Recipe for Borscht

Russian Beet Soup

Meaty beef soup bones
2-3 carrots
2-3 stalks of celery
3-4 potatoes
2 medium onions
Peppercorns
Bay leaf (or leaves)
Garlic salt
Celery salt
½ head cabbage
½ can corn with juice
½ can green beans with juice (or 1-2 cups fresh)
1 large can cut up tomatoes with juice
1-2 cans beets with juice (or 1-2 cups fresh)
4-6 cubes beef bullion
Fresh dill
Sour cream

Boil soup bones in large stock pot with enough water to cover plus one inch.
Scrub, wash, and peel vegetables, putting peelings, peppercorns, and one of the onions (cut up) in water with soup bones. Add bay leaf. Simmer covered for 3-4 hours or until meat falls off bone). Remove meat. Strain liquid through cheesecloth.

Put liquid back in pot, add meat (cut in pieces) and chopped vegetables, salt, and seasonings. Simmer until vegetables are tender. Add corn, beans, and beats. Cook another 10-20 minutes. Add dill just before serving. Serve with a small dollop of sour cream. Freezes well (in small containers).

Sunday Mornings

On Sundays my husband Bill and I usually have a lazy breakfast - this morning I made homemade caramel rolls. After breakfast we had a nice time of chatting together and drinking coffee, then we went to church. We attend a little interdenominational Christian church called Harvest. Interdenominational means we accept people from various backgrounds. We believe the "church" is a family of redeemed people, not a building. There are about 75-100 families who make up Harvest. I love the international mix - many times we have visiting students from other countries. When I close my eyes and think of Heaven, I see people from all tongues, tribes, and nations. Can you see why I love my ELL students so much?

When we get home today, I'm going to make a good pot of borscht soup. Borscht is a Russian word for "beet soup." I'll include the recipe for borscht at a later post. Did you know that I love good, old fashioned recipes? I am always open to sharing culture, especially food!

By the way, my husband just looked out the window and told me it's snowing (... just a little).

Why have I finally decided to blog?

Since I am a teacher of English to speakers of other languages, I thought I would like to begin a blog to invite my family and friends to communicate with me. Please feel free to post your comments.

It's a beautiful autumn day here in Minnesota - I'm hoping to get outside and enjoy it a bit. Maybe I'll take a walk, or go for a bike ride, or just sit in a corner of my deck with the sun on my face and read a good book. Until next time, I hope you will persist in this experience called life!