Cold,Snow, and Soup

That about sums up what's been going on around here. With temperatures down into the single digits,little bits of snow falling every day since Thursday (or was it Wednesday?), and some days with strong winds, it's been, well...winter. Finally. I would be enjoying it more if I hadn't managed to catch this sore throat-sinus thing that's been going around. Still, it's been beautiful. And before the yucks caught me, I did get out to enjoy some of what Mother Nature's been doing.

I was wishing for some food coloring when I saw these! Have you ever tried dripping a little food coloring on the top of icicles? I saw it once near my son's house, and it was beautiful--pinks,greens, yellows and blues all  in light pastel shades, captured in long icicles. If I can get out to the store again, I'll have to get some.

I don't think I will ever have enough pictures of this little cabin on our road.

The feeders have been really busy this month.Larry keeps them filled and the birds seem to appreciate it.

They all took flight, however, when these two showed up.

Charlie and Clyde were on their way to the food bowl--they have been staying inside a good bit lately, as have the dogs. The cats, particularly, Clyde, hate the snow.

We did get into town early on Saturday to get some things taken care of before the predicted snow (which was not nearly as much as forecast!). We stopped by our Ravenswood booth to pay our rent and pick up our check which was better than expected. January is a slow month in the antiques business so we were prepared for low sales. However, things had picked up by the end of the month so it wasn't too bad. I got my eBay packages out because when it snows my mail carrier can't come down to the house for them.

Besides being sick and generally miserable, I tackled a few things. I did some listings on eBay and prepared a postcard mailing to state parks to promote my campfire program. And I cooked--why is it when I'm sick I enjoy cooking so much? This time it was chicken and rice soup and chocolate chip-oatmeal-pecan cookies, and black beans with rice and salsa for Larry.

Today I have more eBay packages to mail out and more mailings to prepare. Judging by the way this bug did with Larry, I don't think I'll be up for much more than that. On the plus side, I know I'm on the back side of it now so maybe by the weekend I'll be feeling slightly more normal. Stay warm, everyone.

Here's the recipe for the soup:

2 cups of cooked chicken cut into 1/2 inch squares
1 cup of sliced carrots
1 cup of chopped celery
1 cup of diced onions
1-2 cloves of chopped garlic
2 chicken bouillon cubes, or use 2 cups of chicken broth
2-3 cups of water (depends on how strong you like your soup broth and whether you use bouillon or broth)
dash of red pepper flakes
1 TBSP Worchestshire sauce
salt and black pepper to taste
2 cups of cooked rice

Cook all but the rice until the carrots and other vegetables are soft. Add the rice and cook about 10 minutes longer. Adjust seasonings to your taste.

This is a good recipe for using up leftover rice and/or chicken. You can substitute  turkey for the chicken too.

Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.