I think I’ve mentioned before my parents are frugal. We always had a big garden and did a lot of cooking and canning, and we got meat from the farm. (Mom called it “over home.”)
I’m sure they bought food at the grocery store, but I don’t recall ever going as a kid. Pretty much everything we ate was homemade.
That didn’t change at all as we got married and left home. There’s really nothing my mom loves better than having the family over and cooking a big meal.
My husband and she didn’t really get along well before we were married (she taught school, and he was the kid that almost made her quit. : ) , but now she likes him better than she likes me. Seriously.
Anyway, one day back when the kids were younger, we were at their house for chili and mashed potatoes. Everything is homemade, of course.
You all have probably heard of bay leaves…my mom always told us they’re poisonous, although that’s not exactly true. They just break up into sharp pieces that can cut your mouth or pierce the lining of your stomach or intestines. It’s not likely to happen, but it’s possible.
People cook with them, using them for flavor, you just have to pick them out.
I never use them. I like the flavor okay, but it just seems weird to put something that you know could hurt you in the food that you’re serving your family. I’m funny that way.
But my mom uses them in chili, although she normally picks them out before she serves it. Still, she’ll set the pot down and announce, “I think I got all the bay leaves, but if you find any, don’t eat them—they’re poisonous.”
On this day, my children were little, and Nana had a band-aid on her finger, which caught their attention. “What happened to your finger?”
She put her spoon down and held the finger up—the tip of her pointer finger was wrapped in the band-aid, and I could see that blood had soaked into the pad. Whatever she did, it had bled for a while.
My mom held her finger close to my kids so they could ooh and aah over her boo-boo.
“I was chopping onions for the chili, and my finger got in the way,” she explained to my kids, who had stopped eating. It’s not every day that Nana wears a band-aid.
Chili is one of my husband’s favorite meals. He had a big bowl in front of him, and he wasn’t going to stop eating just to look at my mother’s finger.
My dad, sitting at the end of the table, said, “We’re going to have to call the plumber over that eventually.”
That didn’t make any sense. “What are you talking about?” I asked, nudging my husband who was still shoveling food into his mouth.
My mom said, “I cut my finger, so I stopped chopping the onions and put a band-aid on it to stop the bleeding.” She waved her finger around. “That thing really bled a lot.”
My husband was still eating embarrassingly fast, and since nudging him wasn’t working, I figured I’d join him. I picked my spoon up.
Mom kept talking. “I finished chopping the onions and put them in the chili and went to rinse off my hands and the cutting board. I guess I must have lost the band-aid in the sink. But I couldn’t find it, so it must have gone down the drain.”
Just then, my husband nudged me. I thought he was being smart, since I’d been nudging him about his lack of table manners, but when I looked up, he was holding his spoon in midair and staring at it.
HIs spoon was full of chili, but something looked odd. I thought at first it was a bay leaf that Mom had missed. I reached over (when you’re married, you can do this, right?) and went to pick it off the spoon.
It wasn’t a bay leaf.
I held up what was in my fingers. “I don’t think you need to worry about a plumber, Dad.”
So, yeah. “Onions in the Stew” or my mom’s version: “Band-aids in the Chili.” : )
Ha. That story happened years ago, but our family still jokes about finding a Band-Aid in my mom’s chili.
This is the time of year, here in the Northern Hemisphere at least, when we start craving warm, comfort food like chili and soup.
My youngest daughter loves chicken noodle and vegetable soups. (I always cook a roast in the crock pot and put it in with the veggies, so the name is a little deceiving.) Julia loves sausage tortellini soup, and my all-time favorite is a tie between roasted eggplant, tomato and quinoa soup and mushroom pumpkin soup. : )
What’s your favorite kind of soup?
New England clam chowder (even though I’m Southern) or black bean soup.
Oh, I love New England clam chowder!
Cream of chicken wild rice soup. Thank you for sharing your hilarious chili bandaid story!
Mmm! I pretty much love cream of anything, lol. And it’s my pleasure! Thanks for stopping by! ??
My favorites are tomato and vegetable ?
Chicken noodle.
That’s my youngest daughter’s favorite as well. It’s what she gets when we go to Chick-fil-A even in the summer. ?
Il ike chicken tortilla soup
Oh! That’s a good one! I haven’t made that for a long time.
Homemade tomato soup.
Made with home canned stewed tomatoes. We had that all winter long growing up (it’s good ever mashed potatoes). True comfort food.
My grandma’s recipe is a homemade canned, so related, but different.
Cream of broccoli soup for me
Oh! So good. With cheese. : )
Either homemade potato soup or homemade bean soup.
Potatoes are the best comfort food! Yummy!
Jessie, first of all, I’m going to use part of your story some day in a book. As a former teacher, I love the idea that the guy you married was the kid who almost drove your mom to quit teaching! What a hoot, especially because you now say she likes him more than she likes you. He must be something truly special to accomplish that!
