Granny Phanny And The Giant Rabbit Some Turnip Soup For Womens History Month
Another delightful installment from the joint collaboration with writer/author extraordinaire Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene, we planned this post to occur in March, Women’s History Month, we’ve come a long way baby and every month, week and day should celebrate women and their/our contribution to society, this country, our families and communities. I am woman hear me roar, well that is a little cliché I know but we are empowered and accomplished and strong and proud of how far we have come, it amazes me that at one time women didn’t even have the right to vote and in some countries women are still considered objects of disdain, almost subhuman and of less importance than their male counterparts.
I also am including a recipe that I posted years ago for a spring turnip soup, you may turn up your nose when you read turnips but honestly this soup is delicious, I use Hakurai turnips which appear late winter and early spring at the local green markets. They are crisp and sweet and mild and make an outstanding soup. The soup is topped with some crumbled bacon and the turnip greens which are sauteéd in the bacon fat. For vegan and vegetarian option all you do is eliminate the bacon and use vegetable broth or water. For vegan option of course you would not use the cream but you can sub a non dairy option of your choice.
Take it away Teagan…
Granny Phanny and the Giant Rabbit
Hi, Suzanne. I’m delighted to be back in your kitchen! Hello everyone, it’s great to see you.
When I asked Suzanne for an ingredient to use in a story for this collaborative post, right away she said turnips. Every time I hear that word I think of the “Cinnamon Bun” character from my serial, Murder at the Bijou, Three Ingredients-1. That’s a 1920s culinary mystery, which is in the works to be “book-ized” this spring.
Many of you are familiar with my flapper character, Pip. This time the story is told from the point of view of Pip’s grandmother, Phanny Irene Peabody. I thought that was appropriate since March is Women’s History Month. Granny lived during the height of the suffragette era, and she was a woman to speak her mind. It’s also something of a back-story for Cinnamon Bun. I hope you enjoy the story as much as Suzanne’s recipe! Although that’s a lot for me to live up to…
Granny Phanny and the Giant Rabbit
“The only true woman is a pious, submissive wife and mother, concerned exclusively with home and family!”
Even more irksome than the words themselves was the fact that they were uttered by a woman. I was glad that I had already left the building. Otherwise I might have lost my temper. What business did anyone with that opinion have at a women’s meeting in the first place?
In 1920, Georgia was the first state to “reject” the Nineteenth Amendment, which assured women the right to vote. It was two years later before women actually got to vote in my home state. Long after that, we were still suffragettes, working for equal rights. We still wore suffragette white to our meetings.
That intolerable statement was immediately followed by the resounding crack of a slap across the speaker’s face. I cringed, knowing full well who had likely delivered the smack. I turned on my heel and hurried back inside. Veronica Vale was no meek little lamb. She was a force of nature when her righteous wrath was incurred. I tried to make my way through the pandemonium to my friend.
By the time I got to Veronica, I could hear police sirens. A quick look around told me several attendees had slipped quietly away, including the woman who spoke the words that started the trouble.
“It was all planned,” I muttered. “That bunch wanted to make trouble from the minute they asked to join.”
Not much later a handful of us — enough to make an example, but not so many as to cause the coppers much trouble — were hauled down to the police station. A group of men stood laughing and cat calling while we were hustled outside. My cheeks heated in a blush.
Detective Dabney Daniels of the Savannah Police got a tip that something was going to happen. By the time the paddy wagon reached the station, he was already diffusing the situation.
“Miss Phanny,” he began with a smirk and a shake of his head. “I wish I could say I was surprised to see you,” he told me before turning to Veronica Vale. “Mrs. Vale your husband is already here. You’ll be released into his custody.”
I knew that “custody” statement wouldn’t sit well with Veronica. She was a doctor and a scientist, not some man’s property. No matter how good the man. For years Veronica Vale had worked at a hospital in England called Clapham Common. It had an all-female staff. She retired and returned to Savannah. Then she met the widowed Vincent and partnered with him in his veterinary practice.
Before she could complain, I blurted out my puzzlement. “Dabney, how could you know…?”
“I’d like to claim powers as a mentalist, Miss Phanny. However, Dr. Vale had just arrived to pick up someone else,” the handsome detective explained as chaos erupted elsewhere in the station.
Detective Daniels quickly excused himself and walked toward the sounds of people shouting.
Veronica gave a downright evil chuckle. I looked a question at her and she laughed out loud at the expression on my face.
“Phanny Irene Peabody,” she said. “You are indeed a Pip. I suppose you’ve never noticed the way that young man looks at you. He probably doesn’t care a whit for the turnips you’re always giving him, or the meals he gets in return for fixing one thing and another at your cottage. Tsk-tsk. Phanny, that young copper is smitten with you.”
