Spring Soup

As anticipated as turkey on Thanksgiving or corned beef on St. Patrick's Day, comes this scrumptious batch of early Spring Soup.

The little ones passed a pleasant afternoon perfecting their potage, darting about the garden for a "pinch of this and a pinch of that." Baby Catherine, soup-making novice, proved herself a worthy sous-chef, ably supporting the culinary efforts of Patrick and Marie by fetching leaves, at a fair distance, one by one, to add to the brew. Marie and Patrick stirred by turns, challenging the adage that "many chefs spoil the broth."

For as long as I can remember, two to six year olds of our family have been revising this recipe, with a new generation of tots returning to pick up the torch each year. One Spring, I actually threw away a perfectly good stockpot, so menacing was the murky, moldering mess found inside it months and months later.

Someday, when there are no young ones left in our family to create this verdant concoction, I vow to make it myself on the first warm spring afternoon. Hunting down chives and a bit of garlic mustard for a savory twist, I will take care to whisk with a gnarled branch, because this is the tried and true method of preparation. Stirring the memories of my heart, I will see again two or three blonde heads ringing the pot, their eager faces kissed with mud. Missing from my memory will be the mucky bathtimes and tick checks and torn up patches of moss. Only petal-studded soup and those sweet smiling faces will remain.

Then I will sit back and smile as I re-read the folded scrap of a poem eight year old Margaret composed today:

Spring Soup

Muddy water like a pond
is stewing in the pot.
A delicacy mighty grand
if eaten when it's hot.

Some sticks and moss, forsythia,
and many a shining leaf,
Pine needles, mud and dandelions,
and rocks to use as beef.

Three chefs are swiftly stirring.
Their brew is almost done.
It doesn't look inviting,
But at least they're having fun!

Comments

[Karen E.]

What a terrific poem! And a tempting concoction, too, I might add. :-)

[Cay]

What a great poem and picture!

Just wait till we get back home and I have time to share it with my girls.

They're going to LOVE it...as they do all their visit to the Cottage. : )

[Rebecca]

Your children write the best poems, Alice! The soup sure is colorful and lovely.