A year and a half ago, when my husband and I visited the Alsace region of France, I bought a beautiful piece of pottery by a local manufacturer in the little village of Eguisheim. I fell in love with the design, and while there were many different pieces, the only item in this particular design was this large oval pot. It was about the same size as a crockpot and came with a cookbook.

I loved this part of France so much and had to have it as a souvenir. Rather than having it shipped home, we decided to take it with us and carry it on the plane on our return. 😳 Thankfully it made it across the ocean in one piece.

I pretty much intended for it to be a decoration, but I guess my husband thought otherwise because not too long after we got home he asked, “When are you going to make something in that pot?” I replied, “Ummm… I didn’t intend on USING it, I just wanted it for decoration, and besides, that cookbook is written in European measurements I’d have to convert.”

I recently changed my mind when I remembered that I have a cookbook that came with a large bean pot that my sister gave me. It’s a clay pot as well, so I was sure I could use it for my French pot.  I found a brisket recipe that looked delicious, so I decided to give it a whirl. I’ll have to admit that I was somewhat nervous, but also excited to use my pot that we brought all the way home from the little village in France.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t crazy about the outcome. Instead of tasting like a yummy BBQ brisket, it just tasted like bland roast beef and we ate a little less than half of it. I put the rest in a container in the refrigerator and then a few days later in the freezer thinking it would probably sit there too long and eventually end up in the trash.

This morning, I was trying to decide what to make for dinner. I opened the freezer and there was the brisket. It didn’t sound appetizing at all, but we’re trying to finish up the holiday leftovers. I stood there holding the container and I heard my mom say, “Use it to make beef and vegetable soup.” My mom was great about using leftovers to make other things. I pulled out the meat and headed to the grocery store to buy the vegetables.

It’s funny, the more time passes, the more I find myself thinking and doing things like mom did. At the holidays and other occasions, now I’m the one planning get togethers for my family, cooking all the food and doing the things she did.  It feels very strange to be the oldest generation.

I kind of just threw the soup together, but my kitchen smells heavenly. Thanks mom. But guess what, I’m going to have leftovers to put in the freezer, which is what I was trying to get rid of in the first place! Ahhh…