Stone Soup

Today was a 'snow day' at the Wandering Wardrobe. I was afraid we couldn't keep the snow off the sidewalks and porch. Our customers' safey was more important than opening today, so I stayed home and cleaned a couple of drawers and closets. I hope our consignors did too, and that I'll be busy tomorrow.

The weather was perfect for making a big pot of homemade soup, but not for going to the grocery store. When our girls were little, one of their favorite stories was "Stone Soup", and I decided that if that old woman could make soup out of nothing, so could I. I dug through the refrigerator, freezer, and pantry, and came up with the fixings for one great pot of soup. No recipe, just a bunch of stuff in a pot.

Here's what I did, and what you could do to make this delicious soup: saute' one onion in about 2 T of butter. Add one garlic clove. Add 1 can vegetable stock and about 4 cups of water. Add 1 large can whole tomatoes (I used our very own home canned tomatoes!). Add 4 or 5 beef bouillon cubes. I added a beef soup bone because Kenny doesn't consider anything made without meat to actually be a meal, but you don't have to. Add some chopped celery, carrots, purple cabbage, and any other vegetable that's in your crisper. Add frozen or canned green beans, corn, mushrooms, and/or brocolli. Add some red or great northern beans. I added an old package of frozen asian noodles, and I actually think this is what made the soup so good. I seasoned with salt, pepper, basil, bay leaves, lots of seasoning salt, and sugar.

I made homemade cornbread muffins and added a cup of leftover pumpkin puree' to the mixture. Oh my, they were good.

I made that soup and muffins with bits of leftovers, and it was as good a meal as I've ever made.

It's SO Much More Fun. . .

to receive a gift with a bit of history.


Years before we owned our resale shop, Kenny figured out that gifts with a bit of history were lots more fun to give and receive than anything new. I love the old bowls, quilts, and santas he finds every year. Knowing these treasures have been used and loved by someone else makes them mean so much more to me than anything he could purchase at a local department store.

This year at the Wandering Wardrobe, our consignors have provided an amazing and ever-changing selection of pre-owned treasures - santas, snowmen, nutcrackers, nativitys, angels, bowls, pitchers, platters and quilts. . . and the history is free.

Do You Give Gift Baskets for Christmas?

If you give gift baskets to your friends and neighbors for Christmas, look no further. We have everything imaginable to make a perfect gift basket -baskets, large bowls, small bowls, wooden bowls, pitchers, platters, boxes, bottles with lids, jars with lids, vases, mugs. . . In fact, your imagination is all you need to make an amazing Christmas gift "basket"!

Need ideas? Pack a "basket" with fresh cookies, add a small Christmas decoration or new potholder or towel (we have these too), and tie with a bit of ribbon and an ornament - which we also have. Voila! Your shopping is done, and your friends will be delighted. You'll have saved money and done your part to save the earth. We can even help with the imagination part. What could be better than that?