I love soup so much it's killing us both

as autumn is unfolds and the days get shorter and colder, there's a lot of things i look forward too. one in particular is the creation and consumption of hot foods. i know what you're saying, "but detroit, people eat hot food all year round." yes, this is true. but it's a lot easier to stand in a hot kitchen when it's cold outside. it's a lot more comforting to come in from chilly autumn nights when you can smell soup cooking when you get inside. so let's start with some disclosure, i'm not a chef. at all. not even close. so anytime i post a recipe, just remember, this shit isn't science. mess around, change some stuff, adjust, experiment. this is just what i came up with and liked. so, let's start with this puppy i like to call:

"I Love Soup So Much It's Killing Us Both"
what you'll need:
1 crock pot (or similar slow cooker, you can try to just use a pot and cook on low heat for a while, might not work as well, might work better, fuck if i know.)
1 small/medium sized regular pot
1 strainer
1 knife
2 cans of vegetable broth/stock
2 regular sized potatos
6-8 stalks of celery
4-6 regular carrots (you could probably substitute with like... 30 baby carrots, but won't taste as good)
1 onion
1 green onion
1 leek
1 cup pearl barley
4-6 cloves of garlic
a TON of dill (fresh if possible)
a bunch of basil (fresh if possible)
a bunch of other herbs (rosemary, thyme, stuff like that)
salt, pepper, etc

okay, so, this is a long recipe, it's a crock pot, the thing cooks really slow, but it's awesome and worth the wait. so, it's best to start this at about 4 oclock the day before you want to eat it.

1. put the 2 cans of veggie stock in the crock pot, and then use the can to put 1 can of water in the pot as well.

2. leave the skins on the potatoes, and chop those fuckers up into cubes. i cut them into about 1cm cubes, but the size is up to you. put them in the pot. chop up 2 celery stalks. put them in the pot. cut 1 slice of onion, chop it up, put it in the pot. chop up a bunch of green onion, put it in the pot. chop up 2 or 3 cloves of garlic really small, put it in the pot. take a fuck ton of dill and put it in the pot. a little bit of salt, pepper, and whatever herbs you want to be part of the base... all in the pot. cook all this shit on high for like... 6 hours. then, switch it to low and let it cook like this overnight. in the meantime, keep an eye on it, it should be okay, but if it starts getting low on broth, toss in another can of water.

3. when you get up in the morning, check on it... again, you should be okay, but if it's low on broth, toss in another can of water. now, chop up allllllll your carrots and toss those guys in there. and while you're at it, chop up another stalk of celery and toss that in. chop up another clove of garlic, toss it in. toss in some more dill, some rosemary maybe. at this point you definitely want to start putting in some salt and pepper, too. keep it cooking on low.

now we start to count backwards.

4. about 3 hours before you're going to serve it, you want to cook the barley. now, this part you might actually want to follow, if you screw up the barley, it'll get gross and you might not want to use it. so, take your 1 cup of pearl barley, rinse it with cold water. put it in your regular pot with 3 cups of water. bring to a boil, once it's boiling, reduce the heat to low, cover it, and let it simmer for 1 hour. after that, strain it, and rinse it again. then stick it in the fridge for about an hour.

5. about 2 hours before serving, toss a bunch more dill and a huge pile of basil into the pot. and depending on your taste, you can put in more garlic too. also, cut 1 more slice of onion, chop it up, put it in.

6. about 1-1.5 hours before you're going to serve it, take the barley out of the fridge and put it in the soup. cut 6 or 7 quarter inch thick slices of the leek, chop that up, toss it in. chop up 4 more stalks of celery, put it in. maybe some more dill? i dunno, make the call yourself. now, cook it on high until you're ready to serve it.

7. ladel yourself a huge bowl of it, eat it with some crusty bread, like a baguette or something like that. and most of all, enjoy.

love, detroit