Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Snow Days and Soup

I always loved the first snow day of the year.  My sister and I would sleep in, only to realize the winter wonderland before us hours after we would have normally needed to be up.  Excited, we would pull on our snowsuits, gloves, hats, and boots, and our dad would take us out sledding.

We trudged down the snow-covered street to the hill at the elementary school.  It was the biggest perk of living two houses away from the school.  We would sled until our faces were red and our fingers were numb.

Once we entered our vestibule and stomped the snow off our boots, we opened the door to the house and were hit with the smell of potato soup. 

My mom has always cooked potato soup on snowy days.  I love anything potato.  As far as I'm concerned, potatoes should be in their own food group.

I always rushed into the kitchen, got my chair and dragged it to the stove, and helped.  My mom would have the chicken broth, onion, and potato chunks simmering on the stove.  It was my job to mash the potatoes when they were done.  Not all of them, just enough to make the soup a little creamy but still a little chunky.

My mom then ladled the soup into mugs, and I added a couple spoonfuls of Parmesan cheese into each mug, followed by a sprinkle of dried parsley.  The whole family sat at the kitchen table and ate soup for lunch while we talked about sledding and the snow.

My mom still makes me this soup on snowy days, even though I could (in theory) make it myself.  It tastes better when she does it.  I know it's a really simple recipe, but when I think of winter and snow days, I immediately think of my mom's potato soup.  It is everything good about winter.  So far only Princess shares my love of this soup, but I'm hoping the boys will eventually follow suit.

Mom's Potato Soup
-2 cans chicken broth
-1 small onion, chopped
-4-6 russet potatoes (this really varies depending on the size of the potatoes, but I say more is better), cut into 1/2" cube
-Parmesan cheese, 2-3 spoonfuls per serving
-dried parsley, for garnish

-Add first 3 ingredints to 2qt saucepan and simmer about 30 minutes, until potatoes are tender.  Use a potato masher to mash about half the potatoes.
-Ladle soup into a mug or bowl and add Parmesan cheese and parsley. Serve and enjoy.

This post was written in response to this week's RemembeRED prompt from Write on Edge. Take me back…whether to a month ago or decades ago.  Share with me a special recipe, but don’t just list out ingredients.  Take me there…in 500 words or less.
Write on Edge: RemembeRED

8 comments:

  1. This post painted such happy childhood memories, you're so blessed to have them! The first snow days were always special to me too... And reading about your mom's potato soup, I could almost feel the warmth and the comfort that you described :)

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  2. And now I want potato soup. Most of my mom's soup cooking came out of a Campbell's soup can but I did love the creamy soups she made. Even if she had a little help ;)

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  3. I have been eating very few potatoes for the last six years b/c I've been pregnant four times during that span, and flirting with GD...potato soup sounds like such an indulgence! All carbs....mmmmmm....

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  4. ok wow. i NEED to eat this like now! and such an easy sounding recipe to go along with a very lovely memory. :)

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  5. "My mom still makes me this soup on snowy days, even though I could (in theory) make it myself. It tastes better when she does it."

    How is it possible to make something JUST like your mom but not get it just right? Everything tastes better when my mom makes it.

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  6. I love how the two happy memories are linked to one another.

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  7. I found you from the RemembeRed linkup :).

    I could just smell the soup as you described pulling your chair over to the stove, maybe because that action is so familiar to me, and because I love to watch my children doing it as well.

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  8. I will have to make this soup! It sounds wonderful, and not too hard to make. "It tastes better when she does it," is so true!

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