Welcome again one and all! Winter months are always a good time for hot and tasty soups to help warm up the body, the mind, and the soul from cold winters day outside.

Recipe for a Perfect Day

Take a dash of water, cold,
Add a little leaven of prayer
A little bit of sunshine gold
Dissolved in the morning air.
Add to your meal some merriment
A thought for kith and kin
And then as a prime ingredient
Plenty of work thrown in
But spice it all with essence of love
And a little whiff of play
Let a wise old book and a glance above
Complete a perfect day.

Iron Soup

Beans- Green beans(frozen)
Peas- snow peas(frozen)
Black eye peas (canned or frozen)
12 cans mushroom soup
12 cans evaporation milk
15-20 cloves garlic
Onions
Red peppers

Cook on low as not to burn anything. Do not bring to a boil. Saute garlic and onions in olive oil. Put into a big pot. Add rest of ingredients except red peppers. Saute red peppers alone and very lightly (must remain crisp). Put aside and add last.

Compassion Soup

6 cloves of garlic
8 medium sized onions
8 (12oz.) cans of evaporated milk
2 sticks of unsalted butter
1 doz. cans or 5 bags of frozen, whole kernal corn, fresh or canned
cornstarch to thicken white sauce

After the above is cooked:

1 teaspoon coarse black pepper (heaping)
1-2 bags frozen peas
10 mashed potatoes
3-4 stalks celery finely chopped and sauteed

Sautee garlic and onions in olive oil or other vegetable oil (use just as much as is needed). Add rest of the first set of ingreedients. Cook on low heat so as to not burn anything. After the first set of ingredients are cooked, remove from the heat. When the soup is off the heat add one mound (heaping tablespoon) of coarse black pepper. Consistency should be of a real nice cream soup. Soupy but thick. Add frozen peas, mashed potatoes, and sauteed chopped celery.

Red Cabbage Borscht

Salt & Pepper Sour Cream (optional)
1 can of Beats (whole) 2 tablespoon butter
1 large onion (chopped) 1 clove of garlic minced
1 1/2 C red cabbage (shredded) 1 can tomatoes (19 oz)
2 C water 1/4 C red wine vinegar
1 can chicken stock (10 oz) 1 tsp sugar
1 tsp dillweed t tsp caraway seeds

Drain beets and reserve liquid; chop beats. In a large heavy sauce pan, melt butter; cook onion until softened and translucent. Add garlic and cabbage, cook, stirring until cabbage is wilted. Add beats and reserved liquid, tomatoes, water, vinegar, stock, sugar, dillweed and caraway seeds. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes or until cabbage is very soft. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve very hot. Garnish each serving with a dollop of sour cream. Enjoy!

Grandmother's Cornmeal Soup

The rigors of the vision quest are always rewarded by the tantalizing smells and tastes of Grandmother’s magnificent “Matzo Ball Soup.” She has shared the recipes with us so we can share them with you.

BROTH

3 cups of self rising corn meal

NOTE: If you use the water to the package measurement, it tastes too watery, so Grandmother uses 1/2 the package amount.
Croyden food manufacturer makes a jar of soup which she has used on occasion to enhance the taste of the broth.

1/2 stick butter
5 onions (fist sized) chopped coarsely
2 whole garlic cloves or 1 Tbs. garlic powder
Handful dry parsley leaves
1/2 as much dry basil
2 Tbsp. (healthy pinch) cooking sage
1 Tbsp. (pinch) thyme
1 Tbsp. (pinch) bay leaf

NOTE:

Grandmother also added chicken or turkey bones that were dried and ground to bone meal

MATZO BALL OR CORN MEAL BALLS

5 Cups corn meal
1 Cups flour (add 1 tsp. of baking powder if not self-rising flour)
1/2 Cup dried Kosher chicken
1 dozen eggs
2 handfuls dry parsley
1/2 handful rosemary
2 cloves pulverized garlic
32 oz. peanut oil

Combine above ingredients. Put in refrigerator 20 minutes or until oil sets.

If you’re making this outside as Grandmother did, the bowl was covered and placed in cold water.

Matzo balls are rolled into sizes of large golf balls. They will swell to 4 times their size.

Cook 20 minutes in the boiling broth.

Also Grandmother made dumplings with the above recipe, but used all white flour. Also, you can take flour dumplings and make noodles by just using a smaller amount of the mixture and flattening it.

Traditional Corn Dressing

Traditional corn dressing is eaten during ceremonial times. It is used as a fast substance eaten with water during purification periods. You are sure to see it on every table at feast time.

Make enough corn bread or corn muffins for six
( 6 ) cups of corn bread crumbs.
Add butter (not margarine) and water until moist.
Add sage, basil, and green cedar tips, chopped very fine.(NOT litter chips.)
Add onions to taste.
Add two ( 2 ) cups whole grain bread crumbs.
Add three ( 3 ) eggs.
Salt and Pepper (Season to Taste).
Add 1 can, ( 6-8 oz.) hominy grits. (Soaked, shelled corn)
Make into a loaf and bake. Slice and serve.

Bake at 325F for 45min.

Traveler's Spice

Ingredients (in equal Proportions):

Ground Ginger
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Ground Sage
Ground Coffee

Put in a ornate smallbowl or container and set near air flow in room. Traveler's Spice is a gift that is left as a blessing in a room where travelers stay. It is used to bring harmony to the environment.