Bean soup

One addition you might consider to the recipe Betsy posted came from my grandmother's recipe, which I think is the best I've ever had, of course: add 3 or 4 cloves stuck into a piece of onion. Add a bay leaf, and lots of pepper, too.

Another tip: if you choose to take a shortcut and use the canned beans to the recipe, simmer the soup without the beans until the last 30 minutes or so. Canned beans are so soft, they won't hold up well if you cook them much longer. It's totally worth it to do this with dried beans.

Hope your soup turns out just like you remember it!! Enjoy!