A Year of Blogging: December 29, 2011

December 29 is 'Pepper Pot' day. Pepper Pot day commemorates the first time Pepper Pot soup was made. We heard in our history classes how harsh the winter of 1777-1778 was for the Continental Army and George Washington's troops. According to legend, on December 29, 1777 George Washington asked his chef to create something that would warm the troops and lift their spirits. The chef took scraps of tripe (stomach from an animal such as a cow), pieces of meat, and peppercorn and mixed it with other ingredients. The soup was hot and kind of spicy. The troops loved it. It has been called 'the soup that won the war'. I know, many times when we've celebrated a particular food day, my friends have gone searching the web for a recipe. I have tried to save you some trouble, and found a recipe for you: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/authentic-pepper-pot-soup/ . From what I've read, you can still make the 'authentic' soup but substitute beef, chicken, sausage, or ham for the tripe. Good to know! I know very few people who like tripe.