souper yummy

the first rain of the season is upon us up here; it started intermittently late thursday afternoon. it was dry most of the day yesterday but we did get some sprinkles and showers off and on last night. i felt so bad for the kidlets trick-or-treating, but fortunately it didn't really start until most of the little kids were already done. the kids in our neighborhood are real gamers anyways. they were more than willing to walk around in the rain to get some candy. i think it was the parents that were ready to call it a night. one little kid just pushed up his power ranger mask and used it to protect his head.

it has rained pretty steady all day today and miserable dark weather like this makes me crave soup, a cozy blanket, and a good movie. i think i'll watch love actually tonight. i adore that movie. i get my soup too - tonight we are having polish soup for dinner. i don't know if that is what it is really called; i don't know if it even has a name. i thought for a long time that it was just something my mom made up on the cheap, but then i made it one night a couple years ago and brian exclaimed that it was soup his grandmother (who was full-blooded italian) used to make and it brough back memories from his childhood. i think of it as polish because it uses kielbasa (polish sausage) and cabbage, and for some reason cabbage seems very polish to me. it also seems like poor peasant food, like leftover scrapings, which makes me think of old-world poland, which has historically been rife with poverty. no matter, it's super easy and super yum.

polish soup

1 package polska kielbasa, sliced down the middle and then sliced into half-moons
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 carrots, halved and sliced
4 c. vegetable broth
4 c. beef broth
1/2 head cabbage, coarsely chopped

generally i don't prep anything; i do it all as the other stuff is cooking.

heat a stockpot of medium heat and chop the kielbasa, then lightly brown the kielbasa. don't add any oil as they release enough of their own grease and you may even want to pour some off. while the kielbasa browns, chop the onion, then add it to the kielbasa along with the garlic and start chopping carrots. when those are done then the onion should be ready; add the carrots in and start on the cabbage. when the cabbage is chopped, the carrots ought to be done, so you can add the broth. turn up the heat and bring it all to a boil; then reduce the heat to a simmer and add the cabbage. simmer for 15-30 minutes, until the carrots are tender.

i also serve it with a nice hunk of bread for sopping up the broth, because brian doesn't always like to finish all his broth and i believe that is where a lot of the nutrition is in soup. yummy!