Beef and Barley Soup.. or.. Toto, I don't think were in Kansas anymore!

After Mom passed away I moved to Kansas for a few years where I met one of thee most extraordinary women on the planet.. my friend Kim's mom, Ginny! Ginny blows my mind away. I don't see how this woman does it, but she does. She comes from a very large family, so cooking in large quantities for her, I suspect is nothing new, but OMG! Ginny was the lead person at the Church's community dinners which were held in the parish hall. The woman would make ALL the desserts herself for one thing. And there were somewhere between 8-12 desserts to choose from!! Not to mention, organizing, cooking, setting up and taking down the event, with the help of other women in the parish of course. Whatever she made, it was always, always good!! Then back at her house, when she would have the family over for Sunday dinner (remember the family being somewhere around 20 people plus) She would whip up a dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, a vegetable, a salad and usually there were 2 desserts on the counter! One event that happens is on Halloween Night, you can find Ginny in her kitchen waiting for the family children to drop by in all of their lovely Halloween costumes ( 2 or 3 of them she sewed together personally)! And in the background on the stove was a HUGE simmering pot of this Vegetable Beef Soup. Kim and I were always invited over Halloween night to come see the kids costumes, I remember just looking forward to having this soup......


1 pot roast bone in (more flavor) cut into bite size pieces

3 tsp beef bouillon or to taste

1 medium onion cut up

1 tablespoon dried parsley(optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Put all this together in a pot covered with water and allow to simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Now, if you are adventurous, and want a little extra richness and depth to your soup.. you can brown the pot roast in some oil, then remove the excess grease, leaving a little left, and saute the onion for a little bit, although, Ginny never did, it was something my mom did.

Cut up the following

3 carrots, peeled

2 potatoes, peeled and medium dice

3 stalks of celery

1/2 - 1 cup of Barley (depending on how much you like or you don't have to add the barley at all if you wish)

Simmer the above for 45 minutes... then....

Add in....

1 - 2 Cans of Mixed Vegetables, drained

1- 2 cans of cut up stewed tomatoes or canned diced tomatoes, adding the juice to the soup

simmer till heated through and serve with Club Crackers and Butter. (Yes Kimmy, I remember the Crackers!)