wandering hillbilly

recepts of buddy don:
dream tater soup

i wuz over to sugarfused a'reedin bout a dream she had bout her daddy, witch he dun past away 20 odd years ago but thangs still hurts. n whenever i red bout that, it put me in mind of a dream i had bout my own dead daddy n in that dream cum this recept fer tater soup that everbidy calls dream tater soup. i promiss to give ye the recept direckly, but furst ye mite lack to here how the dream cum to be.

on the mornin of 9/11, i wuz wurkin frum home n up early. me n missus buddy don had us sum visters at the time, witch twuz her son n his partner. they had been to see the empire state bildin on mundy n wuz a'fixin to go visit the worl trade center on that tuesdy. they had bought em a pass whar ye kin see sevrul of the sites in new york city fer one price kinda lack a ticket book at disneyland, n they wuz wurkin thar way thru the book.

before they could git out the door, we gut a call frum thar grandmom in ohio. she wuz riled up bout how them kids wuz not a'goin to no worl trade center that mornin so turn on cnn. we dun it n thar wuz the awful site of the furst tower burnin n then the wurser site of the plane a'hittin tuther tower. corse we spent the day in shock. tuck us sum pitchers of the towers burnin befor they closed down the 14th street pier. mingled n spoke with the crowds that wuz a'gathern everwhar. wundered whut wuz nex. here's a cuple pitchers i tuck:

we gut us the idee that we needed to git them kids to tennessee n ohio sos they could see sum reltives. missus buddy dons daughter cum over frum harlem nex day. my job wuz done that day on a counta my lil firm wuz bout three blocks away n coverd in dust n all our receivbulls wuz frum folks that had jes los thar offusses n mayhap thar counts paybull departmints. so we wuz quick a nuff to git a car to rent n tuck off fer tennessee n ohio.

we wonted them kids to see thar grandmom in ohio n my mama in knoxvull n thar granddaddy down near chattanooga, so we wuz a burnin up the rode. whenever we gut to thar granddaddy, witch he happens to be my own daddys bruther n sounds lack him n looks lack him n all to whar mos of the visit wuz him n me reminissin bout daddy. twuz hard on me on a counta how i hadnt reelized how much i missed my own daddy till that momint.

n fer sum reason, i gut to thankin how i missed seein him that las time n why n all. i had moved to new york in 1985 n gut me a job on wall street n everbidy thought i wuz sumbidy. he died in 1996 n whenever he tuck sick it so happend that the firm i wuz a'wurkin fer wuz movin frum one bildin to whenever. i had me a crew of techies n wuz mixed as thick into that move as ye could git. we wurked ever weekend that fall settin up the network n gittin folks hooked toot n wurkin rite.

so when mama called to say daddy mite not make chrismus, i tole her id be home thanksgivin. then whenever she called to say she dint thank he wood make thanksgivin, i sed give me one more weekend. on a counta i figgerd twuz importunt to make that las weekend move fer the firm. i gut on the rode by mundy, but he died that nite befor i could git back to see him.

that talk with my uncle put all these thoughts into my hed, n i jes couldnt shake em. purty soon, i feared id brake down crine, so when we gut to my bruthers place down on watts bar, even tho the nite wuz yung n folks wuz a'wontin to sit out by the lake, i went to bed n dreampt this here dream.

i wuz a visitin my daddy. fer sum reason, he wuz livin alone in a bad part of town in a single room occupancy basement place, the wurse thay is. he wuz pleased as could be that i had paid him a visit n we went in n i could see the place wuz a mess. i ast how he wuz, n he sed he wuz all rite but he wuz hungry.

whenever we wuz lil n thay wuznt nuthin else to eat, he wood make us tater soup. we hated it n wonderd why we had to have it but he always kep us fed. so twuz no sprize how he sed, 'we should make us sum tater soup.' soons he did i sed i wood make him that soup, n twoodnt be jes no plane ole soup neethur.

suddenly thar i wuz on martha stewarts show n i wuz the star of the segmint on a counta she wonted me to larn the folks how to make dream tater soup n thats whut i dun fer the res of the show. when i had made the soup n martha stewart had sed how twuz so deelishus n all, the audience tuck to clappin n i woke up. but i never gut back to my daddy with that soup, n it made me cry as hard as ever i did in my life.

but the nex day we had to git on the rode fer ohio n i jes kep goin over that soup recept in my mine till i had it memorized. twuz a verr hard week fer all kinda reasons but we gut home finely. the hole area wuz still covered in the dust n soot of them towers. seemed lack everbidy wuz walkin wounded. i had to look fer wurk n the vacayshun of the two youngns wuz ruint n we wuz wore plum out.

so i made us all a pot of that soup n we ate it n we wuz fambly together. n everbidy sed how twuz deelishus same as martha stewart had dun. twuz one of them momints fer me, n i felt a peace, lack twuz a present frum my daddy to me, that soup, even tho twuz a present i never give him.

but i will give it to y'all.

dream tater soup

gredients:

olive oil
cuple carrots
cuple stalks of celry
onion
four or five cloves garlic
taters: accordin to how big thay happens to be, ye mite need ye as few as three or as minny as six or so. i lack usin them lil red taters or new golden taters.
bout a quart of water dependin
bout a teespoon dill
bout a teespoon parsley
grated parmesan or romano cheese or bofem
sour cream
salt n pepper to taste

ye start by choppin up yer carrots n celry n onion n garlic bout as fine as ye kin. cut up yer taters but not too small. i lack mine in wedges, maybe half as big as a golf ball n sum of em half that big.

nex ye coat the bottom of yer skillet with olive oil. i never measure eggzakly, but i lack to use a nuff them vegtabulls litely coated in oil. brang up yer heat to bout halfway n when tiz hot, add furst yer carrots sos they kin git a lil hed start, then yer celery n onion. cook em till they gits to brownin jes a bit. put in yer garlic but dont cook it too much.

dump all this into yer crock pot or else into yer soup pot that ye put on low. put in yer taters. add a nuff water to whar tiz covern the res of the gredients by bout a half inch to a inch . git to boilin n then put on low. sprankle in yer dill n yer parsley. stir the hole concockshun up good. then let it simmer till them taters is soft. takes bout a hour or so. ye kin leeve it longs ye lack in a crock pot.

serve it with the cheeses n sour cream thisaway; ye dish it out n let folks add however much lil salt n pepper they lacks. then sprankle sum them cheeses over top of it n add a scoop of sour cream rite in the middle.

sum lacks to stir it all up together n they claim tiz good thataway, but tiz meant not to be stirred. ye keep them varius tastes a seperated thataway.

goes grate with a loaf of fresh rye bread, witch we lacks to bake our own.