Adventure, Soup

   There are adventures in travel, adventures in money, and adventures
in baking.  Have you ever watched the Great British Baking Show? Those
contestants are crazy adventurers.  Very entertaining. 
   They can make mango ice cream, put it on top of a sponge cake, cover it with Italian meringue  (I have no idea what that is), use a blowtorch and have Baked Alaska. 
 Which takes me back 50 years.  When I was young, with 2 small children, and belonged to a card club.  I prepared a Baked Alaska for my refreshment
for the group.  Don’t ask me how I did it.  It is the only one I ever made. 
No practicing, just made it and served it.  Aw, me! I was an adventurous baker. 
   It wasn’t the first time I had been foolish (or the last).  When I was a teenager, mother asked me to bake the dessert for a family pitch-in. 
A picture in a magazine, I suppose, enticed me to make cream puffs. 
   Butter, flour, water and eggs cooked to a glossy mess, then baked in little circles. Cut part, filled with a pudding of sorts, then topped with powdered sugar.
  My family thought they were wonderful.  In fact they were repeated with varying degrees of success.  They ate them without complaining.  I don’t recall doing éclairs, with the chocolate icing on top but I may have. 
   Which reminds me of a story.  Years ago I worked as an activity person in a retirement home.  It meant chatting with the residents who needed some attention.  There was this tiny, grey-haired,  woman who liked to tell stories. 
I think her name was Pearl. When  she was a pre- school child and had been left alone in the house while her mother helped her father in the field, it was well before T.V. to comfort her, she became bored.
   Not knowing what else to do she decided she would bake a cake, .  She always watched as her mother  measured the sugar and flour and mixed them with a spoon.  Then the eggs and the lard, nothing to it. 
   The wood cook stove was a challenge,  Did mother add more sticks to the fire before putting the cake in the oven?
   Eventually the cake came out of the oven.  Forget icing. 
When her parents came in from their labors at noon, what did they see?
Mother couldn’t believe that Pearl had baked a cake by herself. 
   The memory of that adventure delighted Pearl for years. 
   Just as my adventure with Baked Alaska years ago. 
  Older and wiser, now I cook soup.  Enough for days, with some for the freezer.  . Soup can be an adventure.  Let’s see, where is that cookbook?
                                        Cabbage Soup

I have been adventuress, that’s the fun of it.

½ large mild onion, chopped
½ cup chopped celery
Some diced garlic (if you have any)
2 quarts beef broth
15 Oz. can of diced tomatoes (or equal amount of tomato juice)
1 quart of shredded cabbage
Chopped fresh herbs for topping, (I used parsley and chives)
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon vinegar
Olive oil

In a heavy pot pour enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan.
Add the celery, onion , Cook on low until onion begins to
brown. (Brown, not burn). Add diced garlic and cook 1 minute.   Add remaining ingredients and simmer
until desired consistency.  Dish up and top with fresh herbs.
The original recipe additionally calls for raisins, dill, marjoram and thyme

Food For Thought
“Three things in human life are important.  The first is to be kind.
The second is to be kind.  And the third is to be kind.”
                  Henry James, American writer