Recipe 37- Grandma's Vegetable Soup (Beef and Barley)

                                 GRANDMA'S VEGETABLE SOUP (BEEF AND BARLEY)

short ribs
medium onion
carrots
celery
5 cans of tomato soup
3/4 C barley
water
salt and pepper
1/2 bag of frozen corn (if desired)
1/2 bag of frozen peas (if desired)

Put short ribs in pot with onion halved. Add salt and pepper. Add 3 quarts of water.  Bring to boil. Partly cover and then simmer for 2 hours.  After 2 hours, add 5 cans of soup and carrots and celery.  Continue to cook for 2 more hours.  Then, add barley and continue to cook for 45 minutes.  Stir occasionally. Add corn and peas, if desired.  The short ribs will be so tender that the meat will slip off the bones.  Remove bones.  Serve with cooked small pasta (elbows or shells).

Ratings (out of five)
Difficulty *
Taste ****

This past rainy weekend, Lindsey flew home for the weekend to watch Caroline in her 5th grade performance of the Little Mermaid.  I made my grandmother's beef and barley soup. Everyone enjoyed it! Everyone in the family ate the soup for lunch the next day and the soup tasted even more flavorful then.

This recipe is on one of my mother's handwritten recipe cards. My mother always said her mother used to make this soup.  Growing up I loved it when my mother made this recipe. It is great that my children love it too.