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                      Marcia King's memory
When I had Dov as a sixth grade student, my husband was hospitalized for several weeks.  Your dad was so kind to invite Justin and I for dinner.  He served a delicious minestrone soup.  I hounded him for  for the recipe and finally he sent it my way.
Please pass along to friends and family, which I am sure he would have wanted. His kindness will never be forgotten.

Word for word:

Dear Marcia,

Here is my minestrone recipe which, a long time ago, in a galaxy far from here called The NY Times, appeared in a rather diferent form.  Vary the amounts according to season and taste.  The most important thing here (and the great contribution this recipe makes) is the order of the layers. Originally, the tomatoes were to be peeled.  I don't bother with that, though it would make a sweeter soup.  Be generous with the amount of tomatoes as they provide the liquid.  They are supposed to provide all the liquid, but I've never had this happen so I always end up adding broth to get it to the consistency I want.  Be careful with the amount of macaroni you throw in.  I suspect macaroni of being the culprit that absorbs much of the liquid.

3 or 4 more large tomatoes, sliced
3 or 4 more medium onions, thinly sliced
2 or more cloves of garlic, minced
2 medium zucchini, sliced
1 medium head romaine lettuce, shredded
2 handfulls frozen peas
2 handfulls frozen lima beans
2 handfulls frozen Italian or other wide green beans
parsley
basil
fresh ground pepper
parmesan cheese (for hidden flavor; not enough to be distinct)
olive oil
1 can cannelloni (white beans) (19 oz.)
1 can (or more) red kidney beans (Stewarts at Roy's preferred)
chicken broth
3 - 4 handfulls of macaroni (cooked separately)


Layer of tomatoes on bottom followed by
Layer of onions and garlic
Layer of zucchini
Layer of romaine
Put half the parsley and basil on top of this and some olive oil (just to wet)
Also some pepper
Layer of frozen stuff
The rest of the parsley, basil, and olive oil + pepper
(I guess I use almost a large bunch of parsely and 2-3 tablespoons of dried basil; and 5 or 6 tablespoons of oil altogether).  Cook this on Medium for 10 to 15 minutes.  Taste it.  (Whatever liquid there is)  Adjust seasoning.  Stir it up.  Add chicken broth + 4 cans of water. (the night I made it, to last two meals, and for lunches to freeze, I guess I used 4 cans of Campbells chicken broth + 4 cans of water, correcting seasoning each time).
Put the canned beans on top
Cook for 30 minutes (or longer, if necessary) on Low and add macaroni.
Now that I think about it, I added the canned beans at the end and just long enough to get them hot.

I'm glad you got me to do this.  My original recipe is only a few lines long and the rest is evolution I've never set down.  This will help me remember.