Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

I got home from work tonight to find everyone in my house feeling sickly.  This recipe is my favorite "sick" comfort food, so I thought I'd share the recipe with others.  One problem: I always just make it from memory and season to taste, so today I had to measure out how much of each seasoning I put in.

These measurements are approximate - if you want to add more or less, that's fine.  Taste as you go to make sure you have the broth you want.  If your broth is bland, add a few turns of your salt and pepper grinders, taste, and repeat if necessary.  If your broth is salty enough, but still bland, try a few dashes of onion powder, taste, repeat if necessary.  If you want a spicier soup (good for those with colds or sinus issues) add more Tony's.  Keep in mind Tony's seems to get spicier with time, and with re-heating, so don't make it too spicy to begin with.

2 large boxes chicken broth

1 lb. chicken, diced into 3/4 inch pieces

1/2 T Italian seasoning

1/2 T oregano

1 T onion powder

1 t thyme

1 T rosemary

fresh ground sea salt (about 20 turns of the grinder, to taste)

fresh ground pepper (about 20 turns of the grinder, to taste)

2 T garlic salt

2 T Tony Chachere's seasoning

1 bay leaf

4 to 5 medium carrots 

3 celery stalks

1 bag No Yolks noodles

Pour broth into a large soup pot, add all seasonings, except 1 T of Tony's (you will add that at the end) and bring to a boil.  After the broth reaches boiling, reduce heat to simmer.  Meanwhile, in a medium sized pot, bring about 6 cups of water to a boil.  Add chopped chicken to boiling water, and reduce heat to medium-high.  Cook approximately 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.  While chicken is cooking, chop celery and carrots.  Discard leaves and the wide, white base of the celery stalks, and tops of carrots.  Add chopped vegetables to broth.  Using a slotted spoon, scoop cooked chicken out of the water, allowing water to drain back into the water pot.  Add chicken, spoonful at a time, to the broth.  Cook on simmer for approximately 1.5 to 2 hours until vegetables are tender, but firm.  After broth is fully cooked, boil 6 cups of water in a separate pot.  Add noodles to boiling water, turn burner down to medium high, and cook until noodles are tender, but firm.  Do not overcook.  Strain noodles and add to soup.  Mix well.  Add more salt and pepper and Tony's to taste.  Remove bay leaf.  Serve with saltine crackers, biscuits, or bread sticks.

father * dad * papa * pops * daddy * padre

Today is Father's Day.  A day to celebrate all the dads in your life, and the wonderful ways they provide, teach, share.  The things they do behind the scenes for us, of which we may never know.  Obviously I love and am grateful for my own dad, but Father's Day has become extra special to me these past few years because of my husband and his kids.

You will never hear a little girl saying, "I can't wait to grow up and be a step-mom!"  Come on, I mean villains in fairy tales are evil step-mothers half the time!  Personally, though, being a stepmom is the greatest gift Harry has ever given me - probably the best gift I've ever gotten.  Period.

No, I did not give birth to them.  I was not there when they took their first steps.  I am not their mom and could never replace her - but, I love them like they are my flesh and blood.  Of course, it's been a learning process for all of us...finding our way to become a new family.  It's not all roses.  Life is messy.  That's just the way it is.  It's like the country song says "Life ain't always beautiful, but it's a beautiful ride."  Through the growing pains, we are evolving - maybe not into the 'nuclear family' with mom, dad, and 2.1 kids, but into something greater - dad and stepmom, mom and stepdad, brothers, sisters, step-siblings, cousins, grandparents, friends - a whole new definition of what it means to be a family.  It's an wild and crazy experience I wouldn't change for the world.

So maybe it's selfish, but today, on Father's Day, I want to say thank you to Harry for letting me experience parenthood with him - and Sam and Mike for coming along for the ride - because without you, I wouldn't get to be me.  Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, and to everyone who makes those men who they are.

Captain Steve

Captain Steve

We just got home from our family vacation to the Gulf Coast (more of that to come later).  While in New Orleans, we took an airboat tour of the swamps, just south of the city.  If you are ever in the area, there's lots of things to do, but I would highly recommend you take an afternoon to visit Airboat Adventures and Captain Steve.  The tour was everything their website promised, and more.  Perhaps what made the tour so great, was our captain, and guide, Steve.