I loved this post because i have wonderful memories associated with soup, too. I’m so ready for it. Now if the weather here in Dallas would cooperate. It’s expected to be almost 80 today. One of my favorite soups is Potato soup from my Grandma Walter. (I mention her in posts a lot. In fact the farmhouse from my post this week was where she lived.) As a farmer’s wife with six kids she learned to stretch a meal. She grew potatoes in her garden. She’d cook those in water with onions. Then she added a bit of ham which they always had because they raised pigs. To stretch it even further, she would make homemade noodles. Toward the end she would add half and half and some butter, which they also had because they raised dairy cows.
Haha! You go right ahead and use it! He’s charming, that’s for sure.
It’s hard to feel sympathetic to 80 degree temps, but I’ll try. ; ) Seriously, it does take cold weather for me to crave soup. Your Grandma Walter sounds like a wise and thrifty woman. And I bet you gave the directions for that soup just like she would have told them – without measuring, just adding a little of what she had until it was enough. Precious memories. Thanks so much for the heartwarming smile!
oh that is a hard choice – Broccoli cheese. potato, or taco chili
Let’s not choose just one, right? Those all sound good!
I have several. Home-made, of course. Tomato soup from mom’s home canned tomatoes, potato soup (without onions or bacon- just potatoes, please!), broccoli and cheese. I used to cook chili quite often, but my husband does not look all the spices I put in it so we no longer have chili.
Oh, yes! Tomato soup from home canned tomatoes is the only way to make tomato soup! : ) Hmmm…not sure about the potato soup with just potatoes. I am definitely a condiments girl when it comes to potato soup. Thanks for listing your favs!
Jessie, I totally did not see that Band-aid in the chili coming!!! 🙂 🙂 I should have – you set it up perfectly. Hilarious!!
So what’s with the mashed potatoes? I’ve never heard of them with chili. Do you serve the chili over the mashed potatoes?
A thing here is chili and cinnamon rolls, though that is a trend that came later, I think. Churches will have fundraisers with chili and cinnamon rolls, and they are hugely popular.
It was delightful hearing you talk about your parents. I don’t recall that before in your stories. And we called my great-grandmother from Sicily Nana.
My favorite soup is white chicken chili. That was also a sensation when the recipe began making the rounds. Who ever heard of white chili? But everyone loves it, and my sister even took first place with my recipe in her school’s chili bake-off.
Fun blog, Jessie, as always!
Haha! That Band-aid just came out of nowhere, didn’t it? lol
Yep, we put the mashed potatoes in the bottom of the bowl and the chili on the top, like gravy. (Really, mashed potatoes pairs well with anything: corn, applesauce, chocolate cake…kidding about the chocolate cake, although my Aunt Beulah did make Easter egg candy from mashed potatoes. I can feel my throat crawling with the need to gag just thinking about that. My parents did not believe in wasting anything, so we ate every single one of those blessed things. Ugh.)
I’ve never heard of chili and cinnamon rolls, although I can see how that would be good. Not together in the bowl, just pairs well, right?
I LOVE white chicken chili!! My best friend gave me a recipe for it when it was all the rage and it was SO easy and the kids loved it…but hubs did not, so I never made it again. I’d love to have your recipe! And thanks for your always kind words! : )
Happy to share, Jessie! I’m including the recipe here in case anyone else would like to have it, too. (And tell Watson he has to try it!! For a friend, of course!)
White Chicken Chili
1 – 2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast
3 cans Great White Northern beans, undrained
1 can Rotel tomatoes, undrained
1 Tb. Oil
1 onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 oz can chopped green chilies
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp oregano
¾ tsp cayenne pepper (creole seasoning) – more if you like heat
½ tsp salt
14 ½ oz can chicken broth
3 cups Monterey Jack cheese (more is better!)
1 medium carton sour cream
Cook chicken and shred. In small skillet, cook onion and spices in the oil until transparent. Combine beans, Rotel, onions, and chicken in soup pan. Cook on medium low for one hour or so. Add cheese and sour cream.
Ha! I wondered what you meant when you said I could keep replying. I figured it out. : ) Thank you SO much for the delicious-looking recipe! I will have to try your version – maybe it has the magic my last attempt was missing. : )
The only soup I don’t like is tomato! Love chicken noodle, sausage tortellini, beef vegetable, lentil, pea, chicken rice and stuffed pepper soup. Yum
Nice! Soups are such a quick, easy meal!
I love so many soups but my husband not so much. Zupana toscana and cheese broccoli potato.
That’s too bad. But a little soup is better than none. : )
Growing up, Dad always said soup was for the sick. So I don’t like to have soup often.
Still there are a few soups that I like—Chicken and dumplings, New England clam chowder, and menudo are my favorites.
Well, it IS good for sickness, true. And I love dumplings!
Quick, easy Potato soup all the way!
