Ya'll know my mother wasn't the BEST mother out there....
butttttttttttttt....
I DO have some good memories.
One memory that really stands out to me right now is when i was little...maybe 4-6 years old. Now her drinking was really really bad at this time...I knew there was something wrong, but, of course, didn't what it was.
But I remember the days when she would make wedding soup.
My mom wasn't Italian. She was German. My Dad is Italian. And when they got married, his aunts took my mom under their wings and taught her how to cook "Italian" food. and when she was pregnant with my brother, they would make her fried pepper sandwiches with melted mozzarella on top. She would make these for me too...YUM.
But back to the wedding soup.
She would cook the chicken for a long time..and then chill the broth and clarify it a couple times...this was a multiple day undertaking to make Italian Wedding soup.
I would help her chop all the celery and carrots and onions...teeny tiny little pieces, sneaking some along the way. and she would cook this in the chicken broth and let me tell you....we lived in a tiny little 4 room house and the smell would permeate the whole place. the windows would fog up...it was a special occasion!
And the meatballs. THE MEATBALLS!!! I never really knew what she put in them but I remember rolling tiny little baby meatballs, and then she would bake them in the oven. the meatballs have always been my favorite part of wedding soup! then she would make the breading. I, to this day, do not know how to make it. There is no recipe from her...she had it in her head. But it was the best part too, next to the meatballs. and the Escarole floating in it...omg.
so today I am making Wedding Soup.
There will be no clarifying of the broth....too much trouble. :)
But there are tiny pieces of celery and carrots and onions.
and in place of the breading there will be Italian salad croutons. hey! Ya gotta improvise, right?
and meatballs.
Lots of little tiny meatballs.
In honor of my mom.
14 comments:
that is a great memory - if I could ever get a taste of that "breading" I would be able to tell you what was in it - but I guess its long gone now - try hard to remember - I bet you could come up with something similar based on the italian bread crumbs that come in those tubes - add egg and there you might have it....
Sounds very tasty! And glad you have that memory :-)
Great memory and what a great day to make soup!
Dog, if anyone could do it, it's you. it was a dense bread-like thing...with garlic and parsley in it...sort of like a biscuit but baked all flat on a sheet pan, and then cut into cubes......that's the best I can describe it.
I wish, more today than I do others, that I lived down the street from you.
Italian Wedding Soup is one of my favorites. OMG - I'm hungry now!
XOXOXO
what a sweet, touching, thoughtful post beth!
gosh Beth. Now I'm really hungry for some Italian.
Sounds delightful! Pass me a bowl!
At least you have a few good memories if nothing else!
I agree - its all about the meatballs with that soup.
I made it way back when I had no idea how to photograph food, but the recipe is good!
http://mybizzykitchen.com/2008/10/30/porkchops/
Everything sounds so damn yummy! And Italian wedding soup in my all time favorite! I sure have missed ya girl! But I now have a new laptop! All is right again......
It's silly, but I love little foods. Tiny little meatballs sound like a great idea to me!
Hate that I missed this post... if I drove, I would ride all night to get some of Beth's (meat)Ball and roll them in my mouth and suck their juices out, before I lightlty sink my teeth into them, gently tugging until they melted in my mouth!! :0)
Wedding soup sounds so tasty. The comfort of food and all it's memories.
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