Gone with the wind.........

I had decades worth of recipes written on scraps of paper and 3 x 5 cards that I had been gathering since my teens, my Mom's, and Gramma's, wonderful family recipes of all my favorites ... my Mom's Chili Verde, her amazingly easy, flavorful Chop Suey, Granny's Chicken and Dumplings, desserts, salads, and of course, recipes for those marvelous soups and stews that warmed us on the cold blustery days... anyway, I had always intended to put them all into a book, or to at least digitize them so that they could be saved and shared. I loved those scraps of paper and never got around to it. Those grubby bits of paper and card stock, spattered by ingredients, creased and worn, soft from years of being refolded after use, and smelling oh so faintly of spices, felt real to me. tangible and homey. My mothers familiar scrawl, her funny little notes........Pulling out those handwritten treasures was almost a form of therapy, certainly they were a touchstone for me. They lived in a beautiful wooden and metal scrollwork box on a shelf in my dining room.

We found what was left of the box after the fire, we kinda recognized a bit of the metal scrollwork... my son pried it open while we held our breath, hoping that the once lovely box had somehow protected those vulnerable pages......
Once he peeled back the burned layers of what was left, a few charred edges of my treasured "receipts" fluttered out, then they just disintegrated and disappeared on the breeze.

So my mission now is to piece together those recipes, add in more that I find along the way, and get a cookbook published for my Mom. I think she would have loved that.

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Monday, December 27, 2010

Prime Rib Soup, or Christmas Redoux!

Two juicy, meaty Prime Ribs, (bones) from the Christmas Prime rib
1 or 2 cups of diced prime Rib, (If you can salvage it from the boys)
2 large russet potatoes, OR leftover baked potatoes from Christmas
1/2 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
4 cups vegetables.  (seriously, whatever you have left from the Christmas Feast, including the raw vegetable or crudity plate), no leftovers?  OK, peas, carrots, brussel sprouts, green beans, whatever you like, or whatever is at hand
2 bay leaves
Kosher salt, to taste
Fresh Cracked black pepper


Saute Onions. garlic and celery until soft while roasting the prime rib bones with carrots and celery until they are browned, (about 40 minutes at 400 degrees)
Put all into stock pot, complete with fat and browned bits.
Add broth.
Add veg and leftover prime rib, chopped.
Simmer, (do NOT boil) for about 30 minutes or until all veg are tender.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.


Easy and fast, this is a hearty and delicious meal, and I always feel a bit virtuous when I have used those Christmas feast leftovers to a good end instead of scrapping them into the dustbin after a few days.

Serve with warm, crusty French bread.   Alours!  You are done ~
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