THE FARM

The Gibson family farm has been in our family since 1906. It has been a fully functioning farm the whole time. My Grandfather and Great-Grandfather grew mostly canola and durum, and for the past ten years my father has been raising sheep. Our farm is located in the south-west corner of Saskatchewan. I grew up mostly in the city of Saskatoon, spending my summers out at the farm. You could say I have a bit of farm-kid in me. The farm spans for hundreds of acres around the farmhouse, but the garden is just down a path through the yard. This is where the magic happens...

Potato Soup June 6

The only thing I love more than gardening is cooking. I've been doing it for most of my life, and most people think I'm pretty okay at it. I'm terrible at reading recipes though, I get bored half way through the ingredient list and either lose interest or just make the rest up. Sometimes the results are disastrous but most of the time, things turn out okay. After so many years of practice I can usually gauge whether or not something will turn out well. And by "so many years" I mean almost 20, which to some isn't that many, but keep in mind I'm only 25!
I remember standing on a chair beside my dad in the kitchen (before he met my stepmother, which by my calculations puts me around age 5). He was whistling "Sesame Street" and instructing me on the fine art of icing a Minnie Mouse cake for my sister's birthday. Anyways, fast-forward 20 years and here I am this evening, eager to share a recipe I made up today for potato soup. The measurements are approximate because I wasn't paying that close attention to what I was doing, but here it is:
POTATO SOUP
1 package of good bacon
1 medium sized onion
9 potatoes ( I used russet and red)
3 carrots, chopped
2 cups frozen corn
4 cups beef stock
2 cups homo milk
I browned the bacon in the bottom of a large pot, then I added the onions and cooked them until they were soft ( I removed most of the bacon fat before adding the onions, but you don't have to). I  peeled and chopped the potatoes into 1" cubes and added them, the carrots and the corn to the pot and added the stock to cover. I also added about 2 cups of homogenized milk, but I don't think it matters too much what milk fat % you use( The more milk fat, the creamier the soup will be). I also added about 3 teaspoons of pepper, and a little cornstarch to thicken it up. I let it all simmer for a few hours and voila... potato soup!! Perfect with biscuits.














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