A Precious Food Memory.... Potato Soup

Potato Leek Soup is on the menu for us tonight.  

It is a nourishing comforting meal for me.  

When I was a child, my father would make potato soup for us.  I remember that he would make it for us after a period of illness.  The first thing I would eat once my appetite would return would be potato soup on many occasions.  It is something I still crave when I have been sick in bed without an appetite for a few days.  

I remember my first year of marriage to Dan.  I was finishing up my degree in education with my student teacher semester and we were nearing the end of the semester before Christmas.  I became quite ill and was diagnosed with pneumonia and sent to bed for about two weeks.  At one point I could not even sit up without throwing up.  I did not eat for days because I just could not.  You know you are loved when someone holds your hair, keeps cold washrags ready for the back of your neck and forehead and fusses over you for weeks at a time.  Not every man is willing...  

My precious husband was at his wit's end on how to help me.  He got me to the doctor and got the medications that the doctor prescribed and put me straight to bed.  He brought chicken broth, Gatorade, water, ginger ale... anything I could keep down to get more liquids in me.  

Once the fever finally broke and I was able to sit up for a little bit at a time I began to eat a few bites of toast here and there.  My husband knew that my appetite was returning and in an attempt to find out what he should get for me once that happened he called my father to ask.... "What do I feed her once her appetite returns?"  Without missing a beat my dad told him to make potato soup and then proceeded to tell him how to do it.  

He came in, sat me up and propped my pillows behind me.  He went back out of the room noting he would be right back and then proceeded to bring in a bowl of that soup.  I was completely baffled that he made soup and had to ask what happened.  He told me about the phone call and then sat in the chair beside the bed while I started eating.  I had that soup over the next two or three days and savored every bit of it.  It restored strength to my body and spirit quickly.  I cannot, to this day, eat a bowl of potato soup that I do not think about the two most important men in my life.... my Daddy and my Danny.  

Here is the link to the recipe we will share tonight... perfect timing with all the sniffles and coughing going on around here in the last week.  Even allergy season deserves Potage Parmentier

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Grow Write Guild #21: Gardener

Write about the moment when you knew you had become a gardener.

My mom is a gardener who grew flowers, plants, shrubs and trees and my dad always worked in the yard keeping it manicured and lovely, so I think I have always been interested in dirt and flowers and trees and such.  I recall a garden in my Meemaw's yard on occasion, too.  I remember playing in the dirt and trailing around through the plants and trees when we lived in the Conroe, TX area and when I visited my Meemaw in Louisiana in the summers when I was small.  My mom always had lots of plants she would tend to.  One of her favorite things was wandering around watering plants and washing off the sidewalk when the pollen and dirt were really covering things.  It is interesting that I find joy in that as well.  I love watering in the mornings before the heat of the day sets in or in the cool of the evening when they need an extra drink in the long hot season of the summer.

Everywhere we have lived I have had some kind of flowers or plants that I have worked on but it was not until we moved to Kansas that I really found my niche.  I grew this raised bed of vegetables the summer we were there and it was the most wonderful thing I had grown, up to that point.  It was wonderful to grow something I could actually eat instead of just decorative plants.

Before we moved to Kansas we had been in a small little church in a town called Paluxy, Texas.  It had a church, a post office and two houses up on the little hill that were marked by the city limit sign .  People came from out of the woodwork to come on Sunday mornings.  It was a little farming and cattle community.  I think it has been my favorite church we have served in since I have become an adult.

There was this little old lady, Mrs. Macrimmon (Mrs. Mac for short), who took me in and nurtured this young wife and mother in the most beautiful of ways.  She encouraged me and taught me and every summer she had the most magnificent home garden full of lettuces,  root veggies, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and a variety of squashes.  She would send something home with us every weekend when we were there for services.

