It's getting to be that time again! The weather is getting cooler, the leaves are changing, and the hankering for soup is back! 

 We had chili the other night, with cornbread casserole. It was a welcome change. Click on the photo for the recipe. Or if you'd rather have turkey chili, just click on this link.

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Whenever my daughter gets sick, she asks for soup. She loves most types of soup but she especially loves soups with noodles and without meat. I am always concerned that she gets enough vegetables though so I always try to sneak them in whenever I can.

The last time she got sick she was also afflicted with a very sore throat and lost her appetite for most things. That is, until I made this soup which is a cross of everything she had and everything that is good for her.

The soup base contains all the usual ingredients for Filipino chicken soup called Tinola and since I didn't plan on using any chicken, I used chicken broth for the soup.

The recipe starts by sauteeing garlic, onions and garlic in about a tablespoon of oil. Add the chicken broth and let it come to a boil. Then add (as in this case) mustard greens, turnip root and rice noodles. Cook until the turnip and noodles are tender at which point the greens should be too. This should take about 8-10 minutes. If your chicken broth is not seasoned already, season the soup with salt and pepper.

I didn't put any proportions because it all depends on how much soup you're making. By adjusting the proportions to your taste, you can make this soup for two or two hundred :)

This is one of my many comfort food but it's a favorite. I have to have my pansit fix at least once a month, especially on birthdays and holidays.

I cook this dish so often that it's also becoming a fast favorite for my friends and in-laws too. My brother-in-law in particular never fails to request pansit whenever I ask what I can bring for potluck.

The photo above is what I fix myself when the craving for noodles hit. It's the simplest version with just the rice noodles, carrots, celery, cabbage and slices of pork. It's real easy and can be prepared in less than an hour. Perfect for working people like me, and it's still healthy for you.

Of course, this dish is so versatile that you can add more vegetables and protein to dress it up a bit more.

The basic pancit recipe is posted on Cooked from the Heart if you'd like to try it out.

So what's your comfort food?

I felt like I was live blogging on Facebook today as I was attempting a Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake while facebooking at the same time. So I thought I'd share some of my food related updates here too. My first FB post about this:

BAKERS/COOKS WANTED TO SOLVE PROBLEM IN THE KITCHEN. I used an 8 inch springform pan instead of a 10 inch one so now I have a cake that is way too tall to add additional mousse layers to. Should I.... 1) split the cake and spread it out on a 10 inch pan then put the layers on top of it or 2) make a tall collar to accommodate the 2 mousse layers and have a towering cake (with risk of it being too tall and possibly falling over when cut) WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

That's right, what I assumed to be a 10 inch pan turned out to be 8. It happens. Next time just make sure to read the label on the pan itself rather than guessing at the size especially when you have spacial acuity problems. How would you have solved this problem? Here's how I did it (on my next FB status update):

Lesson for the day: IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM, EAT IT
My too tall cake in the too small pan problem was solved by me cutting the top off and eating it. I made room for the mousse layers and I didn't have to dirty up another pan. You all know how I hate washing dishes :) To my friends who are baking pros, yes, I know I suck at folding. I need to practice my technique. The white spots are where the meringue was not quite incorporated into the chocolate.