Soup and Story Saturday

On November 29, 2025November 29, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized6 Comments

Hello everyone!! This is just a little Saturday post, where if you want to chat about soup that you have made or eaten or a recipe you have, and tell a story about your life, a memory, a book you are reading, anything, here is your chance!

We have had wintery weather here this week, with snow flurries and cold temps, and was the perfect week for soup. It was also a good week for soup because Billy and I knew that we had a lot of cooking and baking ahead of us for our two Thanksgiving celebrations and we wanted to keep things easier during the week. So on Sunday we made a whole chicken, ate it with potatoes and corn like a little preview for Thanksgiving, then turned the rest into soup. I haven’t quite landed on the soup recipe I want for chicken yet. This one was good, but was a little too tomato-y.

This is the Chicken Vegetable Soup by Dinner at the Zoo. I actually really liked this one, Billy is the one that stated it was had too much tomato. And I didn’t have green beans and I think that might have been a delicious addition. It reminded me of being a kid eating soup on winter afternoons after playing in the snow for hours.

I’ve been sharing memories the past few weeks, so instead, let’s talk about something else today. Something recent.

Last weekend we took Wyatt to the local Christmas parade – for the first time. I felt so remiss as a parent that I had never taken him to this before, since I used to go every single year with my family. My dad was always about “travel fast and light” back then (although you wouldn’t know now by the amount of luggage he packs to go on vacations) so we just went to the parade, no blanket, chairs, just us. Thank goodness my aunts were not of that belief and brought chairs for the adults and blankets for us kids. So I had that in mind when we packed up to go to the parade with Wyatt. He has his own chair, but I wanted to make sure we took blankets too, in case he wanted to sit on the ground with his buddies.

We met my two friends Nicole and Shawnna and Nicole’s daughter A and Shawnna’s son Z. Nicole’s mom was there as well. We got there first and threw down our big wool blanket, and waited for the others to arrive. Nicole and Shawnna are neighbors so they were driving together and they were on the way. While we waited, Billy walked down to Tim Horton’s and brought back hot chocolate for Wyatt, and coffees for us which I was very grateful for since it was absolutely freezing out. Billy also bought one for the young police officer at the corner directing traffic, who was also very thankful and cold.

I realized I may have bundled Wyatt up a bit too much, much like my mom and aunts did to us when we were kids. We were all like the kid in the Christmas Story, and poor Wyatt was too.

In my defense, Wyatt does get colder in his wheelchair. He isn’t moving around generating body heat, and that metal gets so cold! However, I still sort of overdid it. Which I realized after I saw him with his friends. Whoops.

We didn’t have to wait long before the parade started, and seriously, I was like a kid myself! I love parades and we never go, and I was reminded of how much I do love them! Shawnna joked that I was just like one of the kids, and after I got pelted with candy I thought there was maybe some truth to that.

I’m the kid with the yellow hat. Brian is right next to me, and my cousin Melissa is the cutie on the other end.

We came home with so much candy, it was crazy! A and Z were so mindful of making sure to grab some for Wyatt, it was so sweet of them! They would run out for the candy, and bring a few pieces back for Wyatt’s pile.

I didn’t take many photos, as I was too busy chitchatting and watching the parade, sitting right on the curb like I did when I was a kid, waving to the people in the cars, on the floats, clapping for the bands and dancers, and making sure to point out the tuba players to Wyatt, who is recently obsessed with them. Tubas, not tuba players. There were also so many scout troops walking in the parade! I had no idea there were so many around us! I am going to see if our little Blackbirds troop wants to walk in next year’s parade.

I managed to grab these two photos. I thought the float of our electrical workers was a cute idea – plus they are heroes around here. Wyandotte makes it’s own electricity, and when our power goes out these guys rush to the rescue and we usually have it back on within an hour or so. So I definitely appreciate them, as they are out in the cold and snow in the winter, or in rain in the summer, spring, and fall.

We had such a good time, just being outside in the brisk air, taking in the crowds and the float, feeling the happiness in the air, being surrounded by friends. Our little group left smiling and laughing, and I am so thankful to have these people in our lives!

Have a story? Soup? Feel free to link up!

A Cozy Life: Vintage Cookbooks and Leaning Analog

On November 26, 2025November 26, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized12 Comments

Hello everyone! I knew it would finally happen! I knew I would finally just slow down, to a crawl instead of a race and here I am.

I have the usual holiday stuff, buying gifts and wrapping and baking and cooking and planning, but when Wyatt was born, we changed how we did the holidays. And every year, things seem to get a little easier.

