Making Nail Soup
When I was a little girl, one of my favorite stories was one called Nail Soup (also known as Stone Soup). It’s a traditional Swedish folk tale, here it is in my words as I remember.
There once was a traveler that came to small village carrying nothing but the ragged clothes on his back and bent rusty nail. The villagers tried to run him out of town saying that he was going to steal from them. “Oh no, I was coming to share some nail soup with you. All I need is a pot filled with water and I’ll make some soup to be enjoyed by all,” he said. One curious villager brought him a pot filled with water.
The traveler built a fire and got his rusty nail out of his pocket and dropped it in the pot. Soon the villagers started gathering around to see what nail soup was. After a while, the traveler tasted the soup and said, “If only I had some onions, that would really make the soup wonderful.” One of the villagers ran to grab a couple of onions. After adding the onions and cooking the soup for a while, he tasted it again and said, “If I only had a few carrots and maybe some peas, then the soup would be so much better.” Another villager ran to get a few carrots and another got some peas.
The stranger kept tasting the soup and each time he’d mention something else that would make the soup “just right” and each time a villager would run and get that item for the soup. After a while the pot was bubbling with the best smelling soup the villagers had ever smelled.
The traveler fished out his nail, wrapped it in a handkerchief and put it back in his pocket. Then he served up the stew to all the villagers, it was the most wonderful stew they had ever tasted. They were very impressed with the Nail Soup, although they could never replicate the recipe themselves.
Here’s another version of the story if you’re interested.
Last night I made a batch of nail soup, my version is a simple soup made with all the things I have that need used up. I thawed a venison steak and then proceeded to check in my freezer for anything else that needed used, I found a container of corn left from last year. I also found a head of garlic left from last year’s harvest in the basement pantry. Then I looked in the vegetable drawers in the fridge and came across some cabbage and a handful of the peas from the garden. I remembered that I had picked a pepper along with some onions and potatoes at my mom’s on Tuesday. I had a few beans from my sister’s garden and a big zucchini on the counter that I harvested a yesterday. I kept adding things as I’d find them, and pretty soon it was smelling quite delicious. After cooking in a pot for a few hours, I added a jar of my homecanned tomato soup and a few herbs from the garden to finish it off. It made for a lovely dinner with a side of freshly baked whole wheat bread.
I searched on-line trying to find the copy of the Nail Soup I had as a child, I think it may have been This One. This version of Nail Soup is updated and looks great as well. If you’re ever looking for a great children’s book to give someone, I’d highly recommend finding a copy of nail soup.
Did you have a story that you loved as a child?
Filed under About Me, Miscellaneus | Comments (13)Something to Think About
Every now and then I feel like sitting down with a good book, not just any good book, a good classic. My favorite author is John Steinbeck, I have never read a book of his that I haven’t thoroughly enjoyed. He has such a wonderful way of writing that is perfectly descriptive, yet not too wordy. I like that his stories are true to life, not always ending happily and not every story works out neatly in the end. They are at times very harsh, but that’s what I love about them. I love that his endings have a way of making you think.
Yesterday I finally found some time to sit down with a cup of coffee and one of his books I haven’t read before, The Red Pony. I especially love the last last little short story in this book titled: Julias Maltby. It’s a wonderful story that makes you wonder about happiness and cultural norms and whether poverty has anything to do with money. This is why I love his books, they usually give me something great to think about and contemplate while I’m out working in the garden.
I have a few other books from the library on my “to read” pile and I can’t wait to find some time for them.
Who’s your favorite author? Do you love any of the classics?
Filed under About Me, Books | Comments (24)Quote of the Day: Kahlil Gibran
Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.
-Kahlil Gibran
I’ve been wanting to take a photo like this for a long time, featuring dirty bare summer feet. One of the things I love about the coming of warm weather is the ability to go barefoot or wear flip flops all the time. Of course this means a good foot washing every evening before bedtime, but it’s so nice after a long winter of knee-high wool socks.
Are you a barefoot person when the weather gets warm?
I Can’t Believe It’s been 12 Years!
It’s really hard to believe that it’s been 12 years since Mr Chiots and I tied the knot. It’s been 12 years filled with all kinds of adventures our newest being gardening.
Thanks for enjoying the last couple years with us.
A Day at The Cabin
When I was a little girl my grandparents bought some land and built a cabin on it. We spent almost every weekend down there playing in the field, running through the woods, building dams in the creek and being immersed in nature. We loved the “Briar Patch” as it is called!
Yesterday we spent the day at the Briar Patch with my parents and my sister & brother-in-law and their kids. (If you remember this is the place Lucy got injured). We’re starting a whole new generation of weekends at the cabin.
The kids had a full day of archery, playing in the sand box, hiking and of course finding feathers, rocks and bones in the woods.
You can’t spend a day at the cabin without some roasting a few hot dogs over the fire (and sometimes marshmallows as well). Usually the day is finished with a batch of homemade ice cream, but yesterday we had cheesecake.
All-in-all it was a fun day. It’s always good to spend time with the family in a place that already has so many great family memories.
Did you have a place growing up where you could be immersed in nature?
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