Steve is a guy that seems to have things figured out.  Of course, we only spent two hours with him, but you can really tell he loves what he does - or does what he loves - either way.  Throughout the tour, Steve gave us all kinds of information about the swamps, the animals, the history of the place.  Did you know that Confederate soldiers were taught to sew up their battle wounds using Spanish Moss from the swamps?  You do now.  How about the fact that pirates settled parts of southern Louisiana?  Cool, right?  Or that alligators love marshmallows?  They do!  

Steve knew his way around acres of swamp - that kind of all looked the same to me - better than most people know the way around their neighborhood.  He reached right in the murky swamp water and grabbed an alligator by its tail and fed others straight from the boat.  Steve said he used to get out of the boat and mess with the gators out in the water or on the islands, but he's getting older and his wife worries about him - especially since people put videos of him and the gator's escapades on youtube - so he stays on the boat now.  Even though he's more cautious now, he has fun at work, and made sure we all had fun, too.

Steve's love for what he does resonated throughout the Louisiana swamp that day.  He was so happy to share his passion and answer our questions.  He even brought out a baby gator for everyone on the airboat to hold.  Even though we were the last tour of the day, we felt welcome, had a great time, and learned so much from our captain.  I wish I had half the excitement for my job that Steve has for his.

We should all take a page from Steve's book, and learn to have a little more fun in life.  Find out what we love - and do it - and share it with others.

I guess you could go to any old tour company and see the swamps.  However, if you really want an intimate experience with a true frontier, and a lesson on life, look up Airboat Adventures - and ask for Captain Steve.

Spanish Moss

Showing us "what NOT to do"

Feeding the gator

This house was on the swamp right at the end of the tour.  Steve said people ask him all the time if it's his.  His reply, "If that was my house, I wouldn't be on this boat."  After the tour, Harry said, "I bet he'd still be on the swamp boat anyway."

this is the story of a girl...

I am not a product of myself.  I am a product of people, places, and events that have shaped me into the girl I am today.  It would be absurd to say that the following people are the only people from my past who have shaped my present, but I feel like today is the day to share their stories.

I got a text message from one of them last week talking about going through old photos and re-living the crazy, stupid things we've done, cursing the rest of us for letting her have the hairstyle she had all through high school.  It got me wanting to look at pictures, reminisce, and have a good laugh.

B.F.F. is so cliche, but that's honestly how I feel about these girls.  Unfortunately, I can't hang out with them as much as I would like, since I'm over a thousand miles away from most of them.  Fortunately, I know when we're together, it's like we've never been apart.  We have more stories than I can remember, but these are some of my favorite memories of each of them.

Melinda

I first met Mindy sophomore year.  We had drama class together, and ended up triple-dating to prom that year - arriving in style in a mini-van.  In drama, all the girls would sit in the green room and talk when we were supposed to be practicing our lines.  One day I was talking about how I was trying to repurpose an old pair of blue jeans into a denim skirt and couldn't quite get it to work.  Mindy told me to bring them in and she would show me how to do it.  I brought my project in a few days later, and sure enough, Minz knew how to get the job done.  The funny thing is, she's still teaching me how to be crafty - I read her blog frequently to get all sorts of cute and crafty ideas.  I feel like she could look at anything and say "I can do that" and actually do it.

Bethany

Bethany and I met at cheerleading tryouts our freshman year.  With some luck, we both made the varsity team and the rest was history.  Bethany and I were pretty much inseparable from there on out.  Even though we are still great friends, my favorite times with Bethany were the high school years.  We spent countless hours driving around in my old Dodge, singing our lungs out and pretending we could rap.  Bethany stayed in with me when my parents wouldn't let me go out late.  We watched dumb movies and laughed and laughed and laughed.  We made up code names for our friends and crushes in Spanish class so we could gossip without anyone else knowing - of course they probably all thought we were nuts.  I probably have more inside jokes with Bethany from those few years than with just about anyone else.

Abby

I first met Abby in 6th grade band when they combined three or four elementary schools to make up one band.  I was jealous of her awesomely colorful clarinet.  My favorite memory of Abby happened a few years later. 

