Category Archives: soup

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

cheers to a cooler september.

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stumbled upon this old ad

for what may have seemed the perfect solution 

to the age-old dilemma: 

what to choose when caught between the seasons?

hot soup or cold drink?

why not just combine them?

‘september showed up right on schedule, and lasted a whole month.’

-jenny wingfield, author

 

 

image credit: campbell’s soup company, vintage ad, 1962

 

too hot to handle.

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 this new combo

 got me wondering

isn’t this soup meant be a cure-all for any ailment

(i already feel sad for the chickens)

created by grandmothers around the globe

as the medicine for anything from a broken heart to a broken ankle?

when ‘ghost pepper’ enters into the recipe 

(i do not feel sad for the ghost peppers)

it somehow loses the original idea of ‘soothing comfort and a warm hug’

unless the idea it to completely burn out and obliterate any ailment you may have?

and perhaps may have come down with in the future?

your system doesn’t dare, and may never be the same. 

grandma has gone rogue.

she is not messing around anymore. 

“a good spicy challenge strikes a balance between flavour and fear.”

*adam richman

 

*adam richman is an american actor and television host. He has hosted various dining and eating-challenge programs on the travel channel and history channel.

adjustment.

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the origin soup 

on thursday I went home with a cold

looking for comfort food

not wanting to go to the store

I made soup out of what I found in my kitchen

I  put it all in a crockpot, turned it on, and waited it out

 problem was

after 4 hours

it did NOT taste good

I added more herbs and some fresh salsa

I waited it out

tried again

nope, not good

added more things

now on day 4 of the soup saga

added in even more things

continued cooking

next move

add in tomatoes

but that can wait

until the morning

it’s now taking on

a creamy porridge texture

still slow cooking it

some beans still hard

still does not taste good

now a lot of soup

I could easily survive

the rest of the winter

if snowed in with this soup

it would still not taste good

but I would never go hungry

this might go on forever

like a sourdough starter

perhaps I can pass it on

to my children one day

tomorrow will be the best day ever

when the soup will all come together

I just know it.

“cooking is the art of adjustment.”

– jacques pepin

soup.

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time well spent

on a cold and sunny day

 listening to music, reading words, and making soup.

 

“there ain’t a body, be it mouse or man, that ain’t made better by a little soup.” 

-kate dicamillo

 

 

 

image credit: jess stockham, illustrator, flip-up fairy tales