Living in Alabama, you never really know what you’re going to get when it comes to weather. Night before last, Jonathan and I moved the girls to the basement for the night because we were expecting tornadic weather in the night. After three rounds of thunderstorms that produced multiple tornadoes (none of which came too close to us), we were in the clear for a little while. We were expecting more storms yesterday afternoon, but they never really materialized. We went to bed last night breathing a huge sigh of relief and thanking God for His protection over us. We awoke this morning to reports that the Alabama Gulf Coast, along with parts of the Florida panhandle, were flooded. I checked immediately with my parents, who live in Orange Beach, and sure enough, they had 18″ of water in their house.
A picture like that is enough to make most people sick to their stomach, but my parents are some of the most positive people I know. They’ve been through flooding before. They have cleaned up and rebuilt and redecorated. My dad’s comment about last night’s damage was, “It’s just stuff.” Mom’s reaction was to pray for the safety of their friends and neighbors and the people involved in the clean up process. She is also praising God that He will work it all together for good. Make no mistake, they aren’t super humans who aren’t disappointed and overwhelmed at the prospect of cleaning up that mess. They just choose to have a good attitude about it. I wish I could make them a big pot of soup to make it all better.
When I was a little girl, my Grandaddy Mills did a lot of the cooking at my grandparents’ home. Whenever we’d visit them, he’d always make a big pot of vegetable soup. Their home was a place of comfort and belonging. It was a place where my brothers and I could run like wild banshees through their huge yard or sit for hours on their front porch swings. And since we southerners connect all of our life experiences with food, his vegetable soup became a symbol of warmth, comfort, and the sense that all was right with the world. Since I can’t get to Orange Beach to bring soup and help clean up my parents’ house, I’ll share my Grandaddy Mills’s Vegetable Soup with you all. I hope that when you make it, it will bring the same sense of peace to you.
This is a soup that we make a little differently every time we make it. Because we usually use what we have on hand, the veggies are always a little different and sometimes the meat is, too. I usually leave out the okra, but I always add corn and butter beans. I didn’t have celery this time, and the soup was delicious without it. I used leftover ham from Easter instead of hamburger meat, and it was delicious. Leftover roast is also a good addition. I’ll give you the recipe, but know that you can change it up any way you think your family will like it best. How do you do your vegetable soup?
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