Cheeseburger & French Fry Soup

Cheeseburger & French Fry Soup
Dorcas Annette Walker

March is known for its fickle weather. You never know what the next day will bring. One day is sunny and warm the next day chilly and rainy causing the temperature to drop sharply overnight only to wake up with a frosting of snow. Despite the up’s and downs of weather spring flowers valiantly bloom and trees continue to send forth buds. Each day is a new delight of color that boldly announces the fact that spring has arrived. After the drabness of winter months the rainbow of blossoms is a feast for the eyes- each fragile flower a miracle. As the earth comes alive there is magic in the air. People start smiling more, kids act like spring lambs let out into the pasture for the first time, birds start building nests, everyone’s thoughts turn to gardens, and even arthritic bones loosen up a bit. This past week during a cold spell I made up a pot of my Cheeseburger & French Fry Soup. My meat and potato husband loved it so much he nearly ate it all up.

Meanwhile the garden on my dining room table continues to grow. My Hubbard squash decided to bloom while my lima beans continue to climb all over my chairs. I plan on setting out my pea vines, lettuce, and spinach this week. I need room to start more flower seeds. In the henhouse our baby chicks have outgrown the brooder and are in the nursery section as they feather out. We bought three ducklings that seem to grow an inch a day. All sleep and eat until startled into a mass of squawking and flapping wings making an unbelievable racket. We have already started feeding them out of our hands. Our little farm is bursting with life.

My Cheeseburger & French Fry Soup is a filling soup with chunks of potatoes and hamburger floating in a creamy sauce. Any leftovers can be heated up in the microwave. The Cheeseburger & French Fry Soup makes a perfect meal for a chilly day. Preparation time for the Cheeseburger & French Fry Soup is 45 minutes and this recipe serves six- unless you have an appetite like my husband.

Cheeseburger & French Fry Soup

1 lb hamburger
1 small onion chopped
½ tsp garlic salt
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
3 c hot water
4 c crinkled cut French fries
1 tsp dried parsley
½ tsp salt
Pepper
1 c cubed processed cheese

Brown hamburger and onion with garlic salt in a medium-sized pot. Drain the grease. Add milk, water, French fries, parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and cook for five minutes. Lower the heat and add the cheese. Simmer for fifteen minutes until the cheese is melted. Garnish with parsley and serve!

Weekly tip: Did you know that you can grow potatoes in containers, trash bins, buckets, garbage bags/cans, and burlap sacks to free up garden space for other plants and avoid the backbreaking chore of digging potatoes out of the ground? All you need is a sunny spot, put holes in the bottom of your container/bags for drainage, and keep watered as needed!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcasannettewalker@gmail.com For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.webs.com