What's in a Name?

One afternoon a week, my husband and I visit our daughter and her family in Lod.My husband drops me off at their home at three o'clock, continues to his clinic at the nearby Kupat Cholim and returns to our daughter's at seven o'clock, dispensing cookies to his anticipating grandchildren.Very much like the Hebrew song, סבתא עם סלים (Grandmother with נaskets), I bring favorite old games which I've kept from when our children were young as well as special treats and a large container of soup and either pancakes or Belgian waffles which I've prepared at home.

Tomato soup with rice, split-pea soup, potato soup and pumpkin soup are the favorites, but one week I brought blended lentil soup. "What kind of soup is this?" asked our suspicious six-year-old grandson.My daughter, knowing they wouldn't eat it if they knew it was lentil soup, said, "It has split pea soup in it…" and taking my cue I continued, "It also has pumpkin soup in it. Let's see…we can put the two names together and call it… Splunkin Soup." It was my Dr. Seuss moment! My grandson's eyes lit up in joy and amusement and he and his younger brother called out happily, "Splunkin Soup!" They ate three bowls with gusto. The soup had neither split peas nor pumpkin but it did contain many of the vegetables common to both soups.

This week I brought split pea soup, but as we sat down for supper, my grandson asked sweetly, "Savta, could you please bring splunkin soup again next week?"

Recipe for Lentil Soup (i.e. Splunkin Soup)

1. Finely chop in food processor 1 large onion, 3-4 carrots, 1 pepper each of every color, 1/2 bunch of parsley. Put in pot and simmer for 10-15 minutes with no oil or water.
2. Clean and rinse 1 1/2 cups of red lentils and 1 1/2 cups of brown lentils and add to the pot of vegetables. Cover with boiling water.
3. Add 2 tablespoons each of parve chicken soup powder, mushroom soup powder and onion soup powder, preferably with no artificial ingredients.
4. Add black pepper and sweet paprika. Cook for 45 minutes. Add water and salt if necessary.
5. Add 4-5 tablespoons of oatmeal. Mix and cook for another 10-15 minutes.