Icebox Soup

     At least one night each week I stand in front of the open refrigerator and try to find a creative and appetizing way to turn something left over into supper.  Recently one of my father's old phrases came to mind - icebox soup.  He claimed that during the Great Depression, at the end of each week, the contents of the icebox was thrown into a pot with water, simmered, and served as soup.
     My child's imagination came up with all sorts of wild combinations.  Did they ever have mashed potato-catfish-pear soup?  What about macaroni-horseradish-hot dog soup?  Dad didn't get specific about the ingredients. I'm pretty sure that his icebox soup was vegetables, a little meat, and some broth, not a bad combination at all.  The point of his story was that I should be grateful for what was on my plate, and eat it.
     The interesting thing is that those cheap Depression era meals were pretty tasty.  We're still eating crash cuisine, but these days it isn't always inexpensive to prepare these dishes.  Who doesn't like beanie-weenies?  Pasta, beans, a little tomato sauce and grated cheese?  That sounds like Progresso Macaroni and Bean Soup, if you ask me.  Dandelion green salad was a way to turn weeds into a first course.  Back before the days of broad leaf weed killer, free salad was everywhere.  Nowadays Martha Stewart and Epicurious.com have practically turned the lowly green into haute cuisine.  The same thing goes for polenta.  Sliced and fried, it's a $12.00 appetizer at a decent Italian restaurant.  Creamed chipped beef or S.O.S. is no longer an economy meal.  At $20.00 per pound, those paper thin, salty slices of cheap cuts of beef are as expensive as filet mignon.
     I have never served icebox soup to Mike.  However, he has eaten summertime vegetarian meals like fried eggplant, sliced tomatoes, and corn on the cob.  I trim the brown stuff off the surface of past-its-prime-cauliflower and make mashed cauliflower.  His special weekend french toast breakfasts are made from stale bread.  As long as the meal is served with love and doesn't contain asparagus, he's a happy boy.