The purpose of this page is at least two fold. First I am recording the recipe for one of my favorite soups. Curried Apple Soup. And a second purpose is to show how an AI can help you convert a recipe, from either an old cookbook or even a handwritten recipe card into a digitized text version of that recipe, easily and quickly, without you having to manually retype the whole thing.

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Based on the images provided, here is the “Curried Apple Soup” recipe generated by the AI:

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp canola oil*
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped celery
• 1/4 cup diced carrots
• 2 tart apples – peeled, cored, sliced thin
• 1/4 cup unbleached white flour
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 tsp sugar*
• 1/2 tsp mace*
• S&P*
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup canned tomatoes, cut into pieces
• 1 tsp minced parsley*

Instructions:

1. Heat oil in a pan over high heat.
2. Add onion, celery, carrots, and apples. Sauté for 5 minutes.
3. Mix the flour and curry powder. Sprinkle this mixture over the sautéed vegetables.
4. Add broth and cook for 2 minutes.
5. Add tomatoes, parsley, cloves, and sugar.
6. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
7. The recipe note says to discard the cloves before serving.

The final part of the process which was left out on the recipe card was to puree the soup in the pot with a stick blender. *And finding and buying a stick blender started a whole ‘nother process. See at bottom.

Originally, I had a version of this soup at “Trillium, A Bistro” in Asheville, North Carolina. There was a young chef, Leisa Payne, who was plying her cooking talents at Trillium. The version I had had chicken in it, but I have made it as almost vegetarian at home. Almost? No chicken, but chicken broth.

I haven’t fixed polenta in a while, but I do love the flavor and that it is an excellent vehicle for gravy. I’m not sure if “Trillium a Bistro” in Asheville, North Carolina was the first time I tried polenta, but I do recall that Chef Leisa Payne fixed some delicious alligator sausage, gravy and put this on top of polenta cakes. 

I went online looking for a stick blender, and soon found that some stick blenders were sold as part of a set of interchangeable kitchen tools. Braun sold a MultiQuick Tool that included a stick blender, a whisk, and a food chopper. I bought a small version of the Braun MultiQuick Tool and used it for several years. Actually, I limped along using the chopper in this tool, because the chopper bowl was too small for some tasks, and the motor was too weak for some tasks. *The one task that comes to mind is using the tool to make hummus at home. The bowl was a little too small to blend a whole can (about 15 oz.) of garbanzo beans, and the motor was a little too weak to blend a whole bowl of chickpeas at a time.

After years of using this small, less powerful MultiQuick, I finally bought the bigger, more powerful brother, and what a difference. The chopper bowl was bigger and the motor more powerful. I could put a whole can of chickpeas in the bowl and add tahani, and then blend and the motor did the job easily.

I bought the MultiQuick tool for the stick blender, but the chopper bowl became more important because I was able to make hummus, and I was able to blend salsa. *If I were sending a child, especially a young man off to college, I would send this chopper along with him. Why? He could become a “hub of activity” by working out a deal with his other suite/dorm mates. I’ll provide the hummus (a few cans of garbanzo beans) and you provide all the veggies we eat. Someone brings carrots, and celery. Someone brings some chopped onion and tomatoes. You get the idea. Everyone to the “feeding trough” and fed boys are happy boys (for the most part).

You could do the same thing with making salsa. I provide the diced tomatoes, with green chilis. Someone provides the onion & sweet bell peppers, and cilantro. Oh, and others bring the chips! Chow down on the salsa and chips. *And if you can cook on the hall, the chopper makes it easy to blend some black or pinto beans and add that to the “un-smushed” beans for a rustic refried beans.

NOTE (08/03/25): I was looking at some YouTube videos again this morning about eating the right foods for controlling blood sugar, and I came across this video by accident, but… I have this style can opener and have used it for years, but every so often, this opener fails to open a can. But the reason is either the metal of the can is too soft and it doesn’t allow the opener to penetrate the can top… or the can top is recessed too deeply and the opener can’t penetrate the lid. This is why I pull out my John Wayne and finish the job. But having seen the alternate means of using this can opener, I may never use my John Wayne again, unless I don’t have my usual opener.

I tried opening a can of garbanzo beans using the opener in the alternate way and it worked perfectly. The one problem I see with using it this way is that if there is liquid in the can, it may slosh over the edge of the can. So, I may have to use a plate beneath the can before opening.

The video was playing in YouTube and I just did a hand swipe on my phone to capture the above image of the can and opener.