Long ago, a philanthropic old lady, upon enjoying a cup of particularly good broth, felt sorry for people who lacked it.
So strongly did she feel that she left all her money to found a brothel for the poor.
Among her papers was found some excellent broth recipes. Written in her elegant Victorian script she suggested that they would be suitable for the brothel.
One such recipe was for 'A Brave Warm Cleansing Gruel' composed of an oatmeal stock, well seasoned with salt, pepper, a blade of mace, a clove, some dried mint, dried parsley, and plenty of bruised onions. Serve very hot with toasted snippets of bread.
I should finish by saying that she meant, of course, to found a soup kitchen. True story.
Interesting to read about the broth and the brothel. A soup kitchen? In Victorian times surely a brothel was a brothel as we know it now
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DeleteAbsolutely right, Linda. This old dear had led a very sheltered and genteel life!
All of this talk of sheltered and genteel lives reminds me of that social occasion many years ago when the subject of houses had been raised by some boor. Up piped an aged distant non-relative in estuarial tones 'Oh I see, one borrows the money to buy the hice from this "building society" and then repays - what's the advantage?' Dear old duck will be long gone now but we may all be sure certain that she's still struggling awkwardly to find the ladylike way to ride a harp with little more solid to brace it on than a cloud.
ReplyDeleteHello Bro Minor (love the moniker) I had forgotten about her but, yes, a life lived very much along those lines. Can you imagine the reading of the will...x
DeleteThat is so funny! My grandmother once embarrassed a very young male shop assistant by asking for a vibrator. She really wanted to buy an electric massager...
ReplyDeleteHello Tracy, Blushes all round, I imagine. You/your grandmother definitely win this round!
DeleteWell, the soup sounds very good. Filling.
ReplyDeleteA bit like a savoury porridge, perfect for a cold winter, Joanne. My impression is that she was a kind and thrifty woman.
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