Granny's lentil soup [vegan] Grandma knows it all Part I

Hello my dears,
it's time to reveal the big news: I'm starting a special kind of blogpost this month! As you might have guessed by now, it's all about the most beautiful women on earth (next to mums, of course) grandmas! But do not be worried, the focus is still on the most delightful thing on earth:

FOOD!❤️

This newish kind of post simply has a little more content. From now on (for a not-yet-limited period of time) I want to devote my monthly posts to all kind of grandmas, starting with my own amazing Oma, I'll take my time to tell you stories from those remarkable and admirable women and present a recipe from their childhood, which we prepared together. Those stories are insights into a time long before I (and probably most of you, too) discoverd this beautiful world, stories with sadly seem to slowly vanish and with them a part of a amazing human being, who's story is definitelyy worth telling. With this in my mind and the news filled with hatred, ignorance and intolerance, the idea for this "project" popped up in my head. Since I remember, I spent days and days with my Grandparents, enjoying food and listining to their amazing stories. The memories weren't all filled with laughter and happiness, but even though quite a lot of them were about a horrible time in history, they were still packed with tones of hope. Because my grandparents would never stop to tell me, that in the end it's about never losing love in the darkest of time, because than you, the good, can conquer everything, as long as you learn from the mistake you and others have made. So it astonishes me even more, that so many mistakes, made during human history, seem to repeat themselves over and over again. Well, and it seems as if we are forgetting again, what hatred, intolerance and xenophobia lead to just a few decades ago. But no matter how much intolerance raises from a political point of view, this intolerance and especially xenophobia seems to be forgotten when it comes down to something we all love: food. So why is it, that so many people say, that they are against refugees, foreigners and immigrants, but they love a good curry, wouldn't want to miss their Chinese take-away and a date night out at the lovely Italian restaurant around the corner is the best. And this are just a couple of examples of the nearly never ending list, but I think, that you get what I'm trying to say. I asked myself, WHY we repeadatly do the same mistakes, WHY do we not listen to those who have that much wisdom to share, WHY can we forget all the hate when it comes to food, but besides there it's omnipresent. Well, and this is how this topic was born, why not combine food, apparently the art of tolerance, and the wisdom of the people around us?! Because in the end good food is the best and as we all know "Grandma knows it all".(Her Instagram-skills might not be on point yet, but we're getting there)
I simply took my granny, asked her for one of her favourite childhood-foods, veganised it with her help and approval, we prepared it together and than we enjoyed our meal while telling each other stories (Oma told me stories and I assured that I had studied enough for the exames next week). My grandma showed an enormous amount of tolerance during the whole evening, because she accepted me refusing to eat a sausage with the soup and we all know who great grandmas can deal with people refusing to eat food they offer. Even though her concern was obvious, when I admitted to also not eat poultry and fish, but after reassuring her, that I'm fine and not starving, she kind of seemed to be slightly okay with it. Nevertheless she did say:

This dish really needs no meat. I'm not missing anything at all!
Oma, 88 years old, enjoying and being very pleased her own lentil soup

Well, I hope you got a slight overview about today's and the upcoming post and do not worry there won't be such a long introduction every month from now on.
Grandma's story will be at the end of the post, as there is now better time to listen to her story, than with a big bowl of throwback-to-your-childhood in your hands and when the family is gathered around the table for dinner-time to talk about their day and life. So, let's get (finally) started!

Today's piece of happiness:

All you need: (serves approx. 4 people)
400 gr. "soup"-greens (~ 2 carrots, 1/4 celery root, 1 leek and some fresh parsley)
5 potatoes ("middle-sized") + 1 extra-potato
200 gr. paradina lentils
Salt and pepper for seasoning
(Withwine-)Vinegar for serving

1. Step:

Slice the veggies and five potatoes up. We made really small pieces, but that's obvious up to you and your taste. Just bare in mind, that if you have bigger pieces the cooking time does increase a little.

2. Step:
Put one litre of water in a pot, which is big enough fit all the other ingredients in and wait until the water boils.

