Thursday, May 9, 2013

what NOT to add to your soup


I made some dee-licious soup last night.
Chicken soup.
Homemade.
Except here's the story about when I should have listened to that little voice in my head:

I save things.
I'm not as bad as I used to be.  I have some clutter, but saving food just makes sense to me.  Freezing stock after you boil meat seems like a simple way to have a tasty starter on hand when you want to make soup.  I made this baked ham at Easter time.  THREE days it took me to make ham for a crowd.  It was a pretty tedious process, but the ham was tasty.  I strained the stock after boiling the meat, and put it in the freezer to use for later.  Later came yesterday.
In my head I thought You're making chicken soup.  You might not want to use ham stock for chicken soup.  
I tend to be a bit of a bully in the kitchen.  Plus I was in a hurry.  I ignored that little voice; went right on and used the frozen ham stock.  It worried me a tiny bit that there was the use of MUCH vinegar in the boiling process for that Easter ham.  But I forged ahead.  I carefully chopped veggies, minced garlic and added shredded chicken.  "Mmmmm... this smells good!" One of the kids said when they came home from school.
I relaxed about the vinegar.
It was a crazy night (they usually are at our house) so I dished four bowls of soup, put hot biscuits on napkins and ran out the door to soccer practice.  The other four were headed out the door to youth activities at the church.  When soccer practice was over, the youngest hopped in the shower while I fixed his dinner.  He came hungry to the table, and gobbled up the soup.
Again, I relaxed another notch and thought Phew. The vinegar must have boiled off enough that it tastes pretty good.
In case you're wondering why I didn't sample the soup, I'll disclose that I'm having a tooth problem.  Standard protocol apparently.  I was afraid to put anything in my mouth, so I abstained.
Morning boy never said a word.  I hesitantly asked "Sooo... how was the soup?"
"It tasted sort of spicy. Did you put barbecue sauce in it?" came the reply.
Then I started to worry.
We cleaned up, and I hurried to tuck myself into bed with a book before the rest of the crew came home.  I was happily reading when I heard them come in.  I waited for the feet to come tromping up the stairs, but instead I heard cupboards open, and then the sound of cereal being poured into bowls.  Eventually they made their way up, the girls piled on the bed and Mr. Dub slipped into the closet to change.
"Boy, that was some soup!" he said from the closet.
I looked at Rooney. "Was there a hint of sarcasm in his voice?" I asked softly.
She tipped her head. "Mom." she countered. "We just had cereal for supper.  WHAT was in that soup?"
Then Dub emerged.  "Yea... what'd you put in there... Mop n Glo?"
There was talk about dumping bowls of soup out the window while they were driving on the highway.  They wondered if passersby might have thought there was some intestinal rebellion happening in our vehicle.  I laughed so hard I counted it for my weekly abs workout.
Here's what I learned:
When you boil ham in water and vinegar, the stock should NOT be used for a chicken soup base.  It MIGHT, however, do a bang-up job on your floors.  Leftovers anyone?

4 comments:

LL said...

I laughed out loud reading this!
I love your family!!
"boy, that was some soup"
My kitchen floors are disgusting, please send soup.

ellen said...

Years ago my mom was working with the youth to prepare a BIG pot of soup for a BIG ward dinner one of the teenage boys threw a SHOE in the soup. Someone yanked it out and continued to stir the soup and the dinner went on as planned.

shirlgirl said...

I'd probably be with the girls and would have eaten cereal. Now what did you eat for supper since you were having a tooth problem? Remember the smoothie you made with the "frozen banana?" That's another one for your book of:"I'd better not do that again". You are inventive, Jen. Sending lots of love--Aunt Shirley

balmforth.family said...

You still deserve brownie points for at least you MAKING dinner! Cereal is often eaten for at least two meals a day at our house. ;)