It is snowing and bitterly cold here in Colorado today, and I am working like a crazy woman trying to meet the deadline for my TAILS Magazine humor column. So I did what I aways do when it's cold and I'm crazy busy, I made a big pot of soup this morning to eat from all day. It's convenient and comforting. It's also cheap.
I make great soup. I learned the fine art of soup-making from my late maternal grandmother who was an elementary school teacher. She taught me to do the most amazing things with simple ingredients.
After Grandma died, we received a ton of mail from her former students. Something we family members didn't know about her was that throughout the Great Depression she made a pot of soup in her classroom every day for her students. For many, it was the only meal they had. Some of her students credited her incredible act of generosity with keeping them alive. Forty years later, they remembered and wrote to express their gratitude.
So, on days like today when I make wonderful soup from the most simple ingredients, I am comforted in many ways. I am warmed, I am nourished, and I am honored to remember the compassionate soul who was my grandmother.
