I absolutely love wintertime soup. There are good reasons for eating soup. When you eat soup you eat both what is cooked and the cooking water, which makes soup even more nutritious than it would if you only ate what was in the soup. In addition the thing about soup is that it just loves to sit on a woodstove and wait for when you are ready to eat it. When we had a woodstove(which we will have another very soon), I loved to get up and throw all the ingredients together early in the day. That soup will simmer and make a nice lunch or evening meal when everybody comes in from the cold.

Another thing I like about soup is it's simple and variable ingredients. Last night I made a very simple soup for our evening meal. Here were my ingredients.

A 1/2 lb. piece of pork. One bag of frozen mixed vegetables. Several bones I had cut the meat off of and stored in the freezer at an earlier date. Two frozen Hamburger patties. Chopped potatoes and celery. Spices to taste. One seasoning packet from ramen noodles left over. I simmered all this together and it made a very nice soup that my family ate till it was gone.

Soup Basics: 1) Always put noodles or rice in within a short time of serving. 2)Always season your pan with a little chopped onion or celery sauteed before adding your meat and liquids. 3) Always save leftover bones from preparing other meals. 4) Try wide varieties of vegis and meats. This will increase your families nutrition painlessly. 5) Always serve with hot bread for dippin or crackers.

Last night we had cobbler. A friend's recipe.

Any kind of canned fruit or fruit topping you desire. 1 stick of butter. A cup each of milk, sugar, and flour(she uses self rising, but I add a little baking powder and salt to my regular flour.)

Melt the butter in the container you are making you cobbler in. I like a cast iron pan. mix the milk, sugar and flour in one bowl. Pour into the warm pan. Open the can of fruit and pour or spoon into the pan as evenly as possible. bake at 400.

I've made this with peaches and last night I made it with blueberry pie filling. My family loves it.

What is your favorite soup or simple dessert? God Bless!

Little bit Farm

-- Little bit Farm (littlebit@farm.com), December 29, 2001

Answers

Little bit, my grandma used to call that "Lazy Woman's Cobbler". I haven't ever forgotten it because the recipe is so easy. My mother used to tell me -- a cup, a cup, a cup, and one stick. Isn't it great!

-- Christine in OK (cljford@mmcable.com), January 12, 2002.