Making Soup

What’s in the market this week, what’s on my shelf? I love making soup out of whatever is at hand, and hopefully I have all the basic ingredients. Something savory something sweet, something bitter something salty, something spicy and something mild. Every season and every combination yields a different flavor, texture and aroma. Today I’m cleaning out the fridge and trimming the herb garden and it looks like this: The remainder of a roast chicken, parsnip and sweet onion, celery, parsley, sage, carrot, jalapeno pepper, chard, sugar snap peas, a Parmesan rind. And a little tomato from a friend’s garden, a generous handful of barley and some Hawaiian volcanic salt.

Once it’s all in the slow cooker with just enough broth I go to bed and let the magic happen. Seasonings can be added in the morning according to my mood, the brightness of the sunrise, and whether I remember the packet of dulce my niece brought from Iceland. Stir, taste, adjust for flavor, taste again. What bread would go with this? What wine? What friends would enjoy a bowl with me? Who might recognize the high sweetness of the parsnip, the low hint of sage?

I am amazed, standing right now over my soup pot, to see that it both contains the past and creates the future. And also amazed at how this September morning pivots on perspective—all the heat and ripeness and noise of summer spinning into falling leaves, deeper breaths, cooler nights. This is the season for changing dreams, starting new things, folding old pains and losses into our stories.

Let the magic happen. Rest a little while your particular flavors and ingredients mature. Then awaken, aware and with a new vision. Happy autumn!

Blessings for a fresh perspective,

Eileen J Terry