Marin Hobo Stew

Well it's not really, but I call it that because the making of it reminded me of making "Hobo Stew" as a child. There was a wave of popularity when I was a child to have a party with Hobo Stew as the center of the party food. The host would have a big pot of stock, and each of the kids were to bring a can of anything to add. And we weren't supposed to coordinate, just see what happened. We kids had a lot of fun with that, and listening to the background of how the dish came to be in the Great Depression. I heard that there were cardboard cities that sprang up along popular train routes called "Hoovervilles", and a big pot was kept boiling to which everyone added whatever they had gleaned from the fields or otherwise came across to add to the pot, and all shared in the creation. In the end, the kids all loved the Hobo Stew, probably because each was a part of its creation.

As I resisted the pull of another meal out, I checked my cupboards and refrigerator to see what I could 'throw in the pot' so to speak. I had some leftover elbow noodles, some baby clams, and some white clam sauce, all of which I recalled had been plenty cheap. The elbow noodles were part of a bargain buy at Safeway where if you bought a certain number of items, the price per box fell to .75. I had gotten the baby clams at $1 a bag, and the white clam sauce in a great sale from Amazon at about $1.13 a can. And the fresh green onions were gleaned from the pot on my deck. Those I planted last summer from left over onions bottoms purchased from the store, and they have been producing green tops ever since. Given the amounts used of the ingredients, and the leftovers, I estimate each serving (as pictured) cost less than $.75. Hobo priced, and tasty!