Instructions: Melt the butter in a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until golden brown but still soft, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the stock, potato and salt and pepper to taste. (Grandma used water instead of stock, but I find stock adds a nice meaty flavor.) Lower the heat to medium, cover and simmer until the potato is just tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.

For the Rivels: Stir the flour, salt, eggs and milk together in a large bowl until they form a thick batter, adding more milk if necessary to form a dough.

Uncover the soup. Press the rivel batter through a colander with 1/4-inch holes into the soup (or use a ricer or spaetzle machine). Boil gently, stirring once or twice, until the rivels rise to the surface and are tender, about 5 to 10 minutes.

This recipe yields 4 to 6 servings.

Comments: My Grandma Filson used to make "spotsy" soup by the gallons. Typical of Pennsylvania Dutch soups, its humble but substantial, with plenty of "stuff" in it. It was nourishing "poverty soups" such as this that enabled Grandma and other Pennsylvania Dutch women to feed their farm families during difficult times.

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