Today we’re talking about vintage kitchen memories and hearty soup recipes! As cool weather starts to move in it’s time to start gathering soup recipes for those chilly nights when you just want a bowl of something warm and hearty… We’ve shared recipes below soup recipes for Bum Stew, Johnny Marzetti, Turnip Stew and more! All of these are favorites from Round Knob Canyon and have filled many years of bellies…
But first let’s talk about vintage kitchen memories… Some of my favorite memories are of our times in the kitchen when I was a little girl and even a teenager. And then after we got our own home – Geezer and I made sure the kitchen table was the place for OUR kids to make memories. When I was growing up – the kitchen was the heart of the home and the place to gab and sing while washing dishes and help mom make divinity and her other candies and specialties. And when I was a teenager and I’d come in from a date with the Geezer – mom would be waiting at the kitchen table to have pie or cake over my stories about my date and where all we had been.
When our own kids were growing up – the kitchen table was the place to tell stories about what they planned for that day and later in the evening about what they had done that day. It was the place to let the kids talk about their dreams for their futures and tell any stories they wanted to tell. We’d let them plan meals on their own and we’d sit at the table and talk about upcoming family outings. The kitchen table really was the heart of our home.
“I’ll always remember the good old days and that’s really putting it mild. You can bet your boots I’ll never forget, things that happened when I was a child.
When it was cold and stormy outside, the kitchen was the place to be. The oven door open on the old wood stove, we were cozy as we could be. A block of ice in the old icebox, the hand pump at the sink. Doing homework by a kerosene lamp, using a pen with a bottle of ink.
The clock on the mantel chiming the hour, so we’d know the time of day. The brown and white dog on the old rag rug, just sleepin’ his life away.
The aroma from the kitchen when mama cooked, homemade bread, jelly and jams. Chicken and dumplins’, cakes and pies and fresh side meat and sugar cured ham. Dad’s straight razor and shaving mug, a peddlers wagon that came each week. Attending a little country church and baptizing down at the creek.
Apples and plums, apricots and pears, peaches and cherry trees too. The squealing pigs, milking the cows and watchin’ the chickens shoo. I try hard to remember what happened last week and my head begins to whirl.
But I tell you the truth – I’ll never forget – things that happened when I was a girl.”
Aaaaaaahhh now that was nice, wasn’t it? Just a warm and fuzzy glimpse back into the 1940’s or so and into a time like “I” grew up in. I’m so stuck in the 40’s and 50’s it isn’t even funny. But let me tell ya – it’s a mighty good place to be stuck! I love crock pot cooking – especially on really busy days or Sundays and our crockpot is going 2-3-4 times a week.
I really AM a fan of homemade soups and stews – but WHAT IS my favorite winter soup or stew.
WE LOVE Turnip Soup and Mazetti and Beef Stew and Cabbage Soup and Hillbilly Hash and Bum Stew and Chunky Beef Stew and Biscuits and white beans and cornbread and red beans and rice and chicken and dumplin‘ “soup”… and I have several chili recipes that are all just absolutely delicious! And goulash and green bean stew. Oh I could just go on and on and on.
With each soup or stew you need just the right homemade bread/rolls/biscuits/cornbread to top off that hearty meal in a bowl.
So where to start – WHERE to START?
ALL of the ingredients in most of these soups/stews are often times already on hand in a well stocked kitchen.
Keep in mind when trying ANY of these recipes – I don’t measure – EVER so it’s so hard to tell you amounts.
AND I add seasonings to taste – salt, pepper, cayenne, seasoned salt, sage, bouillon, hickory flavorings if needed for a specific recipe. So you SEASON according to your own family’s taste.
Soup Recipes
Chicken and Dumplings – Round Knob Canyon Style
Swamp Cabbage Recipe
Round Knob Canyon Chili Recipe
BUM STEW
HOBO STEW
White Bean Soup – Round Knob Canyon Style
Johnny Marzetti
Smokey Mountain Chili Recipe
Thick ‘n’ Chunky Beef Stew
Well – here are a few good winter soups and stews to get you started.
You always want a good bread or cornbread and we prefer homemade by a long shot. Here’s my homemade rolls recipe. If you don’t want to fool with ‘yeast rolls’ – just make your batter and put it in a square baking pan and make a big loaf like the Hawaiian bread we see in stores and this is SO SO much better.
The bread recipes and other soups and chili are in the recipes section – just click on recipes. I think I have Bum Stew over there and Hillbilly Hash – Chicken And Dumplin Soup and several more.We’d love to hear from you – what’s YOUR favorite winter soup, stew recipe? Let us know …