It’s definitely soup and cornbread weather

 

When grandson Billy and I lived in Arkadelphia, and when the Daily Siftings Herald had a contest for the best soup recipe, I placed with Pantry Soup. I’ve no idea where the recipe or winning apron is, but I still make soup.

                Lately, especially since the weather turned off cold, I wanted soup. I pulled down a recipe book from Piggott United Methodist Church women, purchased from Lou Forrest when she was proprietress of the Piggott Inn many years ago. I stopped in the soup-and salad-section. And when I read through a recipe submitted by Frances Oxley called Texas Soup, I stopped and read through the ingredients. I had everything except two pounds of ground beef, a can of pinto beans, a can of hominy and a can of kidney beans.

                But—in the freezer was a quart of already-cooked white beans. That would suffice for the three cans I didn’t have. I couldn’t believe what other ingredients called for that I already had. Here’s my experience:

                In a Dutch oven, I was to place the meet and one cut, large onion to brown. Having no meat, that meant I’d have to chop the onion and brown it. I didn’t want to do that. Luckily, I’d bought a box of Lipton Onion Soup Mix but had not used it. Aha! I opened one of the two packages, poured it into the pot and added, as instructed, four cups of water. Here was both onion and water from the original recipe.

                Added to that were the beans which I’d set out to thaw overnight. I let the soup mix and beans simmer a bit before adding another odd ingredient in the recipe that I possessed: a package of Taco Flavoring! Also, in the recipe and in my pantry, a package of Ranch dressing. I added a can of diced tomatoes as per the recipe, also a can of Rotel tomatoes. Finally, lacking meat, I added a can of chili with beans. Mixed all. Simmered, checking and stirring every ten minutes, for half-an-hour.

                Results: very salty and quite hot with peppers and taco seasonings, and thin. Other canned vegetables like black-eyed peas, carrots, and corn could be added easily. It was tasty; definitely a winter soup that I enhanced with a pan of cornbread.

                The soup made a large amount that will last through the winter storm and snow predicted for this week. As will the cornbread.

                And for a sweet treat, I mixed another batch of peanut butter and vanilla frosting into fudge. In case I run out of frozen yogurt before I can drive again, I’ll have the fudge to satisfy my sweet tooth.

   c 2021, PL dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA