Home-made Tomato Soup and Sav's
As it was an outside rink the state of the ice always varied. It ranged from smooth/dry ice to very, very, wet. On those days you brought 2 changes of clothing- one for at lunch and another when you headed home.
The comradeship built up between strangers still amazes me. As kids, the days activity changed with our growth spurts. My early years would have me annoying my big brother or sister, fine tuning the turns and backward skating, or falling over. They often had chairs you could push friends around on.
As we got older the name of the game was chase. You grabbed someone's hat as you skated past and then it was all on. It was never a dull moment. By this time I had reached a reasonable level of proficiency, so took great delight on picking on a member of the opposite sex and skating rings around them. Not the best method for trying to get a boyfriend.. I think.
So where does Soup and Sav's come into it. Well every time for lunch, Mum would pack homemade Tomato soup in one thermos and hot Sav's, cut into 3rds in another thermos. We would come over for lunch after an hour of skating. The car and picnic table would be set up on the shingle lake shore. Waiting would be a mug of hot soup, then the sav's in buttered bread, coated with tomato sauce: comfort food at the best.!
Dad often brought a thermette, which he boiled hot water in, for a cup of tea for himself and Mum. We would have a cold juice and fruit cake. After we had eaten , we weren't allowed to skate until lunch had settled, so we would go and skim stones into the beautiful , glacier feed lake. Then back to the ice for the rest of the afternoon, until we were too cold and wet to carry on.
The trip back home was always quieter, as we nursed our bruises, cold fingers and toes, all the while wallowing in that warm, tired feeling of having had a great day. Funny thing I never did get car sick on the way home.
Editors notes:
Interpretation:
Sav's = Savoloys = small-goods, similar to sausages, with a red skin, they are brought pre-cooked.
Tomato sauce = ketchup.
Skids = 3 blade strap onto shoes skates
Recipe: - Tomato Soup
1 ½ lbs Tomatoes,
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