A Tale of Two Soups

by Shawndra Miller
Every now and then, like the time I took a simple chicken soup to a sick friend and her sister asked me in amazement if I made it from scratch, I realize that I’m not quite mainstream. It’s probably not that common to buy a whole chicken that was raised on pasture by a local farmer and roast it to succulent perfection in the oven. Let alone subsequently simmer the carcass to make a rich stock, then pick the bones clean to use every scrap of meat in a soup loaded with locally grown veggies.

Then again, not too long ago (OK it’s been a few decades), I was a clueless college student, with popcorn and cinnamon toast being my main culinary accomplishments. The first time I realized that soup didn’t need to come from a Campbell’s can, I was watching friends whip up a simple meal in their tiny kitchen. I remember someone asking, Should our soup have tomato in it? Holding up a ripe tomato. My mind was blown about twelve ways.

First, at the time I wouldn’t even have known where to begin if someone gave me a soup pot and a bunch of ingredients. It would have been a stretch even with a recipe. But there in that little off-campus apartment with Tracy Chapman crooning from the boombox, there was not a cookbook in sight. And as my friends came to consensus on the tomato question (yes, definitely the soup needs a tomato), I thought, you can do that? Just, make it up?

So I can relate when someone can’t even imagine cooking a darn thing. I’m living proof that anyone can learn how. And by now I’m so immersed in this way of life that sometimes I forget it might be a little out of the ordinary to soak dry beans overnight and cook them in a solar cooker by day, or grow a mess of cukes to pickle in a crock, or pick fruit growing wild, or any of the other semi-nutty things I do in my quest to be an urban homesteader.

One of the most exciting things about getting ready for the SkillShare has been finding my people, realizing that there are countless individuals right here in Indy who are reclaiming these kinds of skills for themselves and their families.

Equally exciting is the idea of attracting people who might be mystified by one aspect or another of garden-to-kitchen skills. Because I have been there. In fact I’m still a novice in many ways, and that’s the beauty of bringing these people together in one room: We all benefit from shared knowledge.

So whether you butcher your own meat or are still looking for your oven’s on switch, whether you feed your family and neighbors out of your garden or are just inching toward growing some sprouts on a windowsill, we hope you will check out the SkillShare this Sunday. We believe everyone has something to teach, and in turn something to learn. Join us!

Shawndra will be demonstrating solar cooking at the Irvington SkillShare "Feast"ival.