One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish .... Chartreuse Fish!

Grab a nice cold glass of Sauvignon blanc from over there on the counter and join the cooking crew at Designs By Gollum for today's episode of Foodie Friday!

It is getting very fishy around here at The Little Round Table.  While the koi in our pond will pretty much be going in slow motion for the next few weeks with the cold weather, it is heating up inside with seafood and fish on the menu as well as the table. Tonight's menu isn't fish, but soup that will warm your soul with the heat of some chilis and clean out your refrigerator vegetable drawer as well.

If you didn't see my prior "fishy" tablescapes seen here for Foodie Friday, you can check them out at these links:

Let's Go Swimmin' - Gold Fish

The Old Mill Pond - Pink Fish

And now we have Chartreuse Fish!

Blue Fish will be along later this Spring!

Vintage tablecloth with Post 86 Fiesta in White, Chartreuse, Lilac, Plum and Juniper.

The embossed underplates are also Juinper, but they are from a very

limited line called Fiestaware 2000.

Napkins and napkin rings are from Pier 1

The Lilac Carafe was not officially produced, which makes it quite rare.

The underplate is vintage Rhythm by Homer Laughlin China.

The stemware is from Macy's years ago and the "bottle" candle holders came

from a catalog also years ago....can't remember which one.

The smallest of the Post 86 Lilac platters.

This fish-scale specialty bowl is vintage Homer Laughlin.

The individual disc pitcher in Lilac is sitting atop a vintage

Homer Laughlin OvenServe shirred egg plate.

Vintage Jadite custard cups in their original wire rack will hold toppings for the soup.

And the food for this festive table?

A simple one pot meal that is filling and hits the spot on such a cold drab evening.

My family always called this Garbage Soup, but if that seems a little indelicate for your taste,

then let's call it Leftovers Soup.

No real recipe except for mixed beans, a 15oz can of stewed tomatoes, chopped onion,

a couple cloves of garlic, a couple of chili peppers to spice it up, a ham bone

with a  good deal of meat still on it, salt and pepper to taste and 2 small lemons quartered.

Simmer the beans in a big pot of water until tender, but NOT soft and falling apart.

Add the tomatoes, onions, chilis and the ham bones to the pot.

You may also add celery, carrots or whatever leftover vegetables you may need to use up.

Simmer anywhere from a couple hours to 4 hours, do not BOIL.

I wait until the last 10 minutes or so to add things like small florets of

cauliflower or chopped cabbage. Discard the lemon quarters before serving.

I leave all the meat on the ham bones (leftovers from a spiral cut ham were used here)

until the end when I remove the bones, carve the ham off and add it to the

individual bowls.Toppings can be whatever you like,

chives, sour cream, fried tortilla strips go really well with this soup.

The soup is NOT thick like a lot of tasty bean soups, but is instead a lot more like

a vegetable broth with a large dose of lemon flavor, followed by the bite of the chilis.

Unusual and tasty tasty tasty.