INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

This is NOT low-fat, low-calorie, or low anything for that matter, but
absolutely delicious and an all-time family favorite!  Rinse peas in
cold water and bring to a boil in 3 quarts of water. Cut  bacon small
and brown with onion. Add with drippings to peas. Cook  until peas are
soft and just starting to disintegrate, about one  hour, stirring
occasionally to prevent the solids from settling out  and sticking to
the bottom of the pot. Chop celery small and add with  parsley to the
soup and cook until the celery is soft, about 15  minutes more. Thin
with water if necessary to the proper consistency;  it should be like
light cream with little bits of pea still visible.  If too thick, it is
more like 'pea porridge' and not as appetizing.  Meanwhile, make the
croutons. Cut the bread (leave crust on) into 3/4"  cubes. Melt the
butter in a frying pan (Grandma Sofie used a heavy  cast iron one), and
when the foam is just through dying down but  before the butter begins
to brown, add the bread cubes in batches  sized according to the size
of your pan: The croutons should never be  more than one layer deep.
Sometimes Grandma Sofie sauteed a little bit of garlic in the butter
before adding the bread and sometimes not -- the croutons are good
both ways. I think that living all of her life in California  sometimes
overrode her German upbringing and that's how the garlic  snuck in!
Fry the bread cubes over MEDIUM heat until dark golden, stirring and
tossing frequently to brown on all sides. Take your time about this,
as if you get the butter too hot it will burn and taste bitter. If  the
croutons are done correctly, they will be crisp and fairly dry  and
light enough to float on top of the soup.  Ladle the hot soup into
bowls and pass the croutons in a basket for  each person to add at the
table.  Note that you could get by with a half a loaf of French bread
for the  croutons, but only if you're alone while you're making the
soup.  Otherwise, the croutons have a tendency to 'dissappear' when
you're  not looking!  From: My husbands maternal grandmother Sofie
Schmidt Murray,  1892-1980. She was one of those cooks who never used
recipes; I wrote  this down one time while watching her make it. --
Linda Hurlbert  Shogren (hurlbert@concentric.net)  Recipe by: Sofie
Schmidt Murray Posted to MC-Recipe Digest V1 #737 by  hurlbert
<hurlbert@concentric.net> on Aug 12, 1997

A Message from our Provider:

“Man’s way leads to a hopeless end — God’s way leads to an endless hope.”