Frightful weather, but my house smells great!

Saturday, 10:49 pm

By Kate

Nov

14

2009

We are drowning in the remnants of Ida. At least we don’t have the strong winds to go along with it, unlike what the folks to the south had to endure. Just pouring rain, breezy, and damp. The cure for crummy weather is a nice warm fire in the stove and a simmering pot of chicken soup. Even better on a Saturday evening.

Currently, there is a large pot of chicken soup on the kitchen stove.  Just smelling it makes the world a better place. My chicken soup recipe is a little bit different every time I make it. It all depends on what I have in the vegetable crisper drawer. Tonight, I didn’t have very much beyond one large sweet onion, two large potatoes, and four carrots. So, I dragged myself out into the deluge and went to the grocery store.

I scooped up a green pepper, a small bag of parsnips, some celery, and a bag of extra crusty hard rolls. I brought it home and added more stuff to the soup and it is still gently simmering. It won’t be ready to eat until tomorrow, but it surely smells fine tonight.

I haven’t added parsnips to my chicken soup in a long time. I’d forgotten about the possibility until I browsed through a cookbook tonight. Parsnips aren’t everybody’s favorite vegetable. In fact, I don’t know too many people who’d go out of their way to eat them and I’m inclined to agree if they’re cooked like carrots and presented on a serving dish. But when added to a stew or soup for flavor, they add just the perfect touch. Absolutely delightful.

I don’t know...it’s distinctly possible that I might end up having chicken soup for breakfast tomorrow. Don’t know if I’ll be able to wait until later in the day. I think it’s becoming my favorite food. A little bit different every time and, I suppose, there are still a lot of vegetables and flavors to try.

Maybe I should try for the farmer’s market tomorrow morning instead. They’ve extended the Sunday moring market through the end of December. Not sure what they’ll sell during December. Perhaps I should go and find out.