Family Recipe Friday - Polish Cold Beet Soup Borscht

Summer is HERE, and with a vengeance! 

Down here in the South, we are being treated to weather that feels like August already.

Hot and humid, with temperatures in the 90's

and the A/C cranked up high!

What on earth did our ancestors do?

The Poles and East Europeans made Borscht,

a beet soup. 

Beets are Sooooo good for you! 

And this recipe doesn't require cooking, unless you want

to count the hard-boiled eggs!

This recipe is from "ma"-

Hank's mother, Anastazia (Nancy) Kocinski Vissotzky. 

I think I'll plan on Cold Beet soup for dinner tomorrow,

with a big chunk of artisan bread,

and enjoy a  mint julep on the porch. 

It IS summer down here in the South, ya'll!!!!
(Haha - I just realized I posted this for Geneablogger's Family Recipe Friday..
trouble with that is, today is THURSDAY!
It is Friday somewhere on this Earth already!!! 
Did you ever have "one of THOSE weeks"?)

Cream of Tomato Soup

Tomatoes and basil=TO DIE FOR!

Unless you happen to be married to the world's foremost hater of tomatoes.

In which case he will simply have to eat leftovers...umm, I mean planned-overs!

Tis yet another of the Vissotzky recipes that calls for a pressure cooker.

I must be missing something, because I have never used one. 

All the stories I have heard of pressure cookers include

explosive endings with sticky liquids splattered all over everything! 

It would be just my luck...

Instead, I think I will try this in a slow cooker set on low

while I scramble to catch up on things that need to be done during the weekend.

I love Cream of Tomato soup...

it's a Sunday kind of thing,

along with a nice crunchy green salad and a loaf of sourdough bread. 

Ok, mebbe I'll be nice

and share the sourdough bread with the resident tomato hater. 

White Bean Soup

Bean Soup!   That should warm your soul while it is still winter!  My mother-in-law made this with California small white beans (hence the "soak 1 lb. Cal. sm. white beans" in the directions...)  This recipe should also warm your pocket book a bit too, since it is pretty inexpensive to make. 

Who doesn't appreciate that nowadays?

The directions also say "Cook in pressure cooker, 15 lbs - 40 minutes."  Maybe all of you "pressure cookers" might be able to decipher that, but I would settle for throwing this in ye old crock pot while you're off to work or doing other things. 

Sorry no pictures of the actual soup.  Just the card today folks! If you make this, I would be more than happy to hear your results - with or without the pressure cooker - and post your soul-warming soup picture!