Cream of cauliflower soup

The days are getting shorter, the temperatures are dropping, and we're almost to that time of year when all you want to do is eat a bunch and then sleep for four months straight.  That's how you feel, right?  Right?

Am I the only one who wants to be a bear and hibernate every winter?

At any rate, it's time to break out the comfort foods of soups, breads and hearty casseroles to help us all make it through the season.  And recently, I found a new comfort soup to add to my repertiore.  Taste of Home has a wonderful Cream of Cauliflower soup recipe. 

For the most part, simply follow the directions online.  I added more carrots and celery than the recipe called for.  More vegetables are good!

The instructions do not mention how to chop the cauliflower.  I did some of it in the food processor, being careful not to chop too finely.  To make sure I had some good-size bites of cauliflower, I also chopped some by hand. 

My only word of caution regarding the recipe is to be careful when you are mixing the butter, flour, milk and whipping cream mixture.  The directions say to bring the mixture to a boil, stir and cook for two minutes or until thickened.  In my experience, the mixture got extremely thick in about a minute, so be sure to stir the entire time and stop before it turns into cement.

From there, add the creamy mixture to the larger soup mixture.

The recipe states to cook the soup for 10 minutes after adding the cream mixture, for a total of 40 minutes cooking time.  I'm sure I let this simmer for well over an hour, and it was fine. 

This soup was delicious.  I liked it, the Little Guy liked it, and Mom2 liked it, so the recipe was a definite winner.  The recipe makes a large batch, which is great for easy lunches.  It reheats very well.  The TMI household is giving this recipe 4 stars--give it a try!