The only things I can think of that I didn't differently: used homemade veg broth I had in the freezer (I
'm vegetarian though my husband isn't and he thought the
soup was great) used mixed dried mushrooms (you can get a large amount from costco for not too much - I keep them on hand for all my dried mushroom needs) did a healthy glug of sherry (more
than the recipe) into the mushrooms when they
were done sauteeing added spinach at the end to the
soup For the dumplings, the only thing I did that
was different than what many would do
is use an egg from one of my hens -
other than that I made them just as
other people did but mine
were full of flavor and could
be eaten plain.
Butter beans, or lima beans, add such a great texture to a
soup,
being larger and softer
than most beans, giving your butter bean
soup a texture which
is different than most
other bean
soups.