By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
The Winter weather is officially here which means that it is time for soup season! In honor of this, the Dover Town Library (DTL) welcomed Therapy Gardens’ representative Peggy to talk about all things soup.
The goal of these types of presentations is to help seniors discover new passions, spark existing interests, and help them feel empowered towards their journey in a healthier and happier lifestyle. Therapy Gardens’ owner David Wheeler created this specific presentation for Peggy to give as he is commonly known as the soup expert.
Both Peggy and David make some amazing soup stocks and broths all while adding no extra sodium. For this presentation, Peggy went over how to make homemade stocks and broths, use healthier ingredients to increase nutritional value, create a variety of soups, including vegetarian, and find “healthy-ish” shortcuts when you do not have a lot of time.
Not only did seniors learn how to make some delicious soups, but they also were lucky enough to try some of them out! The two soups that Peggy brought in to try were butternut squash and a hearty tomato, both of which were a huge hit.
Throughout the presentation, Peggy told seniors an array of different facts, tips and tricks, some of which were really shocking to some of them. For example, she let them know that we as a society have certainly come a long way when it comes to making soups. The first soup known to be created was actually made with hippopotamus meat if you can believe it. From there, we have definitely expanded our horizons but not always in the best ways. To this day, soups are one of the most highly processed foods that we can eat and contain an outrageous amount of sodium.
Due to this, Peggy suggested to everyone to cook their own soups at home which is way healthier for us all. By doing so, we can control the amount of sodium we put into the soups, as well as incorporate healthier ingredients. She additionally pointed out some safe / healthier alternatives for salt, including cayenne pepper, paprika, black peppercorns, bay leafs, and sage.
Overall, this presentation definitely lit a spark within these seniors to start cooking some delicious homemade soups. To help them on their soup cooking journeys, Peggy passed out a sheet with five different recipes on it, including White Bean & Spinach Soup, Leek & Potato Soup, Spinach Soup, and more. With the cold weather upon us, now is the perfect time to start testing and trying out any new soup recipes you’ve wanted to try!
