When I was a young wife and mom, a Texan married to a Pennsylvanian and living in Germany, cooking for my husband was complicated. He was not raised on the staple dishes of my own upbringing, and I was unfamiliar with the foods of the North. Enter Jo. Jo and her husband lived downstairs from us. She was from Pennsylvania, and besides being an avid cook, she had a desire to have someone to "mother." Jo and Roger quickly became dear friends to us, surrogate grandparents to our firstborn, and in her kitchen I learned to make the mysterious meals that my husband loved. This soup is one of our favorites. So good for a cold or rainy day. This soup is a reason to have ham- so you can have a ham bone to make soup! (And I still don't know what Martha Washington has to do with it!)
