The Tale of The Geologist, The Cook and Stone Soup

If you have been reading this blog for sometime, you may recall that TBHITW is a Professional Geologist (PG, REA) That's right. He gets to put important capital letters after his name.

But more important than the letters after the name is his love of being a geologist. He really loves what he does. I think that's just about the luckiest thing in the whole world: really loving what you do.

TBHITW loves being a geologist so much that he constantly brings home samples of his work. Yes, in our house we have rocks. Many rocks. Big rocks, small rocks, rocks of many colors, rocks all over the place. Rocks on shelves. Rocks in boxes. Rocks on little pedestals. Sometimes I have to take rocks out of his pockets before I can do the laundry. His mother tells me he has been collecting rocks ever since he was a little boy.

Why, I bet as I sit here typing this he is out in the field somewhere looking at a rock. Perhaps marveling at its rockiness. I have seen the rock look many times. First he picks it up. Then he looks at it, I mean really looks at it. Then he removes his glasses to look closer. He may smell it. He may even taste it. He'll roll it around in his hand a bit (if it's small enough) and then finally, he'll announce what it is made of. Granite or marble or shist or sandstone or a hundred other things that rocks can be composed of. That rock may or may not come home with him tonight. You never know when a new rock will make its way into our home or outside in our (wait for it) rock garden.

What is the point of this story? It's to set you up for this riddle:

What do you get when you cross a geologist and a cook?

Why you get Stone Soup of course.

Stone Soup: serves a family or a village....

One Stone, scrubbed clean

32 ounces vegetable broth or chicken broth or beef - whatever you have.

2 potatoes, scrubbed, cut into 1/2 inch dice

2 stalks celery, diced

2 large carrots, peeled, diced

1 onion, diced

1 bag frozen corn

1 bag frozen peas

8 white mushrooms, cleaned and sliced thinly

2 tablespoons olive oil

In a large soup pot place oil and saute onions, carrots and celery until fragrant and soft. Add mushrooms and cook until they release their juices. Add potatoes and 1 cup of broth - just enough to cover the potatoes. Simmer until the potatoes are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the rest of the broth and the stone and turn up the heat and add the corn and peas. Cook until all the vegetables are heated through. Add seasonings of your choice. Fresh parsley? Thyme? Salt, pepper... enjoy.

What do you do when you have many leftovers but in small amounts? Do you make your own version of Stone Soup?

A Cooks Notes:

The idea of stone soup is to use whatever you have a little of. By adding a little of this and a little of that you create a delicious pot of food - where before you had none. No potatoes? How about white beans? or rice? No carrots? Do you have a turnip? Or a parsnip. Perhaps that bit of leftover chicken.. Be adventurous. There is no right or wrong. Of course you could always have a Stone Soup party. Invite a bunch of people over and have them bring one ingredient for soup. Then mix it all up and enjoy.