I was so busy having fun yesterday, that I forgot to take pictures.

And I really wanted to take pictures!

We read books and made scones (singin’ hinnies, actually)

and played with clay, and made stone soup and bread and played with Aiden and visited with Allyson, and colored maps and coloring books and made magnets-

ALL of which could have been great picture opportunities- and I have nary a picture to share. (Nary is such a neat word, albeit not often used- kind of like albeit and whilst- let’s use these wonderful old words more often folks, or we will lose them!)  Any way, whilst I was having such a great time- my camera was sitting very quietly in my purse.  So I DONT have any pictures.

I do, however, have a wonderful recipe for Stone soup/bisque. 

We have all heard the community sharing and inspiring tale of “Stone Soup”-

A wanderer comes into town, and commences to make a soup with only a stone for a base- he does so with such faith and flourish that all the village gets involved in the making of said soup – offering up their bits and pieces of veggies and meats and spices and by the end of the tale they have a wonderful stew and enough to feed the entire group.

This is a great way to get children involved in making and contributing and EATING a vegetable based soup!   The kids I was working playing with yesterday do NOT like vegetables.  It has been an area that we go back and forth with each time I show up. 

Them:      “Aunt Heidi, I don’t like _____________(fill in the blank with anything in the vegetable family)”.

Me:      ” That’s fine.  Why don’t you try just a bite of ____________(fill in the blank with the vegetable of the day that I have garnished or filled with peanut butter or provided a dip to go along ).”

So, they were suspicious of the whole Stone Soup gig, right from the beginning.

I had found a wonderful soup stone earlier this summer (and inadvertently been carrying this stone in my purse for months!)- so I scrubbed it up and put it into the pot, first thing.  This is the most important part of the recipe. 

Stone soup/Bisque

Start off with a likely stone.  It needs to look potworthy.  A shiny smooth stone will not work, here.  Brown and palm-sized with just a hint of darker coloration- it needs to look a little like a potato.

Add about 3 TBS olive oil and set temperature at med low (3) to start the sautee.

Add 1/2 cup onion- very finely diced

and 1/2 cup celery- again- Very Finely Diced- the idea is not to have any stand out veggies- the stone is the main character in this soup!

Sautee until onions are translucent and celery is stewed.

Now add- whatever you can get your kids to offer.  We opened the fridge to see what  they had to share with my poor little stone.

(I suggest that you do a lot of the slicing and dicing beforehand and employ some magical slight of hand to get it into the pot.  Unless your kids LIKE vegetables, the more they work with them, the more they will object to them being added to something they are expected to eat.  Keep their attention upon the STONE part of the soup!)

We added corn off the cob (give the cob an extra scrape to get all the “creamy” parts into the soup)

and ham, diced small.

Let all of these simmer gently for about 10 minutes, get all the children to stir it about and remark upon the aroma and the sizzle of the soup- paying particular attention to the hard working stone in the midst of all those very small other ingredients.

Now add, 1 can of chicken broth

1 cup of water

3 medium size potatoes, peeled and cubed small.

This part is fun- because the kids can put the potatoes in by the handful, making some good splashes.  The broth and water aren’t hot at this point and so they won’t burn their hands.  Don’t let them cover up your stone- it needs to remain the focal point visually as well as in the final outcome of this soup.

Put a lid on the pot, turn the heat down slightly and let the entire pot simmer for at least an hour.

By this time, the aroma of the cooking soup is all around the house, the stone is making little drumming noises letting you know it is at work, and the kids are off doing their own things.

So  you can mash up the potatoes, add salt and pepper to taste, and add

1 can of evaporated milk.

The milk makes this into a magical brew.

Simmer for another 30 minutes-

At this point I thought it was a little liquidy- so I went into the fridge and grabbed out the leftover macaroni and cheese and added it to the pot.

Now- THAT was magic.

Because everything melded together “in the most delightful way”!

I left the stone behind.  Kristen said she is putting it into the pantry for future use.

They all at least tried the soup. 

Which is a small victory on the road to healthy eating –

and a joy for every storyteller’s heart.