Dolly Tells The Story Of Her Momma’s Soup And The Main Ingredient, A Stone

Have you ever heard of stone soup?  Follow along to learn how Dolly Parton’s stone soup recipe was inspired by a folk tale and became an important part of her childhood.

 

 

There is an old folk tale that tells the story of some travelers who came to a village and had nothing to eat.  They put a pot of water over a flame and added a stone to it.  One by one, villagers came to ask them what they were making.  The travelers said they were making soup, which tasted wonderful, but just needed a few more ingredients to reach its fullest flavor potential.  The villagers added more and more ingredients to the soup, eventually ending up with a hearty soup that was enough to feed all of them, including the travelers.

In this cooking segment from The Hallmark Channel, Dolly tells the story of when her Momma used to make stone soup.  In her recipe, however, the stone had a different purpose.  She would have each of her children gather a stone and whichever child was most in need of emotional nourishment that day would get to contribute their stone to the pot.  It’s a lovely story and shows how love can make even the simplest meal special.




Here are the ingredients to make your own version of Dolly Parton’s Stone Soup recipe:

• 2 quarts chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth
• 1 pound russet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 (14 ½ ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 small head cabbage, coarsely chopped
• 1 pound turnips, peeled and diced
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 smoked ham hock
• 1 very clean stone (optional)
• Salt & Pepper

Visit The Hallmark Channel to get the complete recipe and watch Dolly tell her beautiful childhood story.