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player ready...I’ve mentioned in previous columns, as well as in my original “From the Farm” cookbook published in 2004, that Popeye the Sailor and my late father Chester share the same 1929 birthday year.
Dad, who passed away in December, grew up reading about Popeye’s cartoon adventures in the Sunday newspaper comics pages. Even more perfect for Dad’s destiny connection to the spinach-loving hero of land and sea is that Popeye’s creator, E.C. Segar, was born and raised in Chester, Illinois.
Segar launched the comic strip as “Thimble Theatre” with a host of characters, and it ran in the Chicago Herald and then was wooed by William Randolph Hearst to his Chicago Evening American newspaper before it became internationally syndicated to publications around the world by Hearst King Features. That netted the cartoonist a $100,000 salary at the time of his death at age 43 in 1938.
The character of hamburger-craving, bowler hat and tie guy Wimpy was added to the comic strip in May 1931, and so like my mom Peggy, he celebrates his 95th birthday this year.
Once seen in more than 600 newspapers and publications around the globe, King Features says today the “Popeye” comic appears in 20 newspapers in the U.S. for Sunday feature strips as well as an additional eight newspapers which run the daily storyline strip. In July 2022, then 46-year-old San Antonio cartoonist Randy Milholland became the latest creative talent keeping the syndicated “Popeye” comic and all the character greats like Olive Oyl, the Sea Hag and Sweet Pea still happily populating the “funnies” pages of newspapers, courtesy of King Features Syndicate.
The baiduhai faithfully carried the “Popeye” comic starting in 1962 and continued through 1982.
Better than birthday cake, a recipe for “cheeseburger soup” is the perfect way to celebrate Wimpy’s milestone year and his passion for gulping down hamburgers, that insatiable hungry habit of his which is always followed up with the promise: “I will gladly pay you back on Tuesday.”
Back in January 2011, I ran a column fulfilling a recipe request for “cheeseburger soup” from reader Mike Nieto. He didn’t want just any recipe, but in particular, the recipe served at the St. Mary’s Medical Center in their hospital ladies’ auxiliary-operated coffee shop, which was called The Garden Café, but is now closed.
That was 15 years ago and at the time, my older brother Tom’s wife Linda (who passed away in July 2023) let me sample her “cheeseburger soup” recipe given to her by her good friend Lisa Holliday of La Crosse, and I shared it with readers.
Today, I’ve hit upon a sister version of a similar hearty “hamburger soup” minus the cheese, as a favorite recipe cooked up by my longtime fellow newspaper reporter colleague Lauri Harvey Keagle of Crown Point. It ranks as a favorite of her hubby Kurt and their son Jack, the latter who is now a sophomore on the main campus of Purdue University.
“Kurt was doing some traveling for work to Cincinnati earlier in the week, so I had him stop through West Lafayette and take Jack to dinner and deliver a care package too,” Lauri wrote me.
“His favorites are pumpkin spice snickerdoodle cookies and homemade honey-buffalo seasoned pretzel snacks. And of course, I make a big pot of ‘hamburger soup,’ which will last a couple of days. I weirdly love chopping vegetables. Very zen! Hamburger soup ingredients are perfect for lots of chopping. Hamburger soup is easy and pretty much foolproof.”
Lauri says this soup is also a great idea for a delivered menu surprise when someone needs “a pick-me-up when not feeling well.”
“I honestly prefer this hamburger soup recipe even to making chicken soup as a comfort food,” Lauri wrote me.
“I made this for my dad when he was recovering from knee replacement surgery. It’s an all-in-one hot meal and especially healthy when using very lean beef that’s been drained after cooking. If you’re on the Weight Watchers program, a cup of this soup ranks as 0 to just a point depending on the amount of ingredients packed in that cup. From start to finish, you can whip up a pot of this soup in just an hour.”
Columnist Philip Potempa has published four cookbooks and is a weekly radio host at WJOB 1230 AM. He can be reached at [email protected] or mail your questions: From the Farm, PO Box 68, San Pierre, Ind. 46374.
Lauri’s Hamburger Soup
Makes 10-12 servings
Ingredients
2 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 large onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can whole tomatoes
3 cups beef stock or beef broth, plus more as needed
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
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4 carrots, peeled and sliced on the diagonal
5 red potatoes, cut into chunks
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste
2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, plus more to taste
1 can (14 ounces) green beans, sweet peas or kernel corn, undrained, optional add-ins
Garnish of grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
1. Brown the meat with the onion, celery and garlic in a large pot over medium-high heat.
2. Remove the pot from the heat and drain off as much fat as you can, discarding the fat once it cools.
3. Return the pot to the heat and add the rest of the ingredients. Stir to combine, then bring to a boil.
4. Reduce the heat, then cover the pot and simmer the soup for 15 to 20 minutes more, until the potatoes are tender but not overly mushy.
5. Adjust seasonings to taste.
6. Serve ladled into hot bowls and garnish with grated Parmesan cheese; best served with crusty bread.