The Grease Before the Greens

Ok, this is it. The last soup and the last blog of 2025. Done. No more. I am officially making a 2026 resolution that I will not make another pot of soup until my last batch is completely gone. No overlapping soups. No “just one more.” I need an intervention.

I really struggled with this soup. And not because it was hard to make. I struggled because, if I am being honest with myself, this soup is not much better than Tam’s cheese soup. Calorie-wise, it is a commitment. My rough estimate is about 250 calories per bowl without the meat and pierogies, and closer to 750 with the bad stuff added in. This is absolutely not something I would bring to a Soup Club meeting, which raises a very fair question. Why am I making it at all?

Great question. Here are my justifications, and yes, I fully recognize I can justify almost anything if I try hard enough.

First, Charlie Daniels made the sauerkraut, and I promised him I would make a soup with his creation. Second, my mom used to make Polish Kapuśniak with almost the same ingredients and I wanted to see if I could hit that same flavor profile. Third, Surgeon Jenn is Norwegian and pretty much lives on fish and potatoes, so I figured I could introduce her to some proper peasant Polish food. Fourth, while I do not think my dad should be eating food like this regularly (at all!), I am genuinely excited to see how he likes it. Fifth, Kevin already made a version of this soup with smoked kielbasa, and I wanted to see how it worked with fresh kielbasa along with the pierogies used as a topper. So there. Completely justified.

This whole thing started with Charlie delivering three massive five-pound frozen blocks of sauerkraut and casually saying something about one bag being broken so I should use that first. My dad used to make sauerkraut and can it in nice, manageable jars. Five pounds is a lot, Charlie. Luckily for me, this soup needed, you guessed it, about five pounds of sauerkraut.

I made a run to the Polish Market in Troy for mini pierogies, fresh kielbasa, and Polish beer. Thank you Kevin for the pierogi intel. That little trip set me back about eighty-five bucks, which confirmed once again that meat soup is expensive soup. The timing worked out perfectly since our family Christmas Eve was at my cousin’s place in Troy, basically right down the road. On Christmas Day I drove up to Ludington and picked up the rest of the supplies at good old Meijer.

Jenn, who is leaving for a fancy cruise with her daughters early Sunday morning, made the drive up Saturday and the souping commenced. She brought serious chopping power, solid cooking experience, and excellent problem solving. Bacon in the oven with the other meat? Perfect. Sourdough prep using the new cast iron bread thingy Riley got me for Christmas? Outstanding. Add in great conversation and company and we had ourselves a proper soup day.

This soup took the entire morning. And when I say entire morning, I mean that recipe card claiming “one and a half hours” is completely full of crap. We finally had our first bowl around one o’clock. I had two, obviously.

Scoring options in Ludington were limited, but here is what I got…

• Jenn said this was her third time ever eating sauerkraut, which means expectations were extremely low. She gave it a solid 8.0, which I will absolutely take as a win.

• Charlie Daniels, his wife Julie, and grandson and future fishing legend want to be, Kaedin, came over Sunday afternoon. I did not realize Julie does not eat meat or I would have prepped differently. She said she liked it but did not give a score.

• Kaedin, who “doesn’t like soup,” eventually tried some. Keep in mind, the only things I have ever seen this kid eat are Wesco donuts washed down with strawberry milk. He started with a couple scoops, asked for a mini bowl, took a few more bites, then slid the bowl over to Grandpa Charlie for cleanup. I am reading between the lines and awarding myself an 8.0 from Kaedin.

• And then there was Charlie Daniels himself. He was either trying to make me feel good or this was genuinely the best soup he’s ever eaten. Possibly both. He had two full bowls, plus Julie’s meat, plus Kaedin’s leftovers, washed it all down with two extra Polish beers, slammed the last empty bottle on the table, and declared “ten plus.” I am not sure our scoring system officially goes above 10.0, but I guess it does now. Thanks Charlie Daniels. (Update from Charlie: "yummy better today...11.5")

• I'm gonna give it a 9.5 - it's really freakin' good - I just can't give a non-WFPB a 10.0!

Charlie took the rest of the soup home with him. I froze two containers for my dad. As for me, I am flipping hard back to WFPB immediately. I can literally feel the grease thickening my blood.

One final prep tip from my dad that I can hear echoing in my head right now. “Make sure you rinse that sauerkraut good.” Where I grew up, sauerkraut could not be too sour, so you rinsed the sour out of it. I think? Also, fish could not be fishy, which has nothing to do with this soup but somehow feels relevant.

And with that, soup season 2025 is officially closed.

1/7/2026 Update: I froze two full batches and brought one into the office for Soup Club member Kevin. The other is getting delivered to my dad, Euge, later today. And when I say full batches, I mean full batches. Soup, bacon grease fried pierogies, a side of kielbasa, and freshly baked caraway seed bread. No shortcuts.

Kevin came in strong with a bold 10.0. Possibly the first 10.0 Kevin has ever given in his life. He even counted out the pierogies and determined it officially qualified as four servings, which feels like important science.

At my dad’s house we had a surprise guest taster, daughter Riley, who joined the feast. I was eating a salad and watching Riley and Euge eat the soup, trying to read the room. Was this headed toward a 4.0 or a 9.0? Impossible to tell. Very hard reads, both of them. I asked Riley first. She immediately dropped a 10.0 and said it would have been in the 11.5 Charlie Daniels range without the bacon. Euge followed up by saying this was the best soup yet, and he has had a few now. He locked in a 10.0 as well.

No more updates! Jenn: 8.0, Kaedin: 8.0, Charlie Daniels: 11.5, Kevin: 10.0, Riley: 10.0, Euge: 10.0, Yours truly: 10.0. Final score: 9.64