Laurie's borscht

Today I thought I would post my borscht recipe for you.
I absolutely love borscht but never seem to make it often these days as I don't care for it after it has been frozen due to potatoes and swiss chard don't seem to have the same texture after being frozen and I tried canning it a few years ago which I thought was going to be a great idea until one night I was laying in bed and heard the cat making odd noises. I went downstairs to find him  ready to fight whatever was in my kitchen cupboard. I opened the cupboard to find my jars of borscht overflowing and the lids tented up , picking up the ones that were already leaking was messy but nothing like moving the ones that were actually rocking on the shelf, I put welding gloves (up to my armpits) and carefully carried the rest of the jars outside, luckily only one exploded and it was out on the patio.
That was quite the mess to clean up and the oil cloth kitchen flooring was permanently stained from the beet juice.
I since have only made this soup in small batches unless I have company to share it with.


                                                  Laurie's Borscht
1 cup of beef boullion
1 dozen beets scrubbed and boiled and chopped keep the water used to boil beets as base for soup with the boullion ( chop beet tops finely and set aside to put in borscht)
1 large can of tomatoe paste
2 bunches of swiss chard chopped fine
1 red cabbage  and chopped
1 red onion chopped
1 white onion chopped
2-3 parsnips chopped
2-3 carrots chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic minced
1 small turnip chopped
3-4 potatoes chopped
1/2 cup dill pickle brine
1 can tomatoes with herbs diced
pastrami or brisket leftovers chopped (  about 1/2 pound)
add 2 caps full of apple cider vinegar  thyme and cardamon, dill weed and dill paste to taste
boil on stove until all is cooked down and serve with a dollop of sour cream and a few caraway seeds on top as well as a sprig of dill for garnish.
Enjoy!