The Story of Stone Soup
Once upon a time, there was a great famine in which people jealously hoarded whatever food they could find, hiding it even from their friends and neighbors. One day a wandering soldier came into a village and began asking questions as if he planned to stay for the night.
"There's not a bite to eat in the whole province," he was told. "Better keep moving on."
"Oh, I have everything I need," he said. "In fact, I was thinking of making some stone soup to share with all of you." He pulled an iron cauldron from his wagon, filled it with water, and built a fire under it. Then, with great ceremony, he drew an ordinary-looking stone from a velvet bag and dropped it into the water.
By now, hearing the rumor of food, most of the villagers had come to the square or watched from their windows. As the soldier sniffed the "broth" and licked his lips in anticipation, hunger began to overcome their skepticism.
"Ahh," the soldier said to himself rather loudly, "I do like a tasty stone soup. Of course, stone soup with cabbage -- that's hard to beat."
Soon a villager approached hesitantly, holding a cabbage he'd retrieved from its hiding place, and added it to the pot. "Capital!" cried the soldier. "You know, I once had stone soup with cabbage and a bit of salt beef as well, and it was fit for a king."
The village butcher managed to find some salt beef . . . and so it went, through potatoes, onions, carrots, mushrooms, and so on, until there was indeed a delicious meal for all. The villagers offered the soldier a great deal of money for the magic stone, but he refused to sell and traveled on the next day. The moral is that by working together, with everyone contributing what they can, a greater good is achieved.
Once upon a time, there was a great famine in which people jealously hoarded whatever food they could find, hiding it even from their friends and neighbors. One day a wandering soldier came into a village and began asking questions as if he planned to stay for the night.
"There's not a bite to eat in the whole province," he was told. "Better keep moving on."
"Oh, I have everything I need," he said. "In fact, I was thinking of making some stone soup to share with all of you." He pulled an iron cauldron from his wagon, filled it with water, and built a fire under it. Then, with great ceremony, he drew an ordinary-looking stone from a velvet bag and dropped it into the water.
By now, hearing the rumor of food, most of the villagers had come to the square or watched from their windows. As the soldier sniffed the "broth" and licked his lips in anticipation, hunger began to overcome their skepticism.
"Ahh," the soldier said to himself rather loudly, "I do like a tasty stone soup. Of course, stone soup with cabbage -- that's hard to beat."
Soon a villager approached hesitantly, holding a cabbage he'd retrieved from its hiding place, and added it to the pot. "Capital!" cried the soldier. "You know, I once had stone soup with cabbage and a bit of salt beef as well, and it was fit for a king."
The village butcher managed to find some salt beef . . . and so it went, through potatoes, onions, carrots, mushrooms, and so on, until there was indeed a delicious meal for all. The villagers offered the soldier a great deal of money for the magic stone, but he refused to sell and traveled on the next day. The moral is that by working together, with everyone contributing what they can, a greater good is achieved.
So we asked everyone to each bring a bit of the following: clams, oysters, crab legs, mussels, shrimp, potatoes, corn or sausage. We ended up with more food than we ever imagined! Luckily, one of our friends owned a huge steampot to cook it all in, and brought it along. She even brought the "stone" for the soup - a brick to set the steam basket on! Perfect!!
Yum!!!!!
It was fun watching the guys figure out how to dump the food once it was done!
We ate, drank and were VERY merry through the night, and had a great time with all of our friends. I count it as one of the best get-togethers we have EVER had!!
We had so much food leftover, that I needed to come up with something to do with it. The mystery was solved with a seafood chowder, and an afternoon of crabs and beer today! Around lunch time we covered our coffee table with newspaper and dug right in!
We made a seafood potato corn chowder for dinner, served with a fresh new loaf of the jalapeno bread. I will post the chowder recipe, but in a separate entry, as I don't have it all written out yet.
DOUBLE YUM!!
Another weekend ends with a great dinner, True Blood (SO GOOD TONIGHT!!) and situps - we did 90 tonight!!! Ouch!
The kids start school tomorrow, so I really should already be sleeping! I guess I just am not ready for the weekend to end!
Good night, all!
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