I’ve been listening a lot to the podcast In the Meadow, and I find Vic and her lifestyle so inspiring. She has been trying to do more things analog, slower, making things more, and thrifting. Now, I won’t switch off the internet entirely – I love the community online, here on my blog, other blogs, Instagram, and the groups I am in. And as a parent of a medically complex child, I learn so much from other parents going through the same things. So I will never diss digital. But there are places where it is kind of nice to step away.

Our family gatherings are already potluck, and I am pretty experienced at the things that I make by now, and I don’t feel as rushed or stressed making them. And our families, by circumstance more than anything else, have their gatherings on different days and dang does that make it easier. And with that in mind, let’s look at cookbooks.

One place that I thought might be fun to step away from the internet sometimes is by using actual cookbooks, rather than online recipes. Right now, I use the internet for cooking and baking, 100% of the time. There are so many recipes right there, at my fingertips, on my phone, so easily reached. My phone is small and I can prop it up right there and it takes up zero room on the counter. However, aren’t old cookbooks a treasure? Billy and I have a collection that I never open, and the other day a friend of mine gave me a few old ones, partially as a joke, but she also knew I would love them. And I did! I mean, some of the recipes I am extremely skeptical about, and probably would never try, but some of them, don’t sound too bad!

I have to share about the Campbells Soup one, only because it was fascinating to read through. There is not a publication year, but I am guessing 50s or 60s? There is a letter at the beginning of the book from Carolyn Campbell, of the Home Economics Department of the Campells Company, and obviously a family member, and I love the idea of a Home Economics Department of a food production company. Is this still a thing? It makes sense to have someone figuring out how to use the products in ways that are economical, helpful, and useful, as well as versatile and also new and innovative ways to use the products. I have to say their marketing (until the news this week!) has stood the test of time, with so many recipes still calling for cream of whatever.

I really enjoyed their suggestions on new ways to use their soups. One way they thought that parents could use soup was as a birthday soup for their children. – instead of a cake. “Gay bowls of cream soup take on a party air when topped with a glowing birthday candle (set on a floating round of toast or a cracker). First top the cracker with a small ball of cream cheese or peanut butter. Poke the end of the candle into it and carefully slip the cracker onto the top of the soup. Then light up the candle.” I asked Wyatt if he would like this instead of a cake at his birthday and he turned it down.

There was also section on how eating soup could help keep your figure trim, with a calorie count for each soup. There were suggestions for including soup with breakfast, teen soups and snacks for such wholesome activities like after-skating warm up, which includes mugs of chickety-chick, cheese and crackers, apples, and oatmeal cookies, and a square dance special that boasts pizza doggies, a raw vegetable tray, doughnuts, and cream soda shake. One of my favorites was the appetizer soups, that it was said were becoming fashionable to serve in a cup in the living room for guests to “sip and savor before the meal.” One suggested appetizer soup dish was the flaming bean soup, that included sherry or bourbon and lemon slices. I asked my mother-in-law the other day if she ever remembered being served soup like this before a party and she did not recall it. I would love to hear if anyone else did!

I literally could go on and on, with the ideas for holidays and seasons and specialty dishes and special menus, like for “when the gals meet” or a “touch of Paris” and while some of it really was unappealing, like the Jellied Soup-Salad, I really admired how very hard they worked to come up with different ways to use their products.

I also really appreciated the dedication:

“To the millions of American Homemakers who work magic with convenience foods.”

So let’s raise our glass of soup, and toast to everyone out there, not just “American homemakers” who are out here, doing our best to feed ourselves, our families, our friends, our neighbors, our communities, today and everyday.

Soup and Story Saturday

On November 15, 2025November 15, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized14 Comments

Hello everyone! This is my very first Soup and Story Saturday, and if you are not quite sure what it is yet, well, know that I am still working it out too. It is sort of amorphous right now, and that is fine. We can all work with that.

My idea was basically about community. Sharing a meal, sharing a story. You can share a soup you have made, soup you love, soup you have eaten somewhere else, homemade or restaurant made, from a can – it doesn’t matter. As for the story, you can share a story or a memory of your own, you can share the book you are reading, you can share about a book you love, a book you hate – same, it is up to you. Just any sort of story you want to share.

Last Sunday we woke up to the first snow of the season, which is always an exciting day for us. We like to celebrate the first snow and traditionally, we order Chinese for some reason on the first snow. Well, this past Sunday our budget said no to ordering food, so instead we decided to start a few new traditions. We painted and had homemade soup and I baked. However, the soup I made didn’t quite turn out! I used to make it years ago, when I was still a vegetarian, and I must have done something differently in the past because this time there just was not any broth. Lol. It was more like a bowl of beans and dumplings than soup! It was still ok but not quite soup. It was still very hearty and soothing, although a bit stodgy.

