A number of years ago I found a cookbook at a thrift store that didn't follow the usual pattern for cookbooks. This one had Canadian recipes in it. How would that be different from any other cookbook, you ask? Well, for instance, it had recipes in it for carabou. Food City doesn't carry reindeer meat. There were also a few other exotic foods that we don't find in East Tennessee.

One recipe seemed to jump off the page, yelling “Try me!” So I did. It had a different name in the book, but I re-named it “Canadian Hamburger Vegetable Soup.” It is easy and delicious.

If you didn't grow up on soup, like I did, it is never too late to start. Money was hard to come by back in the day, but there doesn't seem to be much left over nowadays either. Soup is an easy cheap dish to make. I am not talking about canned condensed soup. I mean a hearty old fashioned homemade soup with meat in it. There is no comparison. As an example, try this Canadian soup. By the way, no reindeer was harmed in the preparation of this soup.

“CANADIAN HAMBURGER VEGETABLE SOUP”

2 tablespoons shortening or bacon drippings
½ cup chopped onion
½ lb ground beef (reindeer meat is unavailable)
1 cup tomato juice
½ cup diced potatoes
½ cup sliced carrots
1 beef boulion cube.
3 tablespoons plain flour
2 cups milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Melt shortening in Dutch oven. Add and fry onion until tender. Add ground beef and cook until well browned. Add to that the tomato juice, diced potatoes, sliced carrots and bouillon cube. Cover and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. In a small bowl, combine the flour and some of the milk to form a thin paste. Stir into the soup. Add remaining milk. Cook and stir over low heat until slightly thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper. This might serve four, but I think two is more realistic. Note: Can use tomato soup and 1 soup can of water in place of tomato juice. Serve hot with saltine crackers.