The Holidays Are Nigh! Here's A Recipe
Hello to my readers,
These last few weeks have been wild due to an election, a pandemic, a California black bear finding his way into our home and falling asleep in the guest room, and me figuring out the perfect soup recipe!
But more about this soup.
What is something you want more than anything when it’s chilly outside, when it’s pitch black outside at 4:30 pm, and when the native California black bear with its keen senses of sight and hearing outperform yours at every turn so he knows even when you are thinking about tricking him into leaving through the front door? A chicken noodle soup!
We call it comfort food for a reason: we find comfort in it! And there’s nothing more comforting than the swirling flavors of chicken soup with egg noodles, thyme, oregano, rosemary (and my secret, a little bit of dill) while you and your loved ones are curled up on the couch watching Elf for the 60th time, praying that the Black bear upstairs hasn’t stretched out your nap dress too much, all at once overwhelmed and flattered by his decision to choose it for his hibernation outfit.
I like to get a store-bought rotisserie chicken, take the skin off (you can dispose of this or put it in your OTHER trash can… your dog’s bowl! Haha), chop up the meat, and set aside. Then, I chop up a mirepoix: onions, celery, and carrots. I LOVE garlic, which the Black bear and I seem to have in common as sautéing garlic and onions causes him to get out of bed, bang on the door, scream, and then eventually go back to sleep once I start playing the gorgeous song “Lullabye” by Billy Joel on the iHome. Once the onions are translucent, add in the carrots and celery, seasoning with salt and pepper as you go.
Add the chicken broth and egg noodles and chicken here, season with lemon juice, Italian spices, dill, and really whatever you want (I’m not a cop) and let simmer for around 20 minutes until noodles are tender.
If you have to offer a bowl to the California black bear, leave it outside his room. He will eventually have to go to the bathroom, see the bowl of soup, and go, “Oh nice, soup.” And if possible, please do not be offended if he hasn’t finished the whole thing. He has a great reason for it and it’s that it’s usually his hibernation time anyway, and he doesn’t really eat during that, so your soup must have been really good for him to have even taken a few bites. You might be like, “Well, you’re a bear, the whole bowl is like one bite to you,” and he might be like, “Broti, don’t do this… Come on… I know you can hear me, come back upstairs. Look, I’m eating it! Look! Mmm it’s really good! Mmm I’ll probably sleep an extra month because of how satiating this is!” You’re still facing away from him though, your frown slowly turning into a knowing and crooked smile, while you think, “Even if he didn’t like the soup, boy is he making an effort.” You think about how the trivial things in life — how something tastes, what something looks like — don’t matter if you are surrounded by the type of person or medium-sized bear native to North America can overlook them just to see a smile on your face. You'll turn around and say, as you watch him try to take another spoonful, “Actually, don’t finish it. I want the rest.”