What to Eat with Soup

As I may have mentioned probably every day this month, September is my favorite month of the year for a number of reasons:
1. Temperate Temperatures. I can finally wear my jeans with my t-shirts and be comfortable and occasionally bust out a power cardigan.
2. Back to School. After all these years, I still look forward to buying new pencils; hence, my chosen profession.
3. Earth, Wind and Fire Day. Yes, I was the teacher that sent "September" in as a song request for the morning announcements. What can I say it makes me experience a dance party in my mind and how totally cool is it that you can actually celebrate the 21st night of September as a holiday if you feel so inclined.
4. Start of Soup Season. If there is one food I love, it is soup. So easy, yet so complicated. So calming, so versatile, so satisfying. Try as I may I can never get into chilled summer soups. I have made gazpacho. I have dreamed of vichychoisse. However,  soup does not truly become magical until September when the air chills and leaves tinge, which brings me to this particular post. While soup itself can be a full meal it is sometimes nice to have something to accompany it.

Although soup from scratch is simple and enjoyable, one product I do adore is the Healthy Sisters Soup mixes, little bags with beans and spices that create a tasty soup. They are assembled by women struggling with poverty and unemployment. The program gives them a job and healthy work experience to get them back on their feet. The other morning I took one of my mixes and tossed it in my crockpot with a can of diced tomatoes, onion, pepper, carrots and water and come home to a delicious 6 Bean Organic Soup. This left me time to figure out what to pair with this tasty soup.... Bread and Homemade Ricotta Cheese!

Molasses Bread
Combine 2 cups of buttermilk (I know not a common ingredient but it's used in the ricotta too!!), 1 cup of oats,  1/4 cup of molasses, 2 T oil.

Add 3 cups of flour, 1 T sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt. Mix and let rest 2 minutes. Knead dough while adding about a 1/2 cup more flour.

Divide into to loaves. Sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal (or just grease but the cornmeal is great) and place loaves on. I baked my on a pizza stone so if you own one use it!!
Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until browned and crispy on the outside.

Ricotta Cheese
In a pot, combine 1 cup of cream, 4 cups of milk, 3/4 cup of buttermilk and 1 tsp of salt. Bring to a slow boil and cook until curds begin to separate. Stir. Turn down heat to low and cook 2 more minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 30 minutes to an hour while curds separate. Line a colander cheesecloth and ladel (don't pour!) curds into cloth. Let sit for 10-15 minutes to drain.

Serve ricotta on still warm bread with hot soup. This combo was so good I ate it for breakfast and lunch the next day! AND... I had ricotta leftover to make dinner the next night, which I will share with you soon!