Grandma King's Potato Soup

Today's recipe is from Toby's mom, Sharon (or Grandma King to Liv).  Her original potato soup has always been a family favorite.  In fact, it was one of the first recipes I asked her for when Toby & I got married because he was always wanting it. (Right after I asked her how to make iced tea...yeah, I didn't know how - pretty amazing, huh? She wrote it on a piece of paper &, although I no longer need a recipe for iced tea, I've always placed that recipe under my silverware drawer in every house we've lived.  It's kind of like a good luck charm that reminds me of when we first started out). 

Anyway, back to the potato soup...a few years ago she received a potato soup recipe from her best friend, Annette, and decided to modify her own recipe.  At first we were all like "don't mess with a good thing", but boy are we glad she did!  What was good before is now absolute heaven for the taste buds!

Pic by Grandma King :) 

Grandma King's Hearty Potato Soup

4 or 5 med to large red potatoes (red ones make the best soup, mashed and fried too,☺)
2 to 4 stalks of celery
1 med sized onion
Salt & pepper to taste
Parsley
1/2 cup cream or more
2 T of butter
1 to 2 cups of milk or more
I/2 # or 1/2 package of Eckrich skinless kielbasa or more

Chunk the potatoes (about an inch) chop onion and celery (large chop) and put into your large sauce pan, use just enough bottled water (our water from the tap is awful) to almost cover the veggies. Add salt, pepper and rub some parley in your hands and add that. Cook till tender and let the water cook down some.

Do not drain, but then add the butter, cream, milk and kielbasa then simmer for about 20 minutes.

Grandma also says:
"All of these are estimates because I do not follow a recipe. If you like a more thick soup, then use more veggies. Or if you want plain soup, leave out the kielbasa, as some prefer the soup plain, ☺"
(This last smiley is for Toby who is the only freak in the family who does not like the soup better with the keilbasa - haha!)

Yeah, I know I've used this pic before, but it's one of my faves! Liv has been interested in cooking since she was itsy-bitsy. I have to say that I (& she) have Grandma King to thank for cultivating this love of all things food. When I was too much of a "mommy" to let Liv help me (afraid she'd get hurt or in a hurry just to get supper on the table), Grandma was letting Liv pull up a chair & stir what didn't need stir, encouraging her to find new recipes they could try & allowing her to use her creative food instincts. Today, Miss Liv is quite the capable cook & it's due in great part to the hours she spent at Grandma King's side in the kitchen...Just another example of the impact Grandma's have on our lives :)

Welcome to My Kitchen...

Welcome!  I'm starting this blog for my daughter, Livi, who is always asking me if I'll give her my recipes when she leaves home or if I can will her "the book".  Really, she's right to want these recipes.  How many of us can think of great food cooked by our mothers or grandmothers that we don't know how to duplicate because the recipe went with them when they passed on?  I know I can. Many great family recipes have been lost over the years. 

So this blog is for Livi & for preserving the foods that take us back to our Mom's or Grandma's kitchen.  Its also a place to trade tips & secrets for budget grocery shopping & saving time in the kitchen.  Its a place to remember all the good things that happens in the kitchens of the important women in our lives, because sometimes the kitchen is much more than just a place food is prepared.  It becomes a gateway to each other's thoughts, a place to solve problems, wipe tears & pass on ageless advice.

Come on in to my kitchen!