It was a hot, sunny day, the summer after 7th or 8th grade.  Abby, another girl, and myself rode our bikes to the historic area of downtown to have lunch at Bi-Rite Drug, an old-school pharmacy that housed a little diner upfront.  Bi-Rite has the best mozzarella cheese sticks around, hands-down.  We laughed over inside jokes and gossiped like any other teenage girls would do.  At some point during lunch, the conversation turned philosophical and we began discussing church and prayer.  We decided we should go pray.  After lunch, we hopped on our bikes and rode a few blocks over to the Catholic church.  We walked inside the darkened church building, sat down and prayed - probably for a boy to notice us, to be more popular, or for summer to last a little longer - issues considered God-worthy in teenage girl world.  When we were done, we got up, and rode home.  

I don't know why this story has stuck with me, but I'll always remember praying with Abby.

Megan

When I lived in the dorms, Megan was pretty much my honorary roommate.  I lived on the second floor, facing a row of dorms across the driveway. We would play our music loud and dance around my room getting ready to go out at night.  As it happens, Megan's crush lived in the dorm directly across from mine on the first floor and we could see right into his apartment. Usually, Megan would end up in front of the window dancing and trying to catch a glimpse of him.  It wasn't until she saw him and his roommates staring at her one night that she realized he could see her through the window dancing and watching him.  She was momentarily mortified, but, in true Megan fashion, she easily let it go, and continued doing exactly what she wanted - a trait I treasure in Megan.

Kaylin

The only time I ever served detention was with Kaylin.  It's actually really funny considering we were both pretty good kids.  It was 8th grade Life Science and we had the legendary Mrs. Gillingham as a sub (there was a local urban legend that she was an American Gladiator alum, but really she was just slightly frightening - especially to 8th graders with wild imaginations).  We were playing some sort of review bingo game and Kaylin and I were laughing and giggling.  Mrs. Gillingham wasn't having any of us actually having fun in science class, so she gave us detention.  After school, Kay and I showed up to serve our time.  I think Mrs. Gillingham was either surprised we actually showed up, or she felt bad that she'd gone gladiator on us and she ended up giving us cookies and letting us leave.  We had a good laugh about doing hard time together and went home.  Lucky for me, we've had a lot of other great laughs throughout the years.

My other favorite memory of Kay was finding out that she was going to be a mom.  Kaylin eloped and got pregnant without any of us really knowing.  She sprung the news through an adorable poem typed on colorful paper that she mailed to everyone.  I still have it in my scrapbook, right next to the pictures from her baby shower and Hanna's baby pictures.  Kaylin was my first friend to have a baby, and I loved sharing her experience via letters, texts, and phone calls since she was living in California and Florida during her pregnancy.  The night I got the text that little Hanna Kay had entered the world was such a fantastic night.  That's one truly lucky little girl.

Erin

Freshman year of college Erin and I were both stuck in a funk.  Neither of us liked the colleges we had chosen and were trying to figure out what our next moves would be.  We decided we needed a girls weekend, so Erin drove over from Laramie, and we met up with Kristen in Salt Lake City.  We had a great time girl-talking during the road trip and spending quality time with Kristen.  I remember that "My Immortal" by Evanessence came on the radio and Erin said, "Listen!  This is OUR song!"  The song goes "I'm so tired of being here, suppressed by all my childish fears."  I think during the course of that weekend, we both decided we needed to make some changes in our college careers (and our lives).  Erin moved home to go to school there, and I decided to move to Salt Lake, and the rest is history - and during that history, Erin's always been there to offer me good advice just like she did then.

Kristen

My dad got transferred from my hometown in Wyoming to Houston when I was a senior in high school. My mom and I were able to stay through the end of the school year, and three days after graduation, my family packed up and moved to Texas.  Kristen's family took me in, as if I was their long lost daughter, during the summer before college.  My favorite time with Kristen is that summer.  My bedroom was next to hers, down the hall from the TV room.  We would stay in together and laugh at stupid movies all night.  We would get dolled up together, sharing clothes and makeup and doing each other's hair.  After nights out with different groups of friends, we would crawl into each other's bed and tell our adventures of the evening.  

