Soup and Bread

Oh no, I've missed the soup week! Sorry. I just have to share this recipe with you. It is one of our favorites:
Cream of Broccoli Soup
1 c chopped broccoli (fresh or frozen)
1 c water
1 T chicken base
3 T margarine
1/4 c chopped onion
3 T flour
1 c milk
1 c cream
Combine water and chicken base in med saucepan. Add broccoli. Cover and cook over med heat until tender (about 5 minutes).
Meanwhile melt butter in a deep frying pan. Add onions and cook over med heat until onions are soft. Add flour and stir well. Cook over low heat about 3 min until the roux is well formed and light tan.
Keep the burner hot, remove roux from heat and add milk and cream, stirring constantly. Return to heat and cook until thick (this could take up to 10 minutes), stirring well.
Add milk mixture to cooked broccoli-broth mixture and heat through.
Yield: 4 c.

Now, that is a great soup recipe. But what makes a great soup recipe even better? BREAD BOWLS! I can never find them around here, so I decided to make my own. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com (great place to find great recipes!).
Italian Bread Bowls
1/2 oz active dry yeast (the little packs are .25 oz so you'd need 2)
2 1/2 c warm water (110 degrees f)
2 t salt
2 T vegetable oil
7 c flour
1 T cornmeal
1 egg white
1 T water
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand til creamy, 10 min.
Add salt, oil and 4 c flour to yeast mixture; beat well. Stir in remaining flour, 1/2 c at a time, beating well with an electric mixer
When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a floured surface and knead about 6 minutes.
Lightly oil a large bowl and place dough in bowl, turning once to coat in the oil. Cover with damp cloth in a warm place til doubled in volume (about 40 min)
Punch dough down, divide into 8 equal portions and shape each portion into a 4 in round loaf. Place loaves on lightly greased baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 35 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl beat together egg white and 1 T water; (I also added some garlic powder to add a hint of flavor) lightly brush loaves with 1/2 the mixture.
Bake 15 minutes. Brush with remaining mixture and bake 10-15 min more til golden. Cool on wire racks.

To make bowls: Cut a circle in the top as big as you like, pull it off, then pull out some of the inside bread. Not all of it! Use what you pulled out to dip in the soup. Pour some soup in your bread bowl. Enjoy!

Yummy!!!!