National Homemade Soup Day

 

Most of us had our share of canned soup growing up. The cooks of the 50's and 60's were seriously into convenience foods. (Unlike now, ha ha.)

 

Crazy as that sounds, some restaurants had canned soup displays. The waitress would warm the contents in a little pan or beaker then pour it into a bowl for the customer.  

I remember feeling important doing that as a 15-year-old waitress at the Thunderbird Cafe in Florissant, Colorado. Mom ran the Thunderbird for a while, and she was the short order cook. 

Amazing that the original Thunderbird building still stands, although more of a rough bar than family restaurant these days. When we drove by last June, it looked so small, like many things remembered from childhood when you go back.

Anyway, we make lots of soup in this house, especially in the winter. A favorite is what we call taco soup, made with leftover seasoned taco meat simmered in (canned) beef broth with (canned) spicy tomatoes, whatever fresh vegetables and maybe beans. John would disagree, but I think the best soup is thrown together and never quite the same twice.

Our weather guru says we're headed into a "historically long" stretch of frigid weather. Some people find cold weather energizing; I find it hard to get out of bed.