Today I am making Barb's potato soup.
I haven't seen Barb since we worked together twenty years ago. But I often make her soup, and each time I think of her.
More than working together, we became friends. She was also, at that stage of my life, a good advisor to me. Barb loved to cook and I was the fortunate beneficiary as she shared her "leftovers" at lunch time.
I also make Barb's graham crackers, Linzer bars, and, with my granddaughters, a tradition started with my two older ones, homemade applesauce in the fall. Ava and I made some last weekend.
Isn't it funny with recipes? You collect them and forever after refer to them by the name of the person who passed it on. For instance, I make Mary Kay's beans, Christine's spaghetti sauce, Judy's caramel rolls, and Lorraine's grainery pickles.
But then there's Teddie's apple cake. I have no idea who Teddie is. The recipe was given to me many years ago by a friend. And her name isn't Teddie.
In our family, we have made "Clare's beans" for decades. They are known as Clare's beans. But nobody knows who Clare is, or was. The recipe was given to my mother by someone named Daisy.
Go figure.
But anyway, as I make Barb's potato soup, I do think of Barb. It's a good day for soup.
And maybe I'll even give Barb a call.