After we left Paluxy we moved to Kansas and it was the time I spent with her that drew me into the idea that I could even grow vegetables in the first place.  We had this little patch in our backyard that was walled in with lumber and we pampered that little space with chicken manure from a local church member, fertilizer, compost and then we planted.  We took an old tire and filled it with good soil and grew strawberries in it, too.  It was the first moment I picked a fresh tomato and zucchini out of that garden that I knew.  I knew I would be a gardener.... a vegetable gardener... in some capacity for the rest of my life.

That summer we had fresh veggies and salads on the table almost every day.  We had local farmer and gardener friends share things with us from their gardens, too, and it was the first summer I tried my hand at canning.  I canned bread and butter pickles and gave a ton of jars away with plenty to spare for my husband to enjoy a plethora for himself.

That summer made me brave.

It made me aware of the possibilities.

It made me a vegetable gardener.

Marion Cunningham... in memorium

I missed this until this week because of our "off the grid" time in the wilderness but I wanted to share her philosophy because it is one that has shaped mine...  She had a heart for the home cook and for the beginning cook.  I loved her take on food and meals together.  


"People are living like they are in motels.  They get fast food and take it home and turn on the TV.  Schools and sports groups have soccer practice or what have you during what used to be called the dinner hour.  We don't need more competitive sports.   We need to sit facing people with great regularity, so we are making an exchange and we are learning to be civilized."  Marion Cunningham 1922-2012


another favorite...

Marion Cunningham on Home Cooking

"Home cooking is a catalyst that brings people together. We are losing the daily ritual of sitting down around the table (without the intrusion of television), of having the opportunity to interact, to share our experiences and concerns, to listen to others. Home kitchens, despite the increase in designer appliances and cabinetry, are mostly quiet and empty today. Strangers are preparing much of our food. And our supermarkets, which once considered restaurants and fast-food places the enemy, have joined the trend by enlarging their delis and offering ready-to-eat food they call "home-replacement meals." But bringing ready-cooked meals home is not the same as cooking in your own kitchen, where you are in control of the ingredients you use, where you fill the house with good cooking smells, and where you all share in a single dish, taking a helping and passing the platter on to your neighbor. Nothing can replace that." — Marion Cunningham, from the introduction to Lost Recipes.

and a few great articles I enjoyed on the subject of MC

A Cooking Kinship

In Memory of Marion Cunningham

Marion Cunningham from Tea and Cookies

New York Times Obituary to Honor MC

Fannie Farmer and the delicious waffle recipe...

Buttermilk Crumb Muffins - Marion Cunningham  and Julia Child

"Home cooking is a catalyst that brings people together."  Marion Cunningham

For Jennie... Peanut Butter Pie Friday

I don't typically share a recipe more than once here but this is for a special reason.  A fellow blogger... Jennie at In Jennie's Kitchen suddenly lost her husband, Mikey, recently.  She shared a post in memory this week.  His favorite pie was peanut butter pie.  So, to honor his life and her memory I am sharing my peanut butter pie recipe again.  We just made it on August 6th for our middle boy's birthday so I have new pics, too.  We did a twist on it with some mini Reese's Pieces on top.  Please visit Jennie's and leave your well wishes and prayers for her and enjoy a peanut butter pie in memory of her precious husband this weekend.  

You need 24 graham cracker squares
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup melted butter

I put the graham crackers into a food processer or blender and process until fine crumbs. Then I add the sugar and butter and combine. It will still be very crumbly. You put it into the pie pan and press the bottom and up along the sides until it is evenly distributed. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 12 minutes and then remove and cool.

While it is cooling you can make the pie filling.

Ingredients include...

To food processor add:

* 8 ounces cream cheese
* 1 cup powdered sugar
* 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
* 6 Tablespoons milk (I used almond milk)
* 8 ounces whipped topping
* chocolate chips (optional)
* chopped peanuts for topping (also optional)

Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, peanut butter, and milk in processor and blend until smooth. Fold in topping (I use a separate mixing bowl and not the food processor to do this). Spoon into baked crust. I also put some chips into the pie and some on top. Garnish as you like with chocolate chips and/or peanuts. Refrigerate until firm.