Soup Day

Path By Lake Eufaula by frances robson

Good morning and come on in and sit on the porch with me for it is a beautiful, sunny and warm day down here in South Georgia. This is my kind of weather - no AC or heat - as the baby bear would say, "Just right." Have I told you lately how much I love living in the South and especially in South GA for cold weather comes but it doesn't hang around long.

I am fixing my good smoked ham bone or smoked turkey drumstick bean soup. I have linked you to the recipe I posted earlier. We have a big ham bone with lots of meat left on it and when that happens, soup is on the menu and bean soup is one of our favorites. It is delicious, adaptable to you your tastes and you can add or leave out ingredients and it is still good. Just stick with the basic recipe and add or take away ingredients to your family's tastes. It also freezes well and leftovers are better than "firstovers."

Another money saver for this inexpensive recipe is the beans. Instead of buying the 15 bean soup mixture, which can be a bit pricey, I buy various types of dried beans when they are on sale, put them all in a plastic bag, shake well to mix and store in glass jars. I use all kinds of beans with the more types the merrier or delicious. Kidney, pinto, split pea, great northern, northern, butterbeans, and whatever is on sale mixed together is wonderful for each kind adds a little more flavor. A can or black beans rinsed and drained adds color and rustic taste and looks great with the red beans and split peas. So begin buying dried peas and beans of all kinds and make you own personal dried bean soup mixture. I also cook a whole big pot full, use what I need for the soup and freeze the rest of them. Having cooked beans in the freezer is a good thing to have handy to serve with rice or put in other soups,

Adding some good slices of smoked sausage about 20 minutes before you eat it adds a great sausage flavor also. This is an ingredient I add if I have it and don't worry about it if I don't. Today we have some absolutely delicious smoked sausage links from Carroll's meats that our daughter brought home for Christmas. I will include a link to their website for they do ship if you don't live close by.

This is a wonderful meal and is inexpensive, full of good nutrients, freezes well and makes great leftovers. Serve it with hot cornbread or various crackers, cold milk, slices of cheese and you have a meal fit for kings and queens and all the rest of us. Try it and let me know how you like it.

You do know you can leave comments don't you. Just click on the little comment thingey at the bottom of the posting, write me note and as soon as I check it I will add it. I love to get comments but not many of you take the time. Come on and give me a little encouragement.

Well, that is about it for today and I need to go hang out some clothes since I have this wonderful weather.

By the way, if you like long, sleeved knit blouses and have a Dollar General close by, they have their Bobbi Brooks tops on sale and they are soft and slightly fitted to look great. Just a help to aid in saving a little money.

Ya'll come back and be careful going home.

Nuff said,

The Georgia Peach