The soup I made is called Vegan Chickpea Dumpling. I won’t share the recipe I used since this is not a good representation of it. Lol.

When I conceptualized this idea, I was just about to start reading The Enchanted Greenhouse. By the time I was done reading it, I knew I wanted to do a soup sort of posting linky. That book is full of homemade soup, sitting around a table, protected against the snow outside, and feeling snug. I always got that same feeling reading Little House on the Prairie. Laura would describe the elements outside, how it was always slightly wild and dangerous, but they were safe inside their little house, wherever it was located at that time.

This month is full of milestones for me, my 25th anniversary, my 50th birthday. Billy has been such a safe place for me for so long now- we have been together since we were seventeen, and even then, just starting to date him, he made me feel safe and cared for. There were times in my life that I didn’t necessarily always feel that way, but Billy is one of those people that are just…protective and full of love. He is human and makes mistakes obviously, but that doesn’t take away from how he is. He is an extremely capable person, and so kind to people. I remember one of the moments I really realized I love him, and what a good person he is.

I was working at a retail store, during college, one that sold office supplies, but also had a gifts side, that was sort of Hallmarkish, cards and little figures and ornaments and what have you. I worked on the gifts side of the store, and while the office supply side had more business customers, the gift side had more older people who came in, who would walk down from the senior apartments a block or so away for cards for their grandchildren, little gifts, but some came in just to chat. I would chat with them while I worked, the man named Harold Angel (first and middle name) because he was born on Christmas was one of my favorites, and then there was a little tiny much older woman, who didn’t live in the apartments but in her own home. But she came in one Christmas and wistfully told me that her family lived very far away, and didn’t visit very often, and that she wished that she had someone to visit and to help her set up her Christmas village of houses. Since her husband had died she didn’t have anyone to bring them up from the basement or help her out, and she missed seeing their lights at night. You all know I have a very close family, and it made me sad that she was all alone at the holidays. So you all probably can guess what I did. I volunteered Billy and I to go over and help her out.

Later, I told my nineteen year old boyfriend that we were going to spend the next night at a stranger’s house helping her out. And it was probably the first of Billy’s shrugs and sighs and turning to me saying “What do you want me to do”, acting exasperated but not really being exasperated. So the next night we went over to her home, which turned out to be just around the corner from my home, and she met us at the door, all huge smiles.

She had eggnog for us, which neither of us care for but that we smiled and chugged down, and her house was set a million degrees so we were sweating to death, and I sat and chatted with her on the couch while my very kind boyfriend brought up all the boxes of her decorations and little village houses, set them all up the way she wanted them, made sure they worked, and were safely plugged in. And I watched him, and knew he was a keeper. It wasn’t his ideal night out, probably a far cry, but he did it because he is kind. He has a good heart, a big heart. He is a helper. There he was, in his plaid flannel shirt over a black concert tee of some punk band, wearing his camouflage pants and giant combat boots, doing his best to make this woman happy. No one would have guessed he was that full of kindness if you just looked at him – until he smiled. Then you would know because his eyes are twinkly and his smile welcoming.

And I guess that is my story today. About Billy and his kindness, his spirit, his joy. And I probably wrote this all wrong, because I am no writer and sometimes it is hard to describe a feeling or emotion or a particular event in your life. But I hope you all understand what I am trying to say in this story anyway.

And with that, I hope you all have a great day, and that whatever you do, that you do something that makes you smile.

And, I am having a problem adding the linky today. It just keeps telling me it is incompatible with wordpress. So I apologize! If you want to share a post, add your link in the comments. 🙂 Or if you just want to share a story in the comments, that works as well! I look forward to reading anything anyone wants to share.

Introducing Soup and Story Saturdays!

On November 5, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized11 Comments

Hello everyone!

Winter is coming here in the cold north of the United States and with it long dark nights, and chilly temperatures. For some people this is a nightmare. I however, look sort of forward to it. It is good to slow down, and winter here forces us to do just that.

“Many human beings say that they enjoy the winter, but what they really enjoy is feeling proof against it.” – Richard Adams, Watership Down

I do look for things to make the winter cozier though. I am all about the cozy and comfy over here, and spending time with a book under a blanket on a cold evening is something I love. Especially if my tummy is full of soup.

Weirdly, I had this idea before I started reading my current book, The Enchanted Greenhouse, and if the idea was just turning over in my brain when I started the book, halfway through this book it was a full fledged one. This book takes place in winter and they eat soup, a lot.

