Feb8

seashell soup.

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it’s that seashell soup time of year.

I have a memory

from when I was very young

of my mom making me what she called ‘seashell soup’

when I had a cold, or it was cold outside

 it’s comfort and warmth

were a balm and a cure

when I grew up

i wanted her secret recipe

for this magic elixir

turns out it was:

shell shaped pasta, butter, and a little bit of broth

all this time

i thought it had special secret exotic ingredients

but it did somehow work their magic

i think the secret ingredient was

i felt the caring of someone who made a special soup for me.

and this is one magic trick i can perform.

—

“but perhaps the most precious heirlooms are family recipes.

like a physical heirloom, they remind us from whom and where we came and give others, in a bite,

the story of another people from another place and another time.”

-stanley tucci

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72 responses »

  1. If it’s made with love, it always hits the spot. And moms always do it best. There are still go-to favs every time I visit home. Perhaps not the best for my diet.. but I don’t mind. Lol.
    Thanks for the share, Beth.

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  6. I hope you still make the soup and, enjoy it. It sounds like proper comfort food. My mum made fried pasta with leftover pasta and added ham and scrambled eggs over it. Absolutely loved it as a kid but need to find a suitable vegan version now 🤗 I absolutely love the placebo effect and it proves that we are apes that tell a good story. She who has power over the narrative has power over the world.

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  11. My daughter has been coming from afar to help me. I had a stack of recipes … books, note cards, folders etc etc. I said “Toss these out.”
    She packed them up and took them home. Now, if only she’d take a bunch of other ‘junk’. She doesn’t have kids, so she will be stuck with it.

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  12. your magic soup was made with love; THAT was the secret ingredient. Beautiful post – on my way home from our little lake I saw many yellow painted sticks in a tiny, tiny garden. On the tips of some of them was a large empty seashell…. considering that we are as far from the sea as you can be, that was quite a sight! took photos and thought: that would be a lovely beth post; there you go, soul sister!

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  22. Hi Beth – So funny about the “magic powers” of simple cures. For me, we were only allowed to have ginger ale when we were sick. I could make one glass last all day by soaking a button in the soda, sucking on it for a while, and then putting it back in! It always made me feel better! Pam

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  23. Thank-you for sharing this lovely post. Seashell Soup is an heirloom recipe that undoubtedly will be passed to future generations! The Stanley Tucci quote from his book, “Taste : My Life Through Food”, has also been utilized by myself. Two years ago when making handwritten copies of my Gram’s family recipes for my children it was the introduction.

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  32. I love this post because it rings so true to me. Those childhood recipes bring us so much comfort because that extra secret ingredient is the context and association we have with those that we care about. Seashell soup sounds so comforting! And I believe you mentioned this one on the podcast too.

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