Stone Soup on PCES menu|

 GUILFORD — The second grade students at Piscataquis Community Elementary School in Guilford have been comparing and contrasting various versions of the folktale “Stone Soup.”

 At the conclusion of the studies last week, each second grade class made a different recipe for Stone Soup.

Contributed photo
 STONE SOUP COOKS – Here are some of the PCES second graders who helped prepare stone soup in a class project last week. Pictured, from left, are Baylynn Grant, Gaige Tracy, Daniel Hurd III, Jonathan MacNeil, Owen Riitano and Gabby Koscielny.

 Mark Arthers’ class made Italian stone soup along with homemade bread, baked at school in a bread machine.

 Lindy Gokas’ class made a tasty Mexican or southwestern stone soup served with little cheese crackers.

 Melissa Stearns’ class peeled, chopped, and cut up all the vegetables, herbs, and chicken for classic stone soup.

 The students had an opportunity to test each type of soup before voting on their favorite. In a very heated contest, Mr. Arthers’ Italian stone soup was selected as the favorite.

 Wendy Viera, the PCES school nurse, provided the stones for the soup. The SAD 4 Wellness Team had purchased crock pots and blenders last spring for various activities that occur at school.

 The second-graders were able to use the crock pots to cook their stone soup throughout the day and then taste it before leaving for home in the afternoon.

 “Stone Soup” is about a hungry traveler who borrows a pot from a farmer’s wife and fills it with water from a stream and places a stone in it. He claims that the stone will make a good stew, but he needs something added to it.

 Eventually, he convinces others to add beef, carrots, herbs and other ingredients to make it taste better. Then the soup is shared by others.

 Other versions dating back to the 1700s have Jesuit priests or soldiers as the main characters rather than a single traveler.