Childhood & Sentimental memories

Butterfly_Brain

Ah the late 60's and early 70's fantastic times.
Chipmunk crisps - does anyone else remember them?
Church Street market when you really could get anything including animals!
And Chocolate Joes and the hot chestnut man.
Or a special treat was going to the Italian ice cream parlour in Edgeware Road.
Saturday morning pictures and going swimming straight after.
The smell of coffe beans roasting on a cold winter's night
Sunday mornings going to Sunday school and afternoons were spent visiting relatives or having a special Sunday tea with salad and cakes - All shops were closed on Sunday's BONUS! wish it was like that now.

Gothicfairy

As I was asked about this I thought I would post it up but didn't know where to put it as it is kinda the best type of old style money saving..Please move or delete it though if I am wrong.

As told to me by a German/ Roma mother but there are many different soups. ie Gypsy and nail as was also told to one poster on the leftover thread

A long time ago and very far away where the wind blows harsh and the water is like glass there lived a man who was so very poor he could not even afford shoes on his feet or food in his belly.
He walked all day and slept under the stars with a rock for his pillow and the earth his bed.

One day he happened across a snooty landowner who threw a rock at him and told him to leave the land and that he was worth nothing, to this the man replied " I might be worth nothing but I can make the best stone soup in the world"
Now of course the landowner did not believe him and wanted to show the man up for a lier as well as a begger and said " show me your soup and I will give you a home and land and you will never have to walk the earth again".

"well" said the man, "that is fine and I accept but I have left my cooking pot behind and it is at least a weeks walk to collect it and my flint is lost in the woods so that would take me some time to find it, if you wait right here I will be back as soon as I can and make you stone soup."

As it was cold and starting to snow the landowner did not want to wait so he told the man that he could use his cooking pot and flint and that he would get the wood from his house.

He took the man back to his house.

On arriving the man said " well we would need water but that is so far away I don't think it would be worth it as it would be ice by the time I get there"

So the landowner gave him water.

The man put the rock he has for a pillow into the pot and added the water and sat back and waited for it to boil.

As it boiled he spoke to the landowner of the places he had seen and what he had done and also how much better the soup would be with a potato in it, the landowner gave him a potato as he wanted fine soup to fill his belly and a story to tell everyone.

(this carried on with as many veg as you like until you have a soup)

The man served the stone soup and the landowner said it was the best ever so he kept his promise and gave the man land and a house on the promise that the man would make stone soup every Christmas and so started the boxing day leftover soup.............


We really did have stone soup when I was a kid on boxing day, my mother kept a clean stone just for it as it was a story tale I loved.

Puzzledbubbles

Thanks for this

I was telling OH this story last week and he thought i was nuts!

I remember it from the book through, no one read it to me

Great story :T:T

Seakay

I remember hearing this story on the radio (Listen With Mother or something?) and also a teacher read it to us at school when I was about 8 or 9. THere were slight variations, but that was the basic story.

Gothicfairy

I do think there are quite a few different stories along the same theme
I have also heard one about a village who gave the "garnish" for the soup and each person just gave a small bit.

I think it depends on where abouts in Europe you are from and who told the stroy as to the version you get but that is old style saving at best is it now..lol all be it very sneaky

cooking-mama

I had heard a version where the first man had nothing but a stone to add to the pot..then a villager added a carrot,another an onion,someone else a potato etc etc...this way everyone had a good plate of soup by combinig all their own single items.

ginvzt

When I was growing up in the great Soviet Union, there was a cartoon made to a similar story, but instead of stone there as axe. We even had a saying 'you won't make soup out of axe'.

I used to love it. (The cartoon and the story)

Gothicfairy

My mother remembers an axe as well as a stone..She is German/ Roma with family in the old eastern block

FelinePrincess

I have a really bad memory but seeing this thread has reminded me how much I liked the idea of stone soup when I was little! I don't remember how I knew about it but it must have been one of these stories

rachbc

There is a fab blog called stone soup that is about making simple tasty food often using a small no of ingredients

http://thestonesoup.com/blog/

and some great cheap and tasty meals in the under $2 a day challenge (oz dollars so about 70p)

http://thestonesoup.com/blog/2010/07/how-to-eat-for-2-a-day-without-resorting-to-battery-hen-eggs/