Fall is my favorite time of the year. In the U.S., it officially began last September 23, and will last until December 21, when winter begins. I love fall because the weather starts to change and the leaves answer vanity’s call by bidding goodbye to greens and browns and wearing all those reds and oranges that the season is known for. The word “fall” actually comes from the term “fall of the leaf,” which happens to trees closer to the season’s end. Being in California is great for all the sun-worshipping freaks out here, but I personally look forward to bringing my scarves and boots out of hiding.

The nip in the air lends itself to the ultimate comfort food: piping-hot soup that fills the stomach and warms the heart. Making the hearty Turkey Meatball Soup with Curly Endive that you see above two weeks ago made me think about how this is a perfect time to seek out, make and share yummy soup recipes that are simple yet fun to make, and are savory celebrations of the season. And how timely: it’s a chance to take stock (pun intended) of my soup-making abilities, so that when winter blows into town, I can wield my pot of soup and say, “Ha, Winter! My consommé will kick your cold culo!” (Thanks to Via for always using the Spanish word for butt/bum while we were in college!)

Before I get any more carried away, let me say that this post introduces my humble FALLIN’ FOR SOUP project on The Girl With A Curl, which aims to bring you a hopefully delicious soup recipe every other Sunday, for the rest of the season. I understand that some of you might be in countries where fall is unheard of, but I hope these recipes still make their way into your recipe box. Nothing quite soothes like a bowl of good soup! 

By season’s end, you will have learned six soup or stew recipes along with me, if you care to follow along. That seems ambitious, considering how I work full-time and craftdancesurfthenetandhavealife during the rest of my waking hours, which means I could very well skip a Sunday or two. But there’s so much for us to try our oven mitts at: bisques, cream-of-somethings, slow-cooked stews, all that rib-stickin’ good stuff. Who knows, I might get so much into it that I’ll do more than six! I actually wanted to do something every Sunday, but that’s getting ahead of myself.

Here’s the recipe for my Turkey Meatball Soup with Curly Endive to start!

TURKEY MEATBALL SOUP WITH CURLY ENDIVE
* 1 pound ground turkey
* 1 egg
* 1/4 cup onion, diced
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2-3 cubes of chicken bouillon
* 2 1/2 cups water
* 2 carrots, sliced diagonally
* 2 stalks celery, chopped
* 1 onion, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 2 medium potatoes, diced
* 1 bunch curly endive, ends trimmed and the rest cut into 1 ½-inch pieces (You can also use spinach!)

* This is what curly endive looks like, by the way. It has a slightly bitter taste that rounds out the flavors in mild-flavored soups like this one.

DIRECTIONS
1. Mix together the ground turkey, egg, onion, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Form meatballs using a small ice-cream scoop (I use mine for cookie dough, too.)

Here’s a tip to check if your meatballs are well-seasoned (because I can never get them right): Fry a little bit in some oil for a taste test. This should give you a fairly good idea about whether or not it needs a little bit of this or that.

2. In a soup pot, sauté garlic, onions, celery and carrots.

Pour in water and bring to a boil. Drop in meatballs one at a time and simmer for 10 minutes. Drop in diced potatoes and simmer until soft to the fork, about 20 more minutes.

3.  Spoon some broth into a cup. Dissolve one chicken bouillon cube in the hot liquid and pour back into the pot. Taste and adjust accordingly, adding more chicken flavor if needed.

4.  Add curly endive, cover and let simmer. Turn heat off after five minutes. Enjoy!

Nutrition note: I first made a modified version of this for my mom while she was on a low-iodine diet by using only egg whites, non-iodized salt and by omitting the bouillon cubes.

The next Fallin’ For Soup post is this Sunday, so remember to check back! Until then, I hope to finally post something about my swap project and my quilt.

I can’t wait for our tureens to teem with yummy soup! (Which reminds me, I don’t even HAVE a tureen, haha.)

Between soupy posts and updates on my quilt’s progress, it’s shaping up to be a craftin’, cookin’ fall. I can’t wait.