3. Step:

Add the lentils, potatoes and veggies to the water. Let it cook for 5 minutes, reduce the heat and add water whenever the soup seems to get to thick for your taste. I added approx. another litre during the whole cooking procedure. My Grandma and I prefer a lentil soup, which has a more stewy texture, but as I just said, it's all up to you and your taste butts.

4. Step:

After 5 to 10 minutes of cooking add the last potato by grating it in. The give the soup its' special creamieness. (Oma's top-secret!)

5. Step:

Now the soup needs to simmer another 25-20 minutes (all in all it needs to cook ~30 minutes) and do not forget to check if the soup has enough water every now and then.

6.Step:

Well, the soup is nearly done. Only two more things to do: season the soup with salt and pepper and add the fresh parsley right before you serve the soup.

As it's a very traditional german recipe, I also need to tell you how serve and eat it. Traditionally we eat lentil soup with vinegar (I highly recommend white wine- vinegar), this way you get the real "German"-feel to it and beside this it does also taste great!

I'm delighted to tell you: you have done it! Now go on and enjoy your self made piece of happiness and story-time❤️

I made a little "wanted" poster to introduce you to this month's grandma: (my amazing Oma)

Black Forest, Germany, September 1944

My Grandma was born and raised in Cologne, but during WWII it was not a good place be as it got bombarded excessively. Due to this the three women (Oma, her mother and her sister) and my grandma's best friend fled to the countryside into the black forest (neh, it's not a huge forest, it's a region [German highlands to be specific] in Germany which indeed has quite a couple of trees). Grandma's dad couldn't go with them, as he still had to attend the army as this point, but joined them shortly after as he returned with a body full of fragment from a fragmentary bomb. Her sister, Gusti, and her best friend, Hilde, lived and worked with/for another farmer than my grandma and her mother and father, but still next door. They got paid with a safe place to sleep and food. As her father joined them, the obviously had to work for three to get the food for three. But due to this injuries he couldn't work and her mother had to spent most of her day trying her best to care for the father. This is how my grandma ended up not trying but needing to work for all of them, with bearly any support, so my Grandma, a teenager at this point, ended up to somehow try to work for all of them. But no matter how hard and exhausting this time must have been, when recalling this time there is no moment, she remembers, in which she thought about giving up. So, while we enjoy our soup, she tells me about the nights in the autumn, which she spent on the fields looking for cabbage and potatoes, which the missed during the harvest, to get at least a tiny bit more food for her family. What stikes my head the most, is the fact, how she talks about all of this, her stories about this (in my opinion) awful time, are at no point filled with hatred. Not for the farmer, who had food but wouldn't give it to them, because he needed to pay his bills and carry on with his life. Not for her parents, who didn't help her, because she knows, that they desparetly wished they'd be able to help her. Not for the people who bombed and destroyed her home and forced her to flee, even though she only was an innocent child, because she knew that those people are fighting for the good and trying to save thousands of people from a fascist dictatorship. Not even for god, who you might seriously doubt in such a situation, but she, the child she has been, simply hoped for a better time to come. I, from the button of my heart, admire this attitude and hope, that if my faith in humanity is ever questioned that bad, that I can contain my tolerance and understanding for others. She thought and still thinks, that hate wouldn't change anything for the good, because it wouldn't have stopped the fighting, it wouldn't have healed her dad's injuries and it wouldn't have filled their plates either. So, during another night in autumn, she met Hilde and Gusti in the fields, they collected the food they could find and which would fit into their pockets, and while quietly and secretly collecting the food, others left, they told each other stories about their day and about this cute guy from the nearby village. Because in the end of the day, they were teenagers, who tried to do the best of their day, in a time that made smiling a lot harder. This is the moment, I hug my Oma tight and thank her for all the great moments, memories and values she gave and gives to me.

Danke Oma, you are the best and I'll try my best to take everyone (every "Jeck"), how he/she is, because things are like they are and as you teached me, I simply can try my very best to make the best of everything. I promise you to try my best to never lose hope and love for myself and for others, because this way hate will never win. ❤️

So, that's it. I hope you enjoyed this new kind of post and well, nothing more left for me say, than:

See you next month and do not forget: Happiness can be delicious, so go on and spread some feliciousness ❤️