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Do you want to know how to make Granny Soup?

“First, you put you some hamburger meat in a big ol’ pot.”

“Add you in a whole bunch of celery…that’s the secret…lots of celery. Then, you add you in a can of veg all or any vegetables you have leftover.  Next just put in some water, not too much,” she said, as I watched her wrinkled little hands stir the mixture in the pot.

“Well, how much water, Granny?  How much celery? What kind of vegetables and how many,” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she continued her instructions, “just til it looks right,” a little exasperated with me because of my constant interruptions to ask for measurements.

“After it cooks a bit, you put your tomater sauce in, kinda close to the end.”  Then she added in more wisdom, “I always pick me up a can or two when I’m at the store cuz ya’ always need tomater sauce, always keep ya’ some stocked up.”

“Well, that’s all there is to it.  It’s just plain ol’ soup, nothing fancy.  But ain’t it good!” she added in her soft Mississippi twang.  She turned and grinned at me.

That’s where she was wrong.  This wasn’t just plain ol’ soup.  It was magic. The best stuff in the world and it would cure anything that ails you.  It was even better when she would send me some home in a “big ol’ jar” for the next day.  Even today, I can’t wait for the first cold front to come through so I can make “Granny soup” and cornbread.

Whenever my kids were sick or when my mom was in the hospital or if I just miss her, there is nothing better than Granny soup.  It is comfort and home in a bowl.  She was right, the celery is the secret but it wasn’t just the celery. The secret was all of the love she put in to it and the woman I loved so much who made it for me.  It took me years to figure out how to make Granny soup to taste even close to how she made it because, well, there was no real recipe.

My Granny was simplicity and sunshine wrapped in wisdom as old as time.

She was hilarious.  Oh my word, she was funny!  There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t miss her.  Some days so much that I can’t even breathe because of the ache in my chest.

Today was one of those days.

One of our dearest friends was coming home from the hospital so, of course, he needed some Granny soup.  As I was cooking, her voice as always, was in my mind.

Her voice is the voice in my head.  I hear it when I sing in church and I hear it when I say certain Scriptures. She had a Scripture for everything and talked about Bible characters like they were old friends.  And, buddy, you better not ever let her hear you say that you “hate” someone!

You were in for a Bible lesson, or lecture, if you dared to use the “H” word.  I called it “Bible-izing”.  She would bring stories and verses from the Bible in to every conversation.  It was who she was.  God was her best friend. She talked like He was right in the middle of every conversation, because He was!

Granny would be called “green” today or environmentally conscious.

However, recycling wasn’t something she did just for the environment.  It was how she lived because she never had much money and everything she had she appreciated.  She would reuse or repurpose everything.  Nothing went to waste.  She worked two jobs sometimes to make ends meet.

She was a hairdresser from age eighteen until she retired at seventy-two. Even after she retired, she did “little old ladies hair” in the middle of her kitchen because they didn’t have any money to go to the salon.  She did hair for friends right up until she had a stroke at age 89.

I don’t remember her hands not moving or working.

She was helping someone all the time, doing hair, cooking, “running someone to the store” or whatever was needed.  Granny didn’t need to be on a list or have someone from church tell her to bring food when someone was sick, she just went to the store and cooked food. She loved people and that’s what you do for people you love.

Granny soup was for her favorite people, like ME!

We all argued that we were her favorite.  It’s a running joke in our family.  We were all her favorite.  She liked nothing better than to have her whole family together.

I understand this so much more now that my kids are grown and busy with their own lives.  It is harder to get everyone together anymore. It seemed that she was always with us.  My Granny was at every major event in my life, every dance, every graduation or award that I ever won, she was there.

She held my hand when my babies were born and whenever I needed her she was there.

Every major event in my kids lives, she was there.  I regret that I didn’t slow down and spend more time with my wonderful Granny this side of Heaven.  She was a treasure.

Let’s get back to the topic.  You want to know how to make Granny soup?  Get you some tomater sauce and find someone you love and count your blessings that you still have that person.  Slow down and spend time with them.  Put down your phone and listen.

Nothing tastes better than time well spent with a loved one over a bowl of soup.

Do you know how to make Granny Soup?  No?  Well, here you go…more or less…because there really is no real recipe.

Granny Soup

1 lb Hamburger meat

4-5 stalks of chopped celery

Salt and pepper to taste

Water

1 bag of Frozen mixed soup vegetables or 1 can Vegall

½ bag of Frozen green beans

1 peeled and chopped potato or some rice (for filler my Granny said)

1 C of sliced up Zucchini

2 – 14.5 oz. cans tomato aka “tomater” sauce

This is the weird part…put the raw hamburger meat into a dutch oven size pot.  Cover the raw meat with water, yes raw meat, about 1/3 of the pot full.

Add in the chopped celery.  Let that cook until meat is done.

Add in all the other ingredients.  Add plenty of salt and pepper.  Let it cook until all the vegetables are soft and cooked through.

The real secret ingredient…time well spent with loved ones.

I love you guys!

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