The Soup Kitchen

[trams]

This is one of my favorite meals. Mom always made fried taters with it also.

 

[editec]

Sounds delicious.

My father makes one hell of a navy bean soup.

It all starts out with a ham hock.

 

[Foxfyre]

This is one of my favorite meals. Mom always made fried taters with it also.

When we were first married, we were sooooo broke and our first child came 10 months after the wedding which didn't help the financial situation. There were no government programs for the "poor".

But almost all our friends were in the same boat and we often pooled resources. One would provide the hamburger, somebody else the pinto beans, still somebody else the potatoes. And we would make up huge pots of pinto beans, perfectly seasoned of course,, add browned and drained hamburger--much cheaper than ham--and fry up a mess of potatoes and everybody could eat for days in the weeks that there were days of week left over after the paycheck ran out. In the summer, dessert was usually a 'stolen' (with permission) watermelon or one purchased for 10 cents from a farmer.

Another favorite was a big pot of stew with each contributing something and homemade cornbread. Corn meal and flour were both still pretty cheap.

Nobody could afford to go out so we would eat, drink huge amounts of iced tea, put the babies to bed, and play spades or bridge or pinochle or hearts all night.

Looking back now, little money was not much of a problem really. Those were some of our happiest times.

 

[boedicca]

Sounds delicious.

My father makes one hell of a navy bean soup.

It all starts out with a ham hock.

I recommend trying ham shanks instead. Much more meat, and a lot less fat!

The soup turned out to be an excellent batch! I was able to keep it soupy enough to still be soup.

Besides having a delicious dinner last night, I now have quite a few meals added to the stores in the freezer!

 

[boedicca]

This is one of my favorite meals. Mom always made fried taters with it also.

When we were first married, we were sooooo broke and our first child came 10 months after the wedding which didn't help the financial situation. There were no government programs for the "poor".

But almost all our friends were in the same boat and we often pooled resources. One would provide the hamburger, somebody else the pinto beans, still somebody else the potatoes. And we would make up huge pots of pinto beans, perfectly seasoned of course,, add browned and drained hamburger--much cheaper than ham--and fry up a mess of potatoes and everybody could eat for days in the weeks that there were days of week left over after the paycheck ran out. In the summer, dessert was usually a 'stolen' (with permission) watermelon or one purchased for 10 cents from a farmer.

Another favorite was a big pot of stew with each contributing something and homemade cornbread. Corn meal and flour were both still pretty cheap.

Nobody could afford to go out so we would eat, drink huge amounts of iced tea, put the babies to bed, and play spades or bridge or pinochle or hearts all night.

Looking back now, little money was not much of a problem really. Those were some of our happiest times.

Very nice. My friends and I were like that when I was in grad school. We all had very little money; so our entertainment included a great deal of pot luck dinner parties.

We had so much fun!

 

[boedicca]

I am of the school of using up every bit of a turkey, chicken, roast etc.

A few days ago, I roasted a whole chicken for dinner - rubbed the inside and out with Debra Dawson's "Terrific Turkey" herb blend, and then basted the bird with dry sherry and chicken stock. We had two dinners from the chicken (it was 6 lb roaster). Today I used the leftovers to make chicken noodle soup, which is delish!

Method:

- Remove meat from carcass and set aside.
- Make stock with bones, onion, celery, carrot, bay leaf, and pepper corns.
- Strain stock, return to soup pot.
- Add diced onion, celery, carrots, parsnip, and turnips, cook until vegetables are soft.
- Shred chicken meat, add to pot.
- Season with poutry seasoning, thyme, parsley, salt and pep.
- Cook egg noodles in separate pot, strain, and add to soup.

Total Comfort Food.