Plain Talk about Food: Chicken tortilla soup under the clothesline

Each Monday morning from my kitchen window I would watch Anna, my mother-in-law carry her tattered, oilcloth-lined laundry basket from her house through to her backyard. Setting her basket on a tree stump next to the clothesline, Anna would begin her weekly ritual.
Wiping each of the wire lines with a damp cloth, Anna would slide the clothespin bag along the center lines close to her, pinning each sock separately, followed by underwear, T-shirts, and nightgowns. Sheets and towels were hung on the outer lines, concealing the more “personal” clothing from the eyes of those who might pass by.
Anna had a wringer-style washer, and because of years of use and a family of five males, the well-worn rollers left a great deal of water in the clothes. When the last of the clothes were on the line, water was dripping from both the clothes and Anna’s elbows.
Tuesdays and the rest of the week, that clothesline became mine to use. Anna’s reasoning was: “Why have two yards filled with clotheslines when one would suffice?”
It was years later when I learned the “real” reason behind her philosophy.
The only difference between Anna’s laundry and mine were the rows and rows of double-hung diapers, mini sleepers, bibs, and more diapers.
By the time my clothes were washed and hung on the lines, it would be noon. I would be tired and Anna would have coffee, along with a pot of soup she always had, ready at lunchtime for us.
Often, Anna’s basic chicken soup would take on a different dimension; tomatoes and vegetables added one day and noodles or rice on another. My favorite — her creamy chili and tortilla chicken soup, which appears often on my dinner table.
During nice weather, we would sit outside eating and watching our laundry flapping on the clotheslines, untangling the diapers that had flipped over the top of the lines.
Anna would talk about the Yugoslavia she had left at the age of 19; how hard it was raising her four boys during the Depression and how much easier it was for me with only two babies and an electric clothes-washing machine.
We learned so much about each other, Anna and I, under that clothesline. If Anna told me about something she always wanted but couldn’t be, or have, or afford, she would put her finger to her lips and say: “Shh … don’t tell Grandpa, it would make him feel bad.”
As my boys grew, they would play hide-and-seek under the clotheslines between Grandma Anna’s sheets, their dog alongside, leaving hands and a paw print or two. Anna never complained, saying: “Ah … boys, what can you do?”
Today, homeowner associations, condos, and smaller, manicured backyards leave no room for a clothesline, and when I do happen to pass by a yard with one, I have what I call “clothesline envy.”
This rare phenomenon generally occurs in the countryside, while passing a yard with a vegetable garden, a few chickens wandering, a child’s tricycle, and sheets flapping in a breeze.
A year before Anna’s passing and during our last visit, we talked of the past. Pressing her finger to her lips as if revealing a secret she wanted kept, Anna told me how much she loved sitting and talking with me in the backyard under the clothesline as the breeze was blowing.
“Your clothes,” Anna said, “your clothes always smelled so sweet; the whole yard smelled like perfume.”
If it were possible to reach into the past and bring back what is good, what is beautiful, what is useful, and what is lasting, I would bring back Anna’s and my clothesline. All of our dreams and secrets would follow.
Anna’s Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup
1. Sauté together 3 minutes, do NOT brown:
 1 Tbsp. Vegetable oil
 1 ½ cup diced yellow onion
 1 Tbsp. minced garlic
 1 (4 in.) Jalapeno pepper, seeded & chopped
2. Add:
 4 cups chicken broth
 1 Tbsp. ea. chili powder, cumin & paprika
 1 ¼ lb. chicken breasts
 Gently boil 15 minutes. Remove chicken, dice and reserve.
3. In a bowl, mix together:
 1 1/3 cup milk
 1/2 cup Masa Harina
 Add to Pot and cook until mixture begins to thicken slightly.
4. Add:
 1 can (15 oz.) diced tomatoes with green chilies.
 Reserved chicken.
 1 (15 oz.) can each of rinsed black beans, corn and pinto beans.
 Bring to a simmer.
5. Add:
 2/3 cup heavy cream
 ¼ cup sour cream
6. Bring soup to a simmer (do NOT boil).
*Garnish with shredded Cheddar Cheese, diced avocados, cilantro, and tortilla chips.
Buen apetito!