Mary Ann went to lunch with one friend, and to dinner with another. I stayed home all day, leaving the ranch neither to head into town nor to dine out. The extra time this made for me was welcome. I have an advanced deadline for my CityBusiness end-of-year summary of the dining scene around town. It requires more thought and rewriting than usual, in order that I can make suitably preposterous predictions. My opening statement will reveal how many people read my column. It will probably upset some people in the business--especially chefs. (It will appear here on NOMenu.com right after the first of the year.)
As for feeding my face, I had the pot of vegetable soup Mary Ann made with the stock from the brisket we boiled a couple of days ago. At first glance, it looked as if she overdid the vegetables. Carrots, onions, potatoes, turnips, celery, baby lima beans, corn, Brussels sprouts, and maybe two or three minority vegetables. And tomatoes, with all the juice from the can. And a few nice chunks of brisket. No pasta.
It was so good that I ladled up a second bowl of the stuff. It reminded me of the vegetable soup my mother used to alternate with Campbell's. (In the 1950s, it was considered cool to serve canned soups instead of making one's own.)
I felt very good about this. Not only was the soup thoroughly delicious, but it offset the persistently cold weather. And had nothing unhealthful in it.
Written by Tom Fitzmorris December 25, 2013 09:50 in
