Manna

Vero Beach, FL

NoLL

Reader Doug asked for some blog posts about our food on board. It's true, I wrote very little about that over the years.

Today, Libby is making one of our favorites. 15 bean soup. Making this soup is easy because you can buy little kits in the supermarket.

For a recipe, we just follow the instructions on the package. However, the soup is best if one adds just a little bit of meat.

We make it in big 6 quart batches in our pressure cooker. That violates our normal rule of no leftovers after meals. However, the pressure cooker helps. If one puts the lid on the pressure cooker while the contents are still near boiling temperature, then the interior is sterilized and can keep without refrigeration.

It usually takes us about 4 days to eat up a batch of Libby's soup. I think that the soup improves each day. In fact, I prefer to not eat any at all on same day it is first cooked.

I like to call this soup manna, after the Biblical reference. It is good for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is the universal food.

I love eating my manna loaded with Tabasco Sauce. I like most hot sauces, but I really love Tabasco. We keep two 12 ounce bottles on board at all times. The soup is a perfect substrate to facilitate eating Tabasco sauce.

Libby prefers hers without the Tabasco. We can each have it our own way.

A bit of Italian bread on the side is the perfect compliment to the soup.

When at sea, it is very wise to have some dish that can be reheated and eaten hot any time of day or night. Also one which can be served in a deep bowl resistant to spills as the boat rolls around, and which can be prepared in advance. 15 bean soup fits those requirements. So does chili. I'll write about Libby's chili some other day.