And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak,

Chicken Gumbo

· 2 chickens -- cut into pieces

· 4 tablespoons vegetable oil

· Salt and pepper

· 1/2 cup vegetable oil

· 2 quarts okra -- sliced thin

To make the roux:

In a cast iron skillet, add 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour to 3/4-cup oil, stirring constantly until brown roux forms. It will take a little while and you must stir, stir, stir. It will be chocolate brown when it is ready.

In Dutch oven brown chicken in 4 TBSPS oil. Remove chicken from Dutch oven. Add a little oil (if necessary) and sauté the celery, garlic, onion, garlic and bell pepper. Drain off oil, put roux in and add chicken back with veggies and cover with water. Add tomatoes, salt and peppers. Stew this for 2 ½ to 3 hours till chicken is tender.

· 2 med onions -- chopped

· 1 cup celery -- chopped

· 2 bell pepper -- chopped

· 1 clove garlic -- minced

· 1 qt of tomatoes (cut them up)

· 1 tablespoon salt

· 1/2 teaspoon red pepper

· 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

· 1 bay leaf

· 1 pound smoked sausage -- cut into 1" pieces

When you get the stew to cooking, heat ½ cup of oil in a skillet and add okra. Cover and cook slowly 30-40 minutes until okra is tender. Once okra is tender add it to gumbo along with sausage. Serve over fluffy cooked rice.

Chicken Soup

2 whole chickens (Home grown have more flavor!)

2 Tablespoons minced garlic (see above note) :-)))

2 4-inch sprigs of Rosemary (to taste) or 2 teaspoons dried

1 chopped onion

2 Celery stalks - leaves included

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Carrots - 5 to 6 large, peeled and chopped up

1 large bag wide whole egg noodles or 1 batch homemade noodles

Step one: In a large stockpot place whole chickens, garlic, rosemary (leave on stem if using fresh), onion, celery (leave in large pieces if you want just the flavor), and salt and pepper. Cover with water and bring to boil. Simmer this until the chicken falls apart. About 1 hour.

Step two: Remove the chicken and large pieces of celery and sprigs of rosemary from the broth. Allow the chicken to cool. You can skim fat off the broth as it cools as well. Once the chicken has cooled enough to handle it debone it and cut up any large pieces. Add all the chicken pieces back into broth.

Step three: Bring the chicken and broth back to a boil. Once boiling, add the carrots and cook for about 10 minutes. Now add noodles and cook about 10 more minutes. You may have to adjust the amount of time for each - you just don't want your noodles to be mush before the carrots are the way you like them.

Once the noodles are done you are ready to eat. Be sure to make some good crusty cornbread and have lots of butter to go with it. There is nothing better. Serve with Iced Tea. This will feed a family of seven supper and lunch the next day.

*On the woodstove you can put this on the back right side and just let it simmer all day.

Beef Mushroom Barley Soup

2 lbs stew beef, cut into small cubes (I buy an inexpensive roast and cut it up myself)

2 Tbsps Olive Oil

4 lg onions, chopped

2 tbsps minced garlic (we like garlic)

6 lg carrots, peeled and sliced

3 stalks of celery, chopped

1 lb mushrooms, thinly sliced (or a couple of cans of mushrooms)

4 quarts of water

2 cups of barley

salt

black pepper

Season the meat generously with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Put the meat and onions in the pot. Brown the meat on all sides until well browned; this will take about 15 minutes. Lower the heat to medium. Add the garlic, carrots, and celery to the pan and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the water and mushrooms. Bring to a boil then turn the heat down to a slow simmer. Salt and Pepper to taste. I allow my soup to simmer uncovered to evaporate some of the water and make the stock a bit richer. Once you have the stock where you are happy with it then add the barley. Cover the pot at this point. Simmer the soup, covered, for about 45 minutes.