February 4th is National Homemade Soup Day – let’s all lift a spoon in celebration!
Many years ago, a dear friend told me this story and since then, whenever I make soup (particularly from leftovers) I think of her. Let’s call her Kate. (Note: It is possible that I have embellished this inside my head over the years, but I tried to stay as close to Kate’s original telling as possible.)
It seems that when Kate was newly married, her sweet husband came home one night from a long day at work. Sitting down at the table, he asked her what was for dinner. She replied, “We’re having soup.” As Kate tells it, the look that fell across his face when she uttered the word “soup” was somewhere between disgust and the acceptance of impending doom, but he said nothing, and just waited for his dinner like a man anticipating the flip of an electric chair switch.
When she set his bowl of soup down in front of him he barely looked at it, instead spooning in the first bite like an automaton. Kate looked on expectantly, unable to decode the strained expression that barely masked his revulsion.
And then something marvelous happened. As the soup hit his tongue, his taut expression softened immediately, widening into one of genuine surprise and pure satisfaction. After finishing his bowl and asking her for seconds, he explained why.
“When I was a kid, we were very poor, and we kept a little bucket in the refrigerator. After every meal, anything that didn’t get eaten got thrown into that bucket. Then, about once a week, Mom would dump the whole thing into a pot and add water, and that was soup. And that was what I was expecting.“
(Did anyone else just reflexively make a face? Because when I first heard this story, I sure did! Ewww! Refrigerator Bucket Soup is certainly not ever going to be on my menu!)
For the record, Kate and her sweetheart are still married, and I’m certain that she still makes him soup on a regular basis.
Here are a few of my favorite Soup recipes from posts past – none of which involve a bucket. Why not choose one and make some homemade soup tonight?
Stove to Table in 10 minutes:
Wonton Egg Drop Soup
Serve it up in 30 minutes:
Loaded Baked {Sweet} Potato Soup
Hungarian Mushroom Soup
Colonial Cream of Peanut Soup
Chili’s Chicken Enchilada Soup {Vegetarian-friendly}
Love takes time:
French Onion Soup
Pop’s Vegetable Soup
Curried Butternut Squash Soup
I absolutely love soup_ especially at this time of year! However, I think I would pass on the Refrigerator soup too! Thanks for sharing all these great soups.
I think homemade tomato bisque will be the ticket today, with some kind of rustic grilled cheese sandwich. 🙂
haha that story is terrifying! It sounds like a story my father would tell about my grandma. Soup can be so delicious, though, even with leftovers. Just as long as they’re not collected in a slop bucket for days.
Ahhh… these soups all look so wonderful. And what a great story. I had a similar experience with my husband and “stew.” He HATES stew, and clearly it’s because of his childhood experiences with it. So now I never call it “stew.” I call it “ragout.” And yes, of course, he LOVES ragout. 🙂
It’s so interesting how our early food memories influence us throughout our entire lives.
What a great collection of soup recipes!
Thank you, Becca!
Hi Renée:)
What a telling story. I guess we take it for granted sometimes as to how good we really have it these days. I would like to think there would never be a “bucket soup” in my fridge but alas, never say never…
I totally missed Homemade Soup Day! I remembered it and then forgot it. I wish I would have included it on the calendar with this link to your heary looking choices. Oh well, I’ll just be pinning so I can see which one I would like to try first:)
Thank you so much for sharing, Renée…I’m leaning toward that Hungarian Mushroom Soup…
The Hungarian Mushroom Soup is one of the best winter warm-ups around – it is luxuriously rich and satisfying. We love it with a loaf of fresh, crusty bread.
I love love love making soup. I’m transfixed by the hungarian mushroom soup – sounds so good! Your story reminds me of eating dorm food – whatever we ate one night, always showed up in some other form the next day – side dish, soup, stew. It sounds thrifty, but it was gross!
Yes, I absolutely made that face…refrigerator bucket soup; oh that sounds so bad I gladly take plain pasta over that any day.
Who knew that today is national homemade soup day – I love soup and luckily so does my family as it appears at – the very – least once a week. So good and comforting. Thank you for sharing Kate’s story.
We have “Soup Tuesday” almost every week – it’s a great tradition and a good budget stretcher.
Mmmm soup! Love it. The Hungarian Mushroom photo is great.
i am sincerely drooling! i adore soup! 🙂
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All these sound look amazing and so comforting, perfect for a rainy day. I have a soft spot for French Onion soup because, well cheese!
That poor man, I couldn’t imagine eating bucket soup. Disgusting. Your soups on the other hand look down right delicious! That french onion soup really caught my eye. I’m headed over to take a peak at the recipe. Yum yum!
French Onion Soup is one of my “dark days of Winter” go-tos, and luckily, it’s relatively healthy. I just can’t get enough of it!