So the idea: On Saturdays, we share a soup we made or ate during the week, or maybe just one we really like, and if possible, share the recipe. Then, of course, we share a story. You can tell us about the book you are reading, or if you want, just share a story of something that happened to you over the week. Maybe even a story of a memory, since I feel like winter and fall make us more reflective. Think of it like we are all sharing a table together, feeling proof against the winter, enjoying our warm food and companionship. And now, I feel like this is so hobbity and I am even more excited!

I will have a linky so we can all pop around and visit, and our first soup and story Saturday will be November 15. I am really looking forward to this!

Hello November!

On November 1, 2025November 1, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized15 Comments

Hello November!!

We had a whirlwind October, and so I am looking forward to a less busy November. I want to fully embrace a slower fall, now that Halloween and October is over. We went all out for October because Wyatt had such a crappy summer, and we definitely had a blast. But, now we are ready for relaxing!

Most of the month should be pretty quiet, although we do have two milestone events this month. First, happening Tuesday, is Billy and my 25th wedding anniversary. It seems unbelievable that we have been married that long, but I guess it is true. I am pretty sure we are still only 17.

Which leads me to the next milestone – guys, I turn the big 5-o this month. What the heck? I really really can’t be that age. It sounds insane to me, but again, here we are. Honestly, I’m not really that hing up on the number. I feel every year is a privilege. I am not sure what sort of celebrations we will be having, but I am sure they will be pretty simple affairs. I do know that my besties here are planning a night out, with a bit of fun at the tie dye place downtown followed by dinner at Ima, a noodle house I have been wanting to go to for awhile now! I am the oldest of our group, by one year. Jill is a year younger than me, Kelly two, and Chrissy – well. Nine. Nine years younger than me. I am very much looking forward to our night out though. I miss my crew and life gets in the way a lot of us hanging out. Kelly has a senior in high school this year, and is busy with all of the events and different things happening in her daughter’s life, Jill works so hard – she is a respiratory therapist at two different places, a full time job during the day and then some night shifts at the hospital. Chrissy works and has two children, one of which is a toddler. So it will be nice for us to have some time together, hanging out and having fun.

Billy has plans for our anniversary, dinner out at an old favorite of ours, and he took the day off to hang out with Wyatt and I. We are hoping for a hike somewhere, full of fall colors and brisk weather.

Outside of these two big events, the rest of our month should be quiet, with the exception of Thanksgiving, of course, but my brother is hosting so I just need to provide a few dishes, including my Nantucket cranberry pie.

I want to try to repair my vintage quilts this winter. I don’t know how though. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know. I plan on making a post about this, with photos of them as they are. I love them so much, they are so soft and warm but they need some help and I don’t want them destroyed. But I do want them to be used.

Wyatt also wants me to make some mini-felt animals. He found a book at the used book store with photos and patterns, don’t ask me how, of little animals and wanted me to sew a few. So I am giving that a whirl to this winter. He wants to sew too, but I can’t figure out how to do accommodate that for him yet. He has full use of his left hand, he is a lefty, a natural one so that is good, but his right hand is more of a helper, and he does not have much in the way of fine motor skills with that hand. More like big movements that are sort of clunky. So I do plan on researching that a bit for him.

I also have some other goals, that are pretty small but I am looking forward to. I want to make really good cinnamon rolls, for one. I am not a great baker but I like to try and focus on something until I can perfect something, and have it be like, my good version. I have the nantucket cranberry pie, chocolate chip cookies, scones, and gingerbread cookies under my belt, and have my sights set on cinnamon rolls next.

I am also thinking of doing a little Soup and Saturday Stories feature on my blog. Doesn’t that sound cozy? Maybe make it a link up, and we can all share the soup we are eating, the recipe, and the book we are reading? I love soup. It is one of my favorite things about fall and winter, that it is soup season! And I have Billy reinvigorating his sourdough mother that has been sleeping all summer, because sourdough pairs perfectly with soup and stews.

I am of course thinking about Christmas. I would like to try my hand at painting some Christmas cards, but if that proves to be too much for my talent, I am going to just purchase some. I have been listening to the podcast In the Meadow, and Vic has been talking about how analog and doing things the way we did just two or three decades ago, can make such a difference in our lives. Screens, quick information, the digital life, has its good points, but it is also good to step away sometimes, do something like send Christmas cards again, or letters. Maybe use an actual clock or watch. A radio. You get the idea. I am going to start small – Christmas cards. What better way to connect?

So that is where I am mentally tonight, on this cold dark night already, the day after Halloween. I am sitting in the den with my husband and son, Billy watching some documentary on tv, Wyatt playing with his magna-tiles on the floor, my cat purring asleep next to me.

How are you doing?