Wedding Eve Soup

Tomorrow is our 21st wedding anniversary.  The day we met I helped with a lunch for people in international student ministry, where we served two kinds of soup, homemade rolls, and cheesecake.  It was such a delicious meal that we served the same menu for our rehearsal dinner.  From then on, we've referred to both soups as Wedding Eve Soup.  Here are the recipes, in case you'd like to know what we're eating for dinner tonight!

Autumn Soup

1 lb ground beef

1 c onion, chopped

4 c water

1 c cut up carrots

1 c diced celery

1 c diced potato

2 tsp salt

1 tsp bottled brown bouquet sauce

1/4 tsp pepper

1 bay leaf

1/8 tsp basil

6 tomatoes or 28 oz can

   tomatoes, with liquid*

Brown meat and onion.  Pour off fat.  Add rest of ingredients.  Simmer until vegetables are tender.  Remove bay leaf before serving.

*If using canned tomatoes, reduce water in recipe to 3 cups.

Potato Cheese Soup

6 slices bacon

2 carrots

1 to 2 onions

2 to 3 potatoes

3 c water

1/4 c butter or margarine

1 to 2 c grated cheddar cheese

1 to 2 Tbsp flour

Fry bacon and crumble it.  Peel the carrots and slice into thin rounds.  Chop onion,  Cut the potatoes into chunks or slices.  They need not be peeled. Boil vegetables in 3 cups water until tender, 10 to 15 minutes.  Add margarine.  Salt to taste.  Toss the grated cheddar cheese with the flour. Stir into soup until melted.  Add the crumbled bacon.