Potato Soup

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December 2012

Hello, my name Suzy. My last meal contained approximately 376 calories. I am a calorie freak.

I am neurotic about calories, calorie counting, and the nutritional value of what I put into my body. I have made an effort in the past year or so, however, to come to terms with my body, as well as just NGAF.  I believe the root of my obsession, besides coming from my own neurosis comes from the fact that I love food and all parts of food.  I love the science, where it comes from, how it’s made---and this includes how many calories are in things and what sorts of nutrition different foods provide.

I have also always been an athlete. I know that food is fuel, and you need to intake a certain balance and amount to maximize performance. As a ten year old at swim meets, I thought this meant a steady intake of pixie sticks and nachos had to be maintained throughout the 3 ½ hours before my 30 second race if I wanted to think about placing. As a college athlete, my food awareness turned into the harsh realization that Natty Light is not the correct carbohydrate to fuel 6 am five mile runs, and you never really burn off that Wawa turkey hoagie you eat at 3 am.

Most recently, I have made an effort to be more in tune with the seasons and changing up my diet according to the seasons.  This is as simple as buying whatever produce is on sale, because hey, they is more of it, so Whole Foods marks it down because they have more to get rid of. Or, yea, it’s the summer, I’m in a bathing suit all weekend, better have a salad for lunch.  

It’s been freezing out and I’m coming to terms with the fact that my body is craving meat and potatoes. And cheese. And bread. I don’t want berries with low-fat yogurt, or nice a piece of grilled fish. I want something rich, something warm. I have to walk .8 miles to the train station in thirty-degree weather, fill me up!

This past weekend I went with C and C’s mother-in-law, S, to German and Latvian Christmas bazaars. We ate lunch at the Latvian one, and it was incredible, hot dog, bratwurst, sauerkraut, potatoes, mustard, brown bread, and a beer, just what we needed on a blustery Saturday afternoon.  We were inspired to recreate the meal ourselves, and after a trip to Krakus Polish market in Port Richmond, we were all set up. I volunteered to make potato soup as a starter.

S Feeling overwhelmed at Krakus

The recipe is Pennsylvania Dutch and has been in my mother’s family for a long time. One of my most distinct memories of eating it is from high school. I had a long, awful basketball practice followed by SAT prep. I asked my mom to bring me something for dinner in-between and she brought me a can of Coca-Cola and a Tupperware of potato soup. I was so mad. Sixteen year old me wanted a fountain soda and grilled chicken sandwich from McDonald’s. I sat down begrudgingly at my desk in SAT prep before class and realized it was going to be the soup, or a stale pop-tart from the vending machine. The soup transformed my evening, and I had another bowl when I got home that night.

The best part about this soup is the rivels, or dumplings. I always add extra, and try to drop in a few extra big ones, but not too big. It’s also fairly light because you use milk, not cream. The recipe below is the original recipe, as my great aunt and great grandmother wrote it. Bring a Tupperware container of this to someone you love.

POTATO SOUP

Cube one potato/person

Chop celery and onions

Add big hunk of butter

Cover with water and cook until potatoes done and water cooked down.

Add one cup of milk/person

Rivels – Beat one egg and add to one cup of flour. Mix with fork or hands. Different size rivels are fine, just no big globs. (Double if making big pot)

Bring soup to boil and drop in rivels. Boil hard to cook rivels. Stir so it doesn’t scorch on bottom.

Salt and pepper to taste