The View From Mrs. Sundberg's Window

The Last Thing On My Mind is Panic

October 14, 2008

Listened to the show Saturday and it was not bad. Been a little hectic around here lately with the thunder and lightning. A few power outages will throw you for a loop for sure, and add a big ol' wind in the middle of October and you've got leaves stuck to everything. Leaves, and ladybugs, and a whole mess of people dialoguing about who to vote for and, when it comes to retirement funds, how it's best not to panic. Not yet, anyway.

Panic, Schmanic. Call me a dingbat, call me naïve, but really, people, the last thing on my mind is panic. So much of what happens in the world is, well, it's like a hurricane: you batten down the hatches and do what you can to ensure basic survival. Beyond that, it's a crapshoot. You find a way to get through it in one piece. Some people glue themselves to a window. Some rock back and forth. Some manage to sleep, or play cards, and others simply breathe. I make soup.

There's no calm in the world like stirring a pot of thick, hot soup. My grandmother made oxtail soup way back during the depression, and my dad revised that recipe into a lovely beef barley (which he called "beaver head soup" to make us kids scream in horror, which we did, to humor him, and then we ate.) He made turtle soup, too, with real turtle, which wasn't half bad, and there was fish soup and wild rice soup and kleba dumpling soup. Whenever things got tense, often in November and April, out came the soup pot. He'd measure and chop and sprinkle and pour, and then, for a long, long time, he'd stir, and stare into that pot as if he were in some kind of trance. "It's ready, now," he'd whisper, finally, and we'd line up, and he'd fill our bowls with chunks of meat and dumplings and sliced carrots and celery, all in a simmering, greasy broth.

Been craving soup lately. Actually, been craving making soup. Which I plan on doing on Saturday, during the show. I'll make Beer Cheese soup this time around, and maybe some kleba soup next week if I can get Dad to give me the recipe. I have several recipes I want to try, and if I time it right, they'll take me right through election week. Imagine that.

This is a rich, Oktoberfesty soup good with bread and apple strudel.

Beer Cheese Soup

4 chicken bouillon cubes

3 cups water

1 can beer

1 sweet Vidalia (or any sweet onion), diced

2 1/2 cups potatoes, raw and cubed

1 lb Velveeta cheese, cubed

2 cans cream of chicken soup

In a large saucepan, combine bouillon, water, beer,

onion (I like to blacken mine a bit first), and potatoes.

Simmer 20 minutes, and then add cheese and soup.