I was included in family dinners, movie nights, and conversations with Terry, Jolynn, and Ashlen.  When everyone else had their mom and dad moving them into their dorms, I had Ashlen.  They became my family when mine was too far away.  Kristen was my sister.  She still is.  I can never thank her or her family enough for being there for me then, or now.

Girls - know that I love you all and you mean so very much to me.  Each and every one of you has been there for me through the peaks and the valleys of life and I could not be more grateful.  How amazing is it that we started off as friends as kids, and now we can sit around and drink a glass of wine and talk about our own families.  I doubt that most people are as lucky as we are to have had each other through so much.

All my love,
E.Smith

P.S. I am amazed I got through this entire blog without mentioning Candy Basket once.  We have some good memories there, too!

Sweet Mint Sun Tea

It was 100 degrees at my house by noon today.  One good thing about this heat is that my herb garden is flourishing, and sun tea is easy to make.  Here's a super easy recipe so you can whip some up yourself!

1 sun tea jar

2 large tea bags (not single use bags - the ones for a full pot of tea)

4 sprigs of fresh sweet mint

water

sugar

Fill your sun tea jar with water, leaving about an inch at the top.  Rinse your mint off, then put it in the water.  You can add more or less to taste.  Sometimes I'll put in a sprig of lemon balm, too, for a little lemony flavor.  Put both tea bags in the water, making sure to leave the strings out and screw the lid on.  Place your jar outside in a sunny place for an hour or two.  For stronger tea, leave it out longer.  The darker your tea gets, the stronger it will taste.  Bring your jar back inside and remove the tea bags and mint.  For sweet tea, add 3/4 cup to 1 cup of sugar and stir well.  Serve over ice. 

Bob

Bob lives two houses down.  Each and every evening, like clockwork, he takes his dog, Sugah (yes, you read that right), on a walk, counter-clockwise, around the block.  You could set your watch to him.  Sometimes he wears an old Conoco-Phillips ballcap (I suspect he worked for Conoco before he retired some years back).  Sometimes he wears a fisherman-style hat, but usually only when it's raining.  He always wears a button-up plaid shirt tucked neatly into his jeans.

I first met Bob about two years ago, not long after we moved into the neighborhood.  It was almost dusk and we exchanged small talk for a while before he remarked he'd better hurry on home or his wife would worry that he'd forgotten where they lived.  "I think I've got that Alzheimer's, you know?" he casually remarked with a smirk, before saying goodnight.  Since then Harry and I have developed a casual relationship with Bob and his wife, Jo.  We wave, say hello, talk about the weather or the general state of the neighborhood - normal neighborly things, I suppose.

Tonight I was in the backyard on the deck and I looked out front and saw Bob and Sugah sitting out front on the curb.  Worried he had fallen or gotten lost, I walked around front to see what was up.  My wave and "hello" were met by a blank stare.  As I got closer, I said "hi" again and Bob said hello in exchange.  He said he was sitting down enjoying the nice cool breeze with his dog.  I was so glad to see he was alright.  We started chatting and I said hello to Sugah.

"How do you know my dog's name?" Bob said.  I was immediately alarmed by this.  Anyone who knows me knows I'm a dog person, so of course, I always say hi to Sugah when I see him (yes, him).  "Oh, well I've seen his nametag before, so of course I knew his name."  Bob seemed satisfied with this answer and said he figured the whole neighborhood knew Sugah.  He's probably right.  "So where do you live?" he asked.  Uh oh.  Panic rushed over me.  Did I need to go get Jo and tell her Bob was lost?  How could he not know me?  He was practically sitting in my front yard.  "I live right here.  I'm Harry's wife."  "Oh yeah," he said, "I'm sorry, it's so dark out here and it's getting harder for me to see.  I do know you.  And Harry.  I heard him banging on something with a hammer earlier."

I've never been happier to hear someone joke about Harry making noise.  I was so glad that Bob remembered us.  I assume the day will come when he won't, but that day is not today.

Harry told me I should write about Bob tonight.  His grandmother suffered from Alzheimer's.  She forgot her grandchildren and was convinced her husband was cheating on her, so she divorced him at 72 