Well, till mating season is over...here's a similar one from the Washington Post. Mushroom and Barley Soup 6 to 8 servings There's absolutely nothing fancy about this thick, homey, brown soup . . . except for its flavor. Mushrooms have a natural affinity for barley; I prefer to use a mixture of shiitake and cremini mushrooms or rehydrated dried mushrooms. (The strained soaking liquid may be used to replace some of the beef stock.) For a vegetarian version, use vegetable stock rather than beef. 4 tablespoons butter 1 large onion, peeled and diced small 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced small 1 medium parsnip, peeled and diced small 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste 1 pound assorted mushrooms, cleaned, stems trimmed, caps sliced into bite-size pieces Freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme 2 quarts (8 cups) beef stock (or vegetable stock), plus additional 1/2 cup pearled barley 1/4 cup dry sherry (optional) Chopped flat-leaf parsley for garnish In a large heavy pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onion, carrots, parsnip and salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is softened, about 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms and continue to cook, stirring only occasionally, until all the mushrooms are tender, about 15 minutes more, adding more butter if necessary. Season with pepper and thyme and stir to combine. Add the stock, sherry if desired, and barley, increase the heat to medium-high and bring almost to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover partially and simmer gently until the barley is completely cooked and tender, about 1 hour. Check the liquid level during simmering; if a thinner consistency is desired, add additional stock. (May keep warm over low heat, stirring occasionally, for up to a couple of hours, or you may cover and refrigerate overnight and rewarm over low heat.) To serve, garnish with parsley. Per serving (based on 8): 189 calories, 7 gm protein, 23 gm carbohydrates, 9 gm fat, 21 mg cholesterol, 5 gm saturated fat, 589 mg sodium, 5 gm dietary fiber

I've never made chicken and barley soup but lots of other people have. (I never recovered from a bad childhood barley experience. Campbell's. A texture thing I think.) Here is a link that might be useful: Chicken and barley soup recipes.

I've always made pea soup with a ham hock, but this last time I followed a recipe that used smoked kielbasa sausage. Delicious! and half the cooking time. Not that the meat from a ham hock isn't the best, but I was surprised how much I liked the sausage. Love barley in my veg soup. My Mom used to make veg soup with oxtail and added cabbage, smelled heavenly. Now I guess I'll have to make veg soup after all this talk. ha.

Here we go - you'll notice that it's very similiar to daisy's. 1 boiling fowl (with giblets) 1 bay leaf 1 lb leeks, slit, cleaned and cut into 1 inch pieces 4 pints stock or water (10 cups) 2 tablespoons barley or long grain rice salt and pepper Put bird, giblets, stock, bay leaf, leeks and plenty of seasoning into a large pan. Bring to the boil and skim. Reduce heat, cover pan and simmer for 2-3 hours until bird is tender. Remove bird, giblets and bayleaf and skim any surface fat. Add barley or rice and simmer for another 30 minutes. If you are *odd* LOL and want to add prunes, add 4oz of dried prunes which have soaked overnight when you add the barley or rice. Note that this is a British recipe and uses British measures. Another Scottish recipe you might like for the depths of winter - Stovies cold, diced or sliced, leftover roast beef or lamb peeled and sliced potatoes (thick and thin slices) leftover cold roast potatoes and gravy if you have any sliced onion stock butter salt and pepper Melt a reasonable amount of butter over a medium heat and add the sliced raw potatoes and onion and salt and pepper. Cook without much attention for about 10 minutes ie leave it, stir, leave it, stir. You want bits to stick. Add the meat (also irregularly cut up), stock and any left over potatoes and garvy if you have them. Bring to the boil and turn down as low as you possibly can, stirring occasionally, more often towards the end. Cook until it's 'right', at least 45 minutes to an hour. It's right when it doesn't have very much liquid left in it. If you put it on a plate and tilt the plate it shouldn't move too much :)). The thicker slices of potato should be cooked but still a bit chunky for body. It's real comfort, warming food. It doesn't look much on the plate but 'meat and potatoes' men in particular love it. Susan