In which we celebrate the Gift of Stories with a Bre'r Rabbit tale

A lot of folks make a big fuss about Christmas dinner--goose, turkey, ham, or whatever, with all the fixin's.

To me, though, the best dinner of the year is served by my mom on Christmas Eve:  Carrot-Cauliflower Soup.  It's warm.  It's comforting.  It's delicious.  And it's an easy meal to fix, so we can all hang out together, rather than leave one or two cooks stranded in the kitchen making food for the rest of the herd. 

Since it's one of the best celebratory foods in the world, I was sure that Brer Rabbit would make it for his dinner, too.  I've included the recipe at the end of the story. 

Brer Rabbit’s Christmas Dinner (American South)

One cold winter morning, when he knew Brer Rabbit wasn't home, Brer Fox sneaked into Brer Rabbit's garden. He helped himself to every last one of Brer Rabbit's carrots and cauliflowers and left with his bag so full it was bursting at the seams.

When Brer Rabbit got home and saw his garden with nothing much left to admire, he was mighty angry. He sped off directly to Brer Fox's house.

The door was bolted and the shutters were closed tight.

Brer Rabbit couldn't hear anything except the sound of the north wind blowing and his own stomach rumbling. But all around was the sweet smell of soup cooking.

Brer Rabbit knocked on the door.. "I know you're there, Brer Fox," called Brer Rabbit. "Now you open this door."

Brer Fox didn’t answer, so Brer Rabbit knocked harder. "I know those are my vegetables in your soup," said Brer Rabbit, "and I want them back. Now open this door!"

Finally there was an answer from inside. "Too bad," said Brer Fox. "I’m not opening this door. I'm making enough soup in here to keep me till Springtime."

Brer Rabbit tried knocking the door in. He kicked at it and hammered on it, but that door didn't budge.

Now you know that Brer Rabbit was the best at tricking, and when he was mad, watch out. It didn’t take him long to think of a plan to get his carrots and cauliflowers back.

On Christmas Eve, Brer Rabbit heaved a sackful of stones on his shoulder and climbed up on Brer Fox's roof. He clattered around making plenty of noise.

"Who's that up there?" called Brer Fox.

"It's Santie Claus," said Brer Rabbit in a Santie Claus voice. "I got a sackful of presents for you."

"Oooh, you got presents for me?" said Brer Fox. "Well, you're most welcome here, Santie Claus. But ain't you supposed to come down the chimney?"

"Sure I am," said Brer Rabbit in his Santie Claus voice. "But I can't. I'm stuck in the chimney.”

"Well, don't come down then," Brer Fox hollered up at the roof. "Just drop the presents down the chimney and I'll catch them."

"Can't do it," answered Brer Rabbit. "The sack is stuck too. But if you do what I say, I'd be mighty grateful. Climb up into the chimney. Then catch hold of this piece of string and pull the sack down yourself."

Brer Fox was only too happy to help. "That's easy," he said. "Here I come, up the chimney."  He started clawing his way up.

Fast as lightning, Brer Rabbit leaped off that roof and into the house.

There were his carrots and cauliflower in a pile, and on the stove was a big old pot of soup, all fragrant and bubbling, and on the table were some biscuits and mince pie, and there in the middle was the biggest, fattest Christmas pie he'd ever seen.

Brer Rabbit didn't waste much time. He grabbed up all of that food, stuffed it into his sack and took off running.

Meantime, Brer Fox was struggling to get up the chimney.

He couldn't see any string, but he felt it hanging down. So he gave a pull. The sack opened and out tumbled all the stones right on Brer Fox's head. My goodness, he went down that chimney fast.

That rascally Brer Rabbit laughed at how he'd taken care of Brer Fox.

He kept out of Brer Fox's way for some time afterward. 

But Brer Rabbit surely did have a fine Christmas dinner that night, and plenty of carrot and cauliflower soup left over for him to eat until Springtime.

Carrot-Cauliflower Soup

Cut into chunks about 1" square:

• some carrots
• an onion
• a cauliflower

Sautee all these in butter until the onion is clear. Then, dump the vegetables into a soup pot with

• some broth (chicken broth or vegetable)

Let the ingredients cook together over a low heat for at least an hour.  Then add in

• some cream or half-and-half or milk

This will cool the soup down a bit.  While it's cool, run the entire thing through the blender until it is a smooth, pretty orange color.

Heat the soup back up gently, and add any of the following just before serving:

• cilantro
• fresh grated ginger
• parsley
• dried dill

Serve warm, preferably with fresh bread and butter, and a glass of nice wine. 

Enjoy--and Happy New Year!

--Aarene and the rest of the gang

at Haiku Farm