Monday, February 23, 2009

Vegetable Soup, Grilled cheese and Pumpkin pie

Hey Paw! What's for supper? Homemade Vegetable Soup, Grilled Colby/Jack cheese sandwiches, left over Corny Cornbread muffins and Pumpkin Pie. Yuuuuuuuummmy!

Can a menu get any more random?

My Grandaddy was put into an assisted living home a couple of weeks ago, and my Grandma is pretty upset about it. As one would imagine. She and Grandaddy are a love story. They've been together for 40 years and are still in love. Even when Grandaddy had trouble remembering his own name, he asked my Grandma to marry him. He couldn't remember he was already married to her. It was bitter sweet for Grandma, her husband forgot who she was, but wanted to marry this new woman, that was her. When you can't remember who you are, or who your spouse is, but you know that you want to marry that person, again.........That is true love. His memory comes and goes, sometimes he remembers, sometimes he doesn't, but he always loves. Anyway....I took the baby and went to see Grandma. We went shopping and had a really nice time. She lights up when she gets to hang out with Ben. He loves her too. Before we were leaving her house she went into the kitchen and brought us some homemade vegetable soup and pumpkin pie. I was very glad. I had a menu in mind, but wasn't looking forward to going home to cook. My Grandma's soup is so good. While we were in the grocery story, I told her I made her Jello salad, but used ice cream instead of Cool Whip in the topping. She gave me a "look" and, well, we left the grocery store with Cool Whip......

I don't know how Grandma made her soup, but I know what's in it (food allergies, Grandma gave me the list of ingredients) and I can tell you how I would have made it.

Rutabagas
Turnips
Potatoes
Carrotts
Green beans
Cabbage
Corned beef
Celery
Tomato juice
salt and pepper

The amounts you'll need depend on the amount of soup you want to make. I usually make a small pot of soup to last a couple of days.

In a soup pot add olive oil and sautee the vegetables for about 5 minutes
Then add your tomato juice about 1 large can, add some water to thin and set stove on medium low and bring to a boil.
Add your corned beef, salt & pepper to taste and bring to low, and let simmer for about 30 minutes or if you have more time, and hour. Stir occassionally. Remember the corned beef is high in sodium, so be easy with the salt!

I used the left over Corny Cornbread muffins to crumble in the soup, which added a really nice flavor.

Grilled Cheese:
I put a little butter on each slice of bread and added some Colby and Jack cheeses. I heated a skillet and turned the sandwich frequently until the cheese was melted.

Pumpkin Pie:
All I can tell you is, follow the instructions on the can. I have no idea how to make pumpkin pie. I have tried to make pies, but had to quit. I made pies for Thanksgiving dinner, two years in a row. Both years, I dropped the pie before I got it into my Dad's house. I did better the last year, I dropped it in his front yard! The year before that I dropped it in my front yard. Thankfully the pies had lids, so they just erupted and looked awful, but still tasted good and never touched the actual earth.
So, my advice for the pumpkin pie: use a ready made pie crust. follow the instructions on the can and let someone else carry it to the table.

Well, that's all for now. I hope you will enjoy the yummy menu. Remember that when it comes to soup, you can use any vegetable you want. Those are the veggies my Grandma used. Try different combinations, it's fun to come up with your own soup recipe! Enjoy cooking, it's not rocket science.

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