Cold Soup

Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 45 min

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional unattended time.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less, but requires additional unattended time.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

For an even more elegant presentation, make a design in or swirl the two soups.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 35 min We recommend you use only fresh local corn when making this soup. The supersweet corn on the cob sold in plastic-wrapped packages in supermarkets yields an unpleasantly sweet soup. To make this soup vegetarian, simply omit the king crab.

We think bowls made of ice are the perfect vessel for this soup, but if space is tight in your freezer, regular soup bowls will work just fine. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 8 1/2 hr (includes chilling)

Beets for this refreshing cold soup were sometimes finely diced, other times coarsely grated. We liked best whichever we were being served, and I still alternate, indiscriminately.

To start, offer a seafood appetizer, such as chilled cocktail shrimp with herbed mayonnaise. What to drink: Pour Champagne or sparkling wine throughout the meal.