Wednesday, October 22, 2003

Dream You're a Manatee - Poor Man's Potato Soup Recipe

Good morning.

Welcome to Cafe Jack.

Yesterday I heard John Lithgow sing the song from his childrens book I'm a Manatee . I'd like to have the CD, book and someone to read it to and sing with.

From time to time
I dream that
I'm a manatee,
Undulating
underneath
the sea
John Lithgow

I think a good thing to eat on a cool wet day like today is some Poor Man's Potato Soup. The main ingredients are very simple; potato, onion, milk, water, salt, pepper and butter. I like to add chicken boullion for flavor; you could use bacon if you wanted to.

I saw a cooking show once where a monk was talking about cooking root soup in the fall. I'd like to learn to make some root soup. The monk was talking about how the soup was in tune with nature....or maybe I dreamed that.

If you are really broke you could make some stone soup. I liked that story when I was little. Be sure to remove the stone before eating and put it back in your pouch for next time.

Have you ever been to a celebration of heat and light? That's what I call our house sometimes. I'm a grumpy old energy concious guy with two teenage daughters. I'm always turning off lights, hair straightners, computers, closing doors....I'll really miss them when they move out....it's going to be too quiet.

I knew a lady once who could drink a case of Bud in one sitting. But that wasn't really why I liked her. She would come into the bar I was working at and talk to me for hours about her trips to Alaska. She had a great laugh and used to like to tell me "don't sweat the small things." She was missing a hand. I thought it was a birth defect until one day I was talking to a fellow bartender and he told me she had lost her hand when she put it in front of a gun her husband was going to use to shoot her son. She saved her son and lost her hand.

On to the soup.

Poor Man's Potato Soup
Peel and quarter as many potatos as you would like
Put them in a pot of slightly salted water and boil until they just start to soften
Drain the water and set the potatos aside to cool
In your soup pot sautee some onions in butter
Cut the potatos into chunks (not too small or you'll have mashed potato soup)
Add potatos to onion/butter and cover with milk
Salt/pepper to taste
I like to use chicken boullion (the powdered dry stuff) to give the soup a richer flavor
Let the soup cook until the potatos are soft

I think a nice crusty bagette would be good with this soup. Carb up baby.

Have a fine day.

Don't sweat the small things

and maybe just for the heck of it

dream you are a manatee.