Haha! I am all about easy, too! : )
My mom has always used bay leaves and like your mom, picked them out before serving. I used to do the same thing until I got tired of picking them out.. Now I just crush it up real good like powder, and use it that way. Have had no problems but still get the taste. That is so funny about your moms band aid. My mom had similar things happen to her. Once she made a big pot of potato chunky soup and lost the cap of pepper in the soup. It would have to be white. LOL My dad took a big bite and bit into the cap. The rest of us giggled but he was not happy. I have so many stories when mom lost things in food. Us five kids knew to look before eating. Not dad. And he got the majority of them. LOL We love chili and vegetable soup and stew. I want to make some more soups, just need to find some recipes. Oh and I love the simple ones LOL
It sounds like things we’re never dull around your house, lol! Thanks for the laughs!
I love Potato Soup, Chili, Andersen’s Split Pea Soup, Celery Soup and my NEW favorite is Butternut Squash Soup! Mmm! I was surprised as I was expecting to find recipes for those luscious looking pictures you posted!!!
Haha! Sorry about the pics being misleading! They were stock photos because I’m a terrible photographer. Thanks for stopping in!
Vegetable Beef is my favorite.
Nice and hearty. Good for a cold winter night.
We had Taco Soup for supper last night. Vegetable soup made with a soup bone and the vegetables added when the meat is nearly ready is a favorite. Love the stories you share with us. I am still laughing about the bandaid in the soup.
We eat chili on baked potatoes. Here where potatoes are a major crop chili is often served as one of the toppings at a potato bar. Never had it on mashed potatoes though.
Glad you enjoyed the story! And I’d think it’d be about the same on mashed as it is on baked. Yummy both ways!
Spicy beef stew, broccoli and Cheese, French onion….. lol. I love soups and salads!
French onion is one that I often order at a restaurant because I don’t make it at home. : )
My favorite is Chicken with Vegetables and Rice or Beef with Rice and vegetables.
Great traditional favorites!
I love chicken, corn, noodle soup. My Mom was Pennsylvania Dutch and that was her favorite soup to make. I loved that story about the bandaid in the chili when you had it in your newsletter. That was one of those stories that made people laugh and and spew coffee everywhere. You are the best at making us laugh.
Yes! We make chicken corn soup, too. When we put on truck pulls that was an easy soup to make in a big roaster and sell. Aww! Thanks! We all need some laughter in our lives. : )
I’m not a huge fan of soup, but I do LOVE a good bowl of chili! I also fix a yummy potato soup called Cheddar Chowder. The name sounds weird, but it’s got potatoes, carrots, celery, ham, & cheddar cheese in a milky base & it is sooo good! 🙂
That’s fun to say ms it sounds yummy!
I love homemade vegetable soup, chicken or beef. And, I’ve never found a band-aid in mine.
Haha! It makes dinnertime a little more exciting, for sure. lol
I enjoy soups and make them often. Favorites are French Onion Soup, garbanzo soup from a recipe my mother-in-law gave me (from the Columbian Restaurant in Ybor City, FL, and a vegetable soup/stew that has butternut squash, tomatoes, smoked sausage, and other veggies in it.
Soups are really nice because you can throw just about anything into them, right? : ) Thanks for stopping by!
I love any kind of soup anytime of the year!! My vegetable soup is anything I can find to put in it!!
Ha! We do that too – whatever is available. The only downside is it’s hard to replicate. : )
My husband made a potato-corn chowder that I could eat gallons of! I miss his cooking so much! His enchilada pie was another one I loved and can’t make. Or if I try, they don’t taste the same.
Oh, that’s hard. My mom made pot pie far better than I can. I understand how it just isn’t the same. I’m sorry.
Two of my favorites are clam chowder and split pea soup.
I love split pea soup, but it’s been ages since I’ve had it. Thanks for the reminder!
I love your story. You always have such fabulous ones to share. I would have to say French Onion Soup is my favorite. God bless you.
Ha! Life is always a story, right? It just depends on how we frame it. I love French Onion!
There is nothing like good old finger soup. 🙂 What a great story. I like a nice rich chicken and rice soup with lost of chicken.
Haha! Weeeell. We all have our preferences, I guess. lol My dad thinks a good soup takes a lot of meat as well. : )
I laughed and laughed at your story, Jessie! But, I ALWAYS do!! Lol One of my favorite soups is French Onion, but like you, I only get that if I’m at a restaurant!! I like to COOK homemade potato soup, pinto bean soup (leftover beans, onions, canned tomatoes, spices, etc), it’s sooo yummy, Then, another favorite is stew, one made from leftover roast dinner, one made with hamburger meat. Both have potatoes, carrots, onions, frozen or canned corn, canned tomatoes, but the hamburger stew also has green peas, corn, and green beans if you feel like them putting them in there.
Ha! Miss Lana, I’m so glad we could laugh a little today. Thanks so much for your kind comment – you’re always such an encouragement. It’s your superpower! : ) Leftovers make the best soups!