Cold day, hot soup

I feel like an old-fashioned woman today.  

A real woman who knows how to make real soup.  
I love soup.

I love to make soup.

I love to eat soup.

I love to smell soup simmering on the back of the stove.

But this soup story starts back at Christmas time.  After we pulled off the last tender slice of our spiral-sliced Christmas ham I wrapped the bone up and stuck it in the freezer to make soup “some day.”  Today seemed like the time - because it might be our last really cold day for this winter.  

So I simmered that ham bone until every little scrap of tastiness fell off. To make hubby happy I also added one of those cheap cans of ham from the dollar store.  The kind where the ham is diced and therefore doesn’t work so well to make sandwiches, but I am happy to report that it works really well to supplement a soup bone!  Meanwhile I diced a couple carrots and threw them in… and then some cabbage and onion and some celery leaves. Added a handful of soup mix from Country View (the “Mennonite store” in the Thumb) which contains lentils and a few other goodies. At the last minute I decided to dump in the leftover fried potatoes from breakfast.

So was it good?

You bet it was!

I am quite sad that I failed to get pictures along the way.

As we were savoring the yumminess and speaking of the accomplishment, I easily admitted that this was really no big deal.  This is simply making good use of what we have - like my grandma would have done. All. The. Time.  Every day. Every week.

But…  it can feel like a big deal in these “modern” times.  These days when we don’t always make use of every little scrap.  Bob wondered aloud what people usually do with the ham bone.  I suppose they toss it in the garbage; right? I have to admit I almost made myself pitch this one at Christmas time - because I figured I wouldn't really follow through to make soup from it.  But hey, I'm rather glad I didn't toss it and that I DID follow through.

At any rate it was fun.

And tasty.

And gratifying.

And fortifying.

I hope to do it again.

Maybe even make it a habit.

...

Did I mention that I love soup?
Soup warms your innards.  Therefore coming up with a new soup recipe is something to celebrate.