. I will even go so far as to say that these soups generally are fresh, healthy alternatives to the canned varieties as they contain much less sodium and fat and are made from scratch. With all the chopping required I would limit kids' participation to just standing by and "helping" mom and dad by throwing ingredients into the pot, then stirring, but that could also be fun with a little imagination.

Where BMS lost me was in the flavor. Every recipe I tried needed heavy doctoring to attain a flavor discernable enough to justify going to the bother of making these soups from scratch. Possibly, too, I am used to commercial soups that are thick and hearty, leaving the BMS soups seeming runny and diluted by comparison. The chili recipe, claiming to be AbsolutelyThe Best, was even erroneous in its recommended cooking times by a few hours (dried kidney beans are NOT fit to eat after only being soaked overnight and cooked for a mere 30 minutes). The You Can't Elope soup was a simple mixture of pureed melons, half-and-half, juice, wine and vanilla that proved to be so bland that I found myself wishing I had simply eaten the sun-ripened melon in the first place. And do we really need a "recipe" for what every kid achieves instinctively anyway by mashing ice cream in the bowl until it's creamy and half-melted?

The lone standout recipe among the seven that I sampled in this book was the pumpkin soup, which was a welcome change of pace for pumpkin purees and nicely smooth, neither watery nor artificially thick. Even the spices were right on target.

I imagine that I will eventually try some others in this book, and so perhaps keep it on my shelf for awhile longer. IMHO, Blue Moon Soup is a nice choice for people avidly watching their salt intake who love homemade soups.
-Andrea, aka Merribelle

Rating:
Summary: Great fun to read and look at
Review: Looking for humor and beautiful pictures along with fun recipes? You have found it with this book.

Rating:
Summary: SOUPer book!!
Review: What a delightfully illustrated cookbook!! Just received it and can't wait to get started!! The illustrations are splendid as is the easy to read recipes!! Enjoy!