Stone Soup Story

Toward the end of the week, when I'm running low on groceries, I often wonder whether I'll be able to successfully create a delicious and satisfying meal from next-to-nothing.

Usually I can, it just takes a little creativity and confidence to combine leftovers with whatever you have in your crisper, cupboard and or freezer. I'll cover creative ways to make use of leftovers in upcoming posts.

Meanwhile, I want to share the "Stone Soup" story.

For those of you not familiar with the story, Stone Soup is about three, tired and hungry soldiers who on their way home from war wander into a town looking for something to eat.

The townspeople, afraid they won’t have enough for themselves, lie to the soldiers saying they have to no food to share.

In response, the soldiers make stone soup: They put a water-filled kettle on a fire in the town square, and put stones in the kettle to cook.

Soon enough, the soldiers are talking about how the soup would be better with seasoning, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, and with each “if only we had…” the townspeople, now fully engaged by the magic, start contributing all the necessary ingredients to make a perfect soup.

Et voilà – a feast is created and all the scared townspeople realize that once you know how to make soup from stones, you never need worry about being hungry.

Even though we are not in the midst of the economically dire, war-time circumstances alluded to above, nonetheless we are all trying to make less go further.