Cubs, brown butter chicken & rice, Junior Botanist follow-up

Y'all, WHO watched Game Six of the World Series last night? It was so fantastic! I mean, how often do you witness a grand slam? We got the boys out of bed to watch the replays and plan to let them stay up for part of tonight's final match. Go CUBS!!!!!!!!!!

I was chilly all day yesterday and wanted a hearty dinner that would warm and comfort me. I also wanted it to be quick. My Brown Butter Chicken and Rice fit the bill to a tee. And, it's a one-pot dish. All the better!

I adore the interplay of the brown butter and lemon, the tender chicken that results from basically being poached in the oven, and the creamy flavorful rice that serves as the foundation here. I made a kale salad as our side, and we devoured everything. You should make both of these things soon!

Doesn't that look divine?

Do y'all remember the U.S. Botanic Garden field trip I took the boys on in late August? A couple weeks afterwards, Jack finished up the last of his Junior Botanist program pack, and we mailed everything in. 

Yesterday, he was thrilled to receive a huge bubble envelope from, you guessed it, the Botanic Society. In it was his official Junior Botanist certificate, an invitation to visit the Society's growing facilities, a clipboard, journal, and cool hand lens. I'm telling y'all, that is one cool DC opportunity for kids!

On a cold dark night, she put her foot down

I am tired today. Have been since I awoke. Last week was long; jet-lag, dealing with the kids' jet-lag, readying our old house to go on the market, illness, prepping Jack for his camping trip, welcoming an exhausted (but happy) Jack back from his camping trip, telling Oliver about Percy, preparing to tell Jack about Percy, digging out my winter parka and sadly putting it on. 

I am tired and I have felt increasingly constricted, folding inward as if trying to shield myself from one.more.to-do. I have not read the paper, the laundry is not folded, undercurrents of rage and dismay are coursing through my veins.

Not rage at any one thing, but rage against life's relentlessness and a dismay about that fact. The rage that comes from being overtaxed and underhelped. From feeling cold. This is a familiar feeling for many. It doesn't worry me, it doesn't put me off when I see it in others. I understand. But I don't like it.

What bothers me most about these shadowy pits is that in them, I lose elasticity. I can sense the way my posture changes, the way my usually glowing face darkens as if under the shadow of a pregnant storm cloud. 

I stop feeling expansive and generous. My sense of humor goes AWOL. I want to shutter, close for the season, throw huge swaths of stuff and obligations out, and start anew tomorrow or next week, after I've burrowed in a flannel blanket and wrung the chill right out. 

I don't have anything for you tonight except these truths. That in the face of overwhelm and waves of Legos and bobos and joy and a fourth trip to the DMV and more laundry and whining and dust bunnies and freeze warnings in April, hunkering down is a very fine option. 

Refusing to help with baths or "watch me, watch me" one more time tonight and instead cooking a good meal (this one-pot chicken and sumac onion dish really is so very good; go me!) to share with Tom is how I put my foot down today. Tonight. A small action, a needed one. It starts again tomorrow.

chicken with caramelized sumac onions and israeli couscous

When life gives you a cold, perfect your chicken soup

For two reasons, one a stupid rookie mistake involving packet pick-up and the other my craptastic cold, I missed the Navy 5-miler yesterday. Can y'all even believe it? I'm still disappointed, not least because I'd been prepping for months. 

I didn't sleep well on Saturday night and feel certain I wouldn't have run well or felt particularly terrific afterwards. I'm trying to channel my approaching-40 zen about this, but I admit that I'm glum.

That said, my crew started family tennis lessons on Saturday which we found insanely fun, Jack's baseball team won its game last night, and because the kids returned to school and I still feel under the weather today, it seemed a mighty fine time to perfect my homemade chicken noodle soup.

I took meticulous notes while cooking this morning so that I could share with you what will now be our family's chicken soup recipe. You can now find it here: Chicken Noodle Soup, Best.

There is such a lovely economy in chicken soup. Use all of the carrots and celery, every bit of the chicken. Out of fairly humble ingredients comes an elixir.

If you are so inclined, and I do hope that maybe you are, please buy the best-quality chicken you can. Think of your chicken roaming a farm, flapping its wings and eating bugs and seed and so forth, growing strong and flavorful as it does so. Your soup, body and any ailments will notice the difference and will thank you profusely.

I myself purchase spring chickens at the farmers market in March/April or, once I've run out of those I then stock in my chest freezer, buy Step 3, 4 or 5 chickens at Whole Foods or another reputable butcher. The Step ratings signify the treatment, food and life the chickens have had prior to being slaughtered. Your average supermarket chicken did not live or die well, and I just can't go there.

I also like to use homemade chicken stock which I make and then freeze in 4-cup portions every time I roast a whole chicken. The skin, bones, tendons and fascia makes a great base for stock, and the flavor of your soup will be all the better for it. If you don't want to make stock, or don't have any on hand, buy a good quality one.

Your produce and spices are important too. Carrots should be bright orange and require a bit of elbow grease and a sharp knife to cut. Celery should be a vibrant green, and please don't toss the leaves; they'll enrich your soup. Use a juicy yellow onion that is in no way desiccated or sad. Lemon zest brightens everything, including this soup, so have a nice fresh lemon on hand.

The three spices that I use in my chicken soup are bay leaves, cinnamon and allspice. They provide a savory, slightly sweet depth that complements beautifully the schmaltzy goodness gained from the chicken bits.

Please love yourself (or your family or the friend for whom you're making this) even more by using extra-wide egg noodles as the noodle in your soup. Egg noodles bring the comfort factor of good chicken soup to the next level. Pour them in with a generous hand, and you won't regret it (although you must remember that they'll sponge up quite a bit of your broth so don't go too nuts OR have extra stock or water on hand if the liquid level in your pot gets low).

Cook your soup slowly, at least an hour, hopefully two, until the chicken starts to fall apart, joint by joint. Little bones, or even larger ones, might escape the skeleton. This is fine; don't remove them until the end because they'll continue to add depth and flavor, even once disembodied. Indeed, removing the skin and carcass is your last step before skimming egregious fat from your broth. 

Get out a lovely bowl, a deep one, and ladle in some soup just for you. If you haven't already, give thanks to your chicken and the time you just lavished on your self and this meal. Enjoy. Better health will be yours soon.

An added bonus? This is a one-pot meal!