Blogging Melodrama

Speaking of Soup

When I was a kid, my Mom used to make me soup when I wasn't feeling up to snuff. (That's an old time expression that I have no idea what it means to be up to something that you sniff into your nose that causes you to sneeze or stick between your lip and teeth so that you ruin you teeth and gums and maybe even cause yourself cancer.) That's just what my old codger parents and grandparents used to say when we looked piqued. LOL There's another one of those words. (This one is supposed to mean your color isn't normal.)
Ah those red herring words are fun, aren't they?   But that’s a whole other topic.Anyway, back to the soup. I always loved my mother's soups; with the exception of small white bean, bean soup. She made this garbage, to me, so thick you could walk on it without sinking; thick with ham chunks, or ham hock chunks and onions; served with a big pan of cornbread.
Now I didn't mind the cornbread, but to get some of the lovely cakes I had to eat some of the slop in the bowl.  Everyone else was oblivious to it's disgusting taste and texture in the mouth. God help the poor ignorant critters. They must have been born with no taste buds.  That stuff was horrible and doesn't get any better even if it's watered down and someone else makes it. Bean soup is just crap in a bowl; to me.But, this disgusting stuff made me do one thing.... If I was faking sickness I was miraculously healed at mealtime, and could probably handle just a glass of milk and some cornbread. If I was genuinely sick I went without dinner, because I felt bad enough without barfing up this mess too. When I became a mother I never did serve, nor will I ever serve bean AKA crap soup. Instead, I use my own.  “Jewish Mama Get Well Soup”; what is that? It's red soup to my Polack friend who adds a splash of elderberry wine to hers, but it is more commonly called vegetable soup. I make it with anything that may resemble beef, using a minimum of 8 vegetables excluding counting potatoes and onions. Those two, to me, don't count as vegetables.  They're just there for filler and seasoning.

Once you've browned your meat in tiny bite sized pieces the way they do it for canned soups; my reason being someone sick needs smaller pieces; then add all the other jillion small cut veggies and season it to taste. Once it's simmered for about a half hour, get out the Tabasco sauce and give the big pot of cooking veggies about 8 good shakes of Tabasco and add your stood tomatoes. Tomatoes tend to burn easy so I add them last then re-season after about another half hour of simmering. You want this soup to be warm enough to make your eyes sweat, but not burn your mouth. A pinch of dried red chilies helps, but go easy on them.  You have to still be able to taste everything. It isn't supposed to be just hot in a bowl.
Once in a while I leave out the potatoes and add a handful of barley in their place; makes a nice change, and you can make it as thick or thin as you like it to be by how much you add. Now that's soup for a sick soul. All they need besides this soup is being held and maybe sing to them while rocking in an old rocker. Mothering love is strongest when applied in a rocker, no matter who's administering the rocking.  But the healing effects are just as miraculous when administered in bed on a tray.  It’s just plain love in a bowl.
Stay well, and be blessed.

posted by Jan myrz @ 4:47 PM