Soup, Anyone?!

I know how to cook. However, I am also an empty nester and to tell you the truth, I haven't cooked, I mean really cooked, since, well, a long time. When I decided I wanted some vegetable beef soup this afternoon I didn't stop to think of how much of everything I needed, I just wrote down WHAT I needed and headed to Publix.

Gathered cans of potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, carrots, lima beans, and beef broth. Grabbed a cute box of miniature ABC pasta, some sourdough bread from the bakery, and grabbed some more Little Debbie's. Oh wait, I digress. Headed home, to open all those cans, put the beef on to brown (almost four pounds, thank you very much), sauteed two large sweet onions, and grabbed the biggest pot I could find.

It was about this time that John walked into the kitchen, took one look, and asked, "Are we feeding the homeless tonight? the neighbors? Is Jenny and Brandon and their neighbors coming to eat?" I had to admit, all of a sudden that soup had multiplied. And I didn't stop there, to make matters a bit worse, I threw some Uncle Ben's rice in along with the rest of a bottle of ketchup. Salt. Pepper. More salt. More water.

Wow. There's a lot of soup! Put the lid on, cover it up, and let it sit for awhile. Maybe it'll cook down. No, it won't. Rice fluffs up. So does ABC pasta. While The Hood laughed, I wondered if I had enough containers to hold all this soup! It got bigger. And thicker.

I fixed a big bowl for myself, thinking John would eat more than me and reduce the amount somewhat. He didn't. At this moment there are three very large containers of soup cooling on cookie racks, with a smaller container cooling near the sink. It looks like a soup kitchen. Tomorrow we have plans to eat lunch with Raymond and Virginia Elliott (soup) and I want her to tell me what this soup needs. (Do NOT laugh, because yes, it needs 'something'. I'm not sure what, but it needs some sort of seasoning and I'm betting she'll know what.) That will leave us with only two large containers and another small one.

(Note to self~before taking a picture like this, wipe the inside of the bowl!)

Maybe Leslie and Ty like soup, they live nearby! Jenny's getting a container. Sheez, you'd think at my age, with the years of cooking behind me I'd know better than to make so much soup for two people that forget there are leftovers in the fridge! Truly! It was just this morning I cleaned out fish, salad, fried chicken, and potato salad that's been in there since last week! This soup doesn't stand a chance!

In my defense, when our family was younger I cooked at least once a day but it was a meat with several veggies and a bread. Or it was a casserole with salad and bread. I didn't do vegetable soup. My soups consisted of two recipes, a wild rice soup that we all fell in love with when Lisa made it or a broccoli and cheese soup that Deborah made. So today was a first for me. The next time I make vegetable beef soup, it will be with more of an idea of how much I need.

I've also included a slice of the cake I picked up in the bakery before I got the sourdough bread ~ it's chocolate marble. Yum! And coffee in my favorite cup. It's not focused well and right after the shot that hand went straight to my mouth.

I took the following picture first. It shows a bit more of the background. Yeah, that's candy. I plead the fifth. It's a holiday! Of course we have candy corn! And M&M's in pretty colors for Halloween.

That's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it.