When I first set out to make my mom’s potato soup, things got complicated. First, I made a very good soup, but it wasn’t my mom’s. I started testing it in the midst of the Christmas season, a holiday my mom loved, and I got very sad. I wanted to write a fitting tribute to her, to mark my loss and lingering sadness, and also share a soup that you might want to make. A lot of pressure for a soup recipe! So instead of sharing it, I have a freezer filled with the wrong kind of soup and a second Christmas without my mom under my belt.
Time has given the grief a familiarity. Last year, I went through all the motions and took to bed sobbing as soon as Christmas dinner was over. This year, we rekindled our traditions, and even shared our Christmas dinner with friends. My mom’s presence was felt – we have the advent wreath she embroidered, countless holiday knick knacks and gifts given or made by her, and always, the sense of abundance and joy she brought to her favorite holiday.
I’ve tried to be “good” at grieving my parents’ deaths (I lost both of them in less than a year). I talk about them whenever I can, telling people about my loss, even if it makes listeners a little uncomfortable. And I try to hold the memory of my parents every day. Even so, questions linger – things I wished I’d asked, but didn’t. Family stories and timelines, the provenance of various important objects – so much of it has just slipped away.
Lucky for me, my sister long ago committed my mom’s potato soup recipe to heart. Because life is like that, my sister dictated this recipe to me over the phone while on an urgent trip to Target. Like all the best old family recipes, this one is heavily vibes based and I’ve done my best to translate. My sister tells me the recipe comes from my great-grandmother, which makes sense, since it’s well-suited to lean times and limited produce offerings.
This potato soup is not fancy, but it is deeply comforting and simple to make. My mom would serve it with oyster crackers or crumbled saltines, and lots of black pepper.
All that said, I did make a couple of changes. I believe my mom used just water and not broth to boil the potatoes. She also made the roux in a separate pot and then stirred it in. I’ve made the roux in the same pot as the soup for ease.
My Mom’s Potato Soup
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