So *that's* what I was doing!

At school today I decided I would make soup for dinner. I had no specific type in mind. Just soup.

As the onions and carrots and garlic sauteed, I grabbed spices from the cabinet and random leftover bits of meat and veggies from the fridge and freezer. I would add something, taste, adjust the seasoning, taste again, simmer for a bit, taste for a third time, on and on for a good thirty minutes.

The soup tasted okay, but it needed something more. Looking in the fridge on more time I spied a bottle of homemade pepper sauce. Yes! It was exactly what the soup needed- a bit of acid and a kick of heat. I added a few spoonfuls and tasted again.

Then it dawned on me. This soup wasn't just soup- it was Brunswick Stew.

At first I was annoyed. I had spent at least an hour trying to make this soup taste good. I should have just looked at the ingredients on hand, realized I had the makings of Brunswick Stew and followed a trusted recipe I'd used before.

But then, the A-ha.

Lately my life has been alot like my soup making. I've been trying different things here and there, relying on trial-and-error, counting on my instincts to figure out what is good and right for me and mine. Sometimes everything has gone wrong and I'm left with a pot of old vegetables and starchy pasta and over-salted broth and I have to throw everything out and start again.

But. But! More often than not, I'm ending up with Brunswick Stew. Yeah, it'd be easier at times to pull out the cookbook and follow someone else's recipe. But it's only because I know the basics of soup making that I knew what the final ingredient needed to be in order to take this soup from and mediocre experiment to an unqualified success. I don't always need a recipe because I already have all the tools of soupmaking!

I have what I need to get started. The path I take to the final product will be uniquely my own. I- and the soup- will be all the better for it.

Soup's on at six.