Minestrone -- the catch all

Fennel at farmer's market

Minestrone

   sauteed onions and fennel

   chickpeas

   chard

   turnips

   carrots

   brown rice

   tomato paste or other tomato base and water

   salt and pepper

   
Hi Winnie and Steve,

I recall occasions when we used to walk from our little apartment on Noble Island to downtown Portsmouth.  What a charming town -- and the architecture of those old brick buildings!  On a sunny day I would feel transported by the history and ambience of the narrow streets, old clapboard houses and tugboats on the water.  Often when I would ask you, "Where would you like to go for lunch?", your response was, "Where can we get a good bowl of soup?"

I have to admit that there is something very satisfying about a bowl of soup, and you don't feel stuffed after eating.

I was visiting my mom the other day, and she was telling me the story about my grandmother who ran a boarding house for working men that had just arrived from Italy.  Apparently, she kept a big kettle of minestrone (which my mom calls minestra) on the back of the wood stove so a hungry worker could grab a bowl of soup even if it was not yet time for a meal.  I sometimes look around the kitchen and garden and I have a little bit of several things -- aah, I'll throw it all in a minestrone.

Thinking of you.  Donna