Mom's After Thanksgiving Turkey Soup

 

 

 



 

 

It only seems befitting that I would write this post today...today, marking the 1st year anniversary of my Mom's passing.  I cant believe it has already been a year.  My Mom, such a beautiful woman who taught my brother, sister and I so much about life and the many lessons it has to teach us.

 

Many would be surprised at the emphasis my mother placed on manners and etiquette. No elbows on the table at our house!  Growing up, we might not have had as much as others, but my Mother certainly taught us the beauty of sharing a good meal with others.  The love she placed on the table with her meal preparations and presentations spoke loudly of the love she had for us.

 

This year after sharing a delicious Thanksgiving meal at my brothers, he wrapped up the turkey carcass and tucked it in the trunk of my car and said, "There, now you can make Mom's Turkey Rice Soup".  Great.  What a responsibility to carry on my Mom's tradition of making this delicious soup that symbolized the finality of the Thanksgiving holiday.  Once this soup was simmering on the stove, we all knew (with a little relief) there were no more Thanksgiving leftovers to be consumed and we could finally move our focus on to the next joyous holiday celebration...Christmas!

 

This year for Thanksgiving, I was delighted to have my house full of young ones...my son, his adorable gfriend, my beautiful niece...and other treasured friends.  Things were busy and fun.  On several occasions I think I said, "Ugggg...I'm not going to do the soup...I don't have time".  My niece was the one who cheered me on. "No Aunt Con, you have to!  You have to do it for Grammie",  So I did.  

 

It isn't really a difficult task. I don't know why I even entertained not doing it.  The day after Thanksgiving, while we were busy with other things, I simply tucked the large (and ugly) carcass into a deep stock pot that I only drag out on rare occasions...because it is way too large for everyday cooking activities.

 

All I needed to do, was to put the lovely carcass in the seldom used stock pot, along with H2O, pepper corns and a few bay leaves...put the lid on and leave it alone to  gently simmer while I ran a couple of errands with the kids; trying to make the most of our holiday time together.  That evening I covered and tucked the whole lovely mess in the fridge.  The next day when I pulled out the carcass, I was amazed at how easily the meat obediently fell from the bones and stayed behind in the luscious broth that remained. 

 

I transferred this golden broth and meat into a more manageable sized stock pot and simply added:  chopped carrots, celery and onion...and once again I let the simmering magic occur while I busied myself with other things.  After a couple hours I added 3 cups of rice, cooked that until done and wa-la...my Mom's luscious Turkey Rice Soup was ready to be served. My youngest son said it was awesome.  That is all I needed to hear.  Those are the only words any Mom ever needs to hear. 

 

As easy as it was, I was carrying on my Mom's tradition.  She would have been proud of my efforts.  As a mother, perhaps we don't realize it is the simpler things we share with our children, that will someday be the big things they will cherish and remember. 

 

I love you Mom.