Spuds & Soup!!!

When I was growing up there were two things that were certain.  We ate potatoes and soup daily, year round.  My parents grew enough potatoes to sell and the rest we stored in our root cellar.  I remember my mom giving a friend a fifty pound bag of ‘spuds’ every October.  They were very poor and there were seven kids to feed.  There was always a place at their table for me and I’ll never forget going there for supper on many occasions where we ate potatoes and gravy.  That was it.  The best potatoes ever! 

There was a lesson to be learned and that was that giving is better than greed.  Mom saw a need and without a word gave this family something they desperately needed in order to survive.  It also taught me to never look down on anybody because you never know what is really going on in someone else’s life.  At this time of the year open your heart and donate to your local Food Bank.  Many people are still going without.

Potatoes were never that exciting for me.  They involved a lot of work.  In March I had to help my mom cut the potatoes in the root cellar into quarters.  Each piece had to have an ‘eye’.  Then after dad ploughed the field, we had to drop a potato quarter into the rows about a foot apart.  Later we covered them with dirt and watched them grow.    In the summer I had to walk along the rows and squish potato bugs.  It sounds gross but it was a lot safer than using insecticides. 

I was thrilled the year that ‘Mr. Potato Head’ came out. In those days we used real potatoes.  I loved pushing   plastic feet, hands, hats, eyes, moustaches into them. 

Now that I am  older I can take potatoes or leave them.  I still make a lot of soups though, that require them.  Here is a hardy recipe that will fill you up on a cold day.  Enjoy! 

Potato-Vegetable Soup

6 cups chicken broth or vegetable

3 potatoes cubed

2 carrots diced

2 stalks of celery sliced

2 cups broccoli, in small florets

 1/4 cup butter

2 cups milk

to taste salt & pepper

In a large pot combine broth and potatoes. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add carrots and celery, cook 5 minutes. Add florets of broccoli and simmer until all vegetables are tender crisp, about 5 minutes. In medium saucepan, melt butter, stir in flour. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly. Add 1 cup (250 ml) of broth from the soup. Cook on low heat until slightly thickened. Blend into rest of broth. Heat to serving temperature, but do not boil. Season with salt and pepper if desired. * I like grated cheese on mine.

Worries go down better with soup. 

~Jewish Proverb