“Veronica, don’t be ridiculous. You couldn’t be more wrong. Dabney is just a goodhearted young man,” I told my friend most emphatically.
Another crashing sound and men shouting prevented her from talking more of that nonsense. How absurd. I was old enough to be that boy’s mother. We might enjoy one another’s company, but there was nothing more to it.
“Hi, Honey. Are you hurt?” Vincent Vale asked his wife as he skidded to a stop. As Veronica shook her head he turned to me. “Mrs. Peabody, are you well?” he greeted me politely.
Veronica assured her husband that neither of us had come to any harm. I noticed Vincent held some kind of harness. There was more shouting, and then the veterinarian pelted away toward the commotion.
A moment later we heard Vincent shout. “Got ‘em!”
However there was another crash. I heard dull thumping noises. The sound was quite rhythmic, and coming closer. Veronica and I exchanged puzzled looks.
I stuck my head around the corner and gasped loudly.
“I must be seeing things. Else I’m just plain zozzled,” I murmured.
Veronica craned her neck to see what had stunned me.
“Well horsefeathers! In all my born days…” she began. “A Flemish Giant.”
“Flemish? Bushwa!” I exclaimed. “You’re hallucinating too,” I mumbled. “Somebody spiked our tea a little too much at the women’s meeting. Or else I’m looking at a cinnamon colored rabbit that’s three feet tall, sitting on his haunches.”
I crouched down, befuddled. The big bunny hopped over to me and nuzzled my hand. I scratched between his impossibly long ears. I helped hold the big bun still as Vincent got the harness around him.
“This big ole boy decimated Godfrey Gilley’s garden. Dug up every turnip he had,” Vincent commented. “When the big bun headed toward his grocery store, Godfrey was so upset that he called the police saying there was a bear in his yard!” the veterinarian laughed. “Trouble is, I’m not sure what we can do with him. We’ve taken on so many animals lately,” Vincent admitted, but cast a pleading look at his wife, who gave a resigned sigh.
My face ended up against the giant rabbit’s soft hair as Vincent adjusted the harness. I found that I didn’t want to move. My fingers sank into the plush fur.
“I’ll take him,” I spoke up, and questioned my own sobriety again. “Oh good lord, but I need a hutch for him.”
I hadn’t noticed that Detective Dabney Daniels was standing beside us.
“Don’t worry, Miss Phanny. I can take care of a rabbit hutch in a jiffy,” Dabney said. “Even one big enough for this miscreant,” he added with a grin.
Veronica elbowed me sharply in the ribs. She gave me an I told you so look and winked.
“He’s sweet on you,” she whispered into my ear. “So what if he’s younger. He’s a damn fine figure of a man!”
“Absolutely no!” I told her so fiercely that everyone looked askance.
Fortunately I was spared from an explanation because of Veronica’s loud bark of laughter.
The Vales offered to drive me home. I got into the automobile with Vincent and Veronica, and of course the rabbit. Dabney bent down and promised to come by to start on the rabbit hutch that evening. Veronica wriggled her eyebrows at me. I gave her a withering look, then turned and smiled at the detective as I thanked him.
“What was all that about?” Vincent wanted to know as we drove away.
Veronica had no inhibitions about sharing her embarrassing speculations to her husband, despite my denial.
“It simply will not do!” I told her, my patience close to its end.
“She means that dear,” Vincent said. “You might want to leave it alone before your sense of fun hurts your friendship.”
“You’re right,” she agreed with a sigh. “I’m sorry Phanny. I just want to see you happy.”
“I am perfectly happy as I am. Besides, I told you that my granddaughter, Pip, is coming to live with me. I’ll have my hands full, teaching her to cook,” I reminded my friends. “I can’t wait for you to meet her.”
The End
***
Copyright © 2017 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene
All rights reserved.
No part of this work may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.
All images are either the property of the author or from Pinterest unless stated otherwise.
Creamy Spring Turnip Soup With Wilted Greens And Bacon
(Bacon is optional for my vegetarian friends)
Serves 4-6 depending on serving size
4 heaping cups turnips peeled and quartered (Use the small spring turnips if possible)
1 potato peeled and quartered (I used Yukon Gold and it’s Optional to use a potato)
2 cups leeks (cleaned well and sliced) or use a medium size onion or 2 shallots
4 1/2 cups broth (chicken, vegetable or water)
2 tbs butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper and a pinch of nutmeg (optional)
4-6 slices bacon
Turnip greens cleaned VERY well
In heavy sauce pan heat a little olive oil, add the leeks or onion or shalot and sweat, cook just until tender don’t brown. Add the turnips and potato, now add the liquid (broth or water). Cover and cook until the turnip and potato are tender. Let cool for about 30 minutes and blend either in your blender or use the immersion blender. Note: If using an immersion blender remove some of the liquid you don’t want the soup too thin, you can always add it back in. Add the butter and cream and season with salt and pepper and nutmeg.
Fry the bacon until crisp, remove from the fry pan and add the greens to the bacon fat, season with salt and peppper and saute until the greens are tender and wilted.
To Serve: Garnish the soup with the wilted greens and crumbled bacon.
Soup
apuginthekitchen 
Happy Wednesday!
Thank you Chery and to you as well!!
xx
What a great story Teagan, I love it. We as women have come a long way but we still have work to do. Suzanne, the soup looks delicious. I have a friend who loves turnips and I have to tell her about this recipe.
Gerlinde, thank you so much. I’m delighted you enjoyed both parts of this collaboration.
You are quite right — some times it feels like we are going backward rather than forward. We still have a long way to go, and a lot of work to maintain the distance we’ve already gone. But with this wonderful soup from Suzanne, we will be nourished and ready to take on the world. 😀 Mega hugs.
Another great little combination from the two of you. Body and soul fed.
Teagan I admit I was very disappointed in you having Phanny arrive too late to serve some swift justice on whoever broke up the meeting and slapped Mrs Vale.Maybe you’ll address this again in the future, no hurt should go unavenged (or something like that). I certainly wouldn’t want to turn the other cheek and see that one slapped too.
Suzanne, you know that addition of bacon to anything is like leading me by the nose. It looks a very nice dish and served with your usual flair.
xxx Massive Hugs to my two favourite ladies xxx
Since you invited me, I’ll address that right now. I’m sorry you disapprove, David. You’ve made similar comments on my stories in the past. Life does not always dispense revenge, just as my stories are rarely vindictive. But it was Veronica Vale who did the slapping anyway. So hopefully her brief incarceration was vengeance enough.
Thank you for your kind words about Suzanne’s lovely recipe. I agree that everything is better with bacon. 😀
Thank you Gerlinde, how are you??? The soup is wonderful and a very mild turnip flavor.
I am fine Suzanne, thanks for asking.
Thank you so much David and I have to agree that bacon is a seductive ingredient, making whatever it’s added to just a bit more delicious, Have a lovely week and thank you so much for visiting. Massive hugs!!
Suzanne, I loved your introduction about Women’s History Month. Well done! Women’s rights is a serious topic, but so much more can be achieved if we have this kind of fun along the way. 😀 The turnip soup is the perfect dish for all the facets of this post. I can’t wait to try and make it myself. It was great to work with you again. I’ll re-share at my place this weekend. Mega hugs!
Always love our joint posts and can’t wait for the next one!!!
Keep the “ingredients” coming, Suzanne. There’s a story in each one. 😀 Stay warm and safe. I realize the snow storm hammered your area. More hugs.
Can’t wait!!
Suzanne and Teagan,
What a fabulous joint venture! I enjoyed reading the story and the recipe for the turnip soup. I am intrigued by the Hakurai turnips and am going to look for them.
Women’s rights is very near and dear to my heart. So thankful to you both for writing about it.
Hi, Sandhya. I’m delighted you enjoyed this collaboration, especially since it was such fun to create. We’ll all “roar” together. 😀 Hugs.
Absolutely Teagan- we roar together! Hugs !
Thanks Sandhya, yes try to find those turnips, they are wonderful and very mild in flavor. So happy you enjoyed!!
Reblogged this on hocuspocus13 and commented:
jinxx🍀xoxo
Many thanks for re blogging!!
I absolutely love it when you ladies create together. Lovely recipe, awesome story thank you Suzanne and Teagan.
Thank you so much Dyanna!!
It’s my pleasure, Dyanna. Huge hugs!
Great post but I just can’t wrap my tongue around a turnip. Not in a box or with a fox.
Tracey
Ha😂 I would bet that if you tried this soup made with the hakurai turnips you might like. Maybe not but as one who tends to shy away from the strong flavor of the turnip on its own I totally get it.
I love everything about this post! The timeliness of it coinciding with Women’s Month, the absolutely charming story of Teagan’s, and the delicious turnip soup provided by Suzanne. It looks like a creamy delight and one can never go wrong with crumbling some bacon on most anything! I enjoyed reading the backstory about Pip’s grandmother, too! xoxo Hugs all the way around!
Kathryn, you are a treasure! Thanks so very much. Mega hugs.
Thank you so much Kathryn. The soup is wonderful and bacon, yes please.
I love when the dynamic duo team up. One mighty with the spoon and the other with the pen. I loved that story that the talented Teagan put together for us and I haven’t had turnips in over 30 years and I’ve got to try this soup. I can only imagine the creamy sweetness.
What wonderful things to say, Julie. My spirit soars.
I’m not a great cook, but I can’t wait to try my hand at Suzanne’s soup. Huge hugs.
You are so kind Julie, thank you so much.
Mmm I love turnips but I’ve never had them in soups before. The hakurei turnips look so beautiful and the soup looks so lovely and delicious. I can only get those with a bit of purple tinge here. Hopefully they will still work well with the soup!
Thank you so much Jasline, yes it will work with regular turnips. Try to get the smallest, youngest turnips you can find. Hakurai turnips are sweeter and milder than regular turnips but they can be used interchangeably in this soup, I’ve done it before. Thank you so much!!
Good to have you confirm that Suzanne. All I’ll be able to get are the ordinary ones. Have a thriving Thursday. Mega hugs!
Great story and shout-out to women everywhere! As soon as I saw it was set in Savannah, I could just imagine those lolling southern accents. Agree with Jasline – the turnip soup looks deliscious.
Thank you so much!!
LOL, yes, Granny Phanny would definitely have a smooth as molasses southern drawl. But if you got her riled up, you’d be amazed how fast she could talk, putting somebody in their place. 😉 Thanks so very much for supporting this joint effort. I’m delighted you enjoyed both parts. Huge hugs.
What a great story Teagan! Thanks for bringing both the story and the soup to our attention Suzanne! 🙂 🙂
Linda, you are so kind. It means a lot to me that you enjoyed my part as well as Suzanne’s delicious soup. Huge hugs!
You’re welcome Teagan!! You’re very talented!!! 😀😀
A wonderful story and great soup idea. I’m always looking for new soups to try and this one will definitely make it onto my list – looks delicious. 🙂
Doesn’t it look delicious! I’m getting the ingredients to try it this weekend, though I’ll have to settle for ordinary turnips. I’m delighted that you enjoyed the story. Hugs!
Thank you so much!!
Thanks for the tip on using the immersion blender, Suzanne. Teagan, best of luck with your spring book-ized release! 🙂
Thanks Mary! I keep changing my mind about how to handle the “culinary” part of the mystery, but I think I’ve finally settled on the format for that. Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Hugs.
Hmm, it does sound challenging, but you can do it. Good luck. Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Cheers!
Your soup looks delicious Suzanne! I have never had a turnip soup, so I am looking forward to trying it out. Teagon, I love the story! I was actually talking to my daughter this week about what women went through to get the right to vote. She was really amazed, and frankly so am I. It hasn’t been that long…
You are right, Antonia. I’m happy you were able to have that conversation with your daughter. I was a little girl in the 1960s when women were”burning bras” and was both amazed and mystified that the genders weren’t treated equally. Now I worry that the progress those women made is being lost. We have to stop”dumbing down” and objectifying ourselves… At any rate, TGIF and happy St Patrick’s Day.
Happy St Patrick’s Day to you as well, and have a nice weekend!
The spoon in the pic is lovely. And so is the soup. I like the idea of crumbled bacon as a topping. 😉
Thank you so much, I love that spoon, it has such beautiful work on it and a lovely antique patina.
So loved this collaboration 🙂 and that Turnip soup is right up my street, as I love making home made soup.. And we still have a few turnips in the allotments… Although not as Spring looking as these… a bit old and worn winter looking.. lol..
Have a lovely weekend.. Hugs Sue
Sue, I am honored by all the attention you’ve given this post. Heartfelt thanks!
I bought turnips yesterday (all I could get were the ordinary ones), and I’m gathering my courage to make Suzanne’s soup today! (I’m not much of a cook…)
Suzanne ~~ If you are not already acquainted, meet Sue! Her blog and art are inspiring. Hugs all around.
A great recipe (I’ll have to try a vegetarian option) and a great story. Thanks!
I’m going to try it Olga (and you know I’m not a great cook). I’m sure Suzanne will give you any additional tips for a vegetarian option. I know she mentioned something in the post, but if there is more, she’ll surely let you know. Happy weekend, my friend!
This not only made me smile, it made me hungry. I don’t have turnips right now, but when I drop by Farm Boy I’m getting me some turnips and trying this out because, yum, you made it sound delicious.
There’s so much in this post I don’t know where to begin, first, the awesomeness, next and first, congrats on the new book, we, your readers/fans know it will be fantastically fabulously brilliant, third (fifth?), love ‘All Creatures Great and Small’, especially the cat stories, and I could go on and on, but why, Teagan and Suzanne, you’ve done a stunning job!
Thanks for sharing this with us, hope this weekend treats everyone kindly.
Mega what behind the rabbit, no it is the rabbit hugs xoxox
Donna, thank you for the huge smile you just gave me. I’m delighted that you enjoyed this joint effort. I hope you are having a wonder-filled, hug-filled weekend. 🙂 Mega hugs right back.
Thank you so much Donna. It is always such a pleasure to work with Teagan.
I love this soup, Suzanne. I’m making it again, for lunch on this cold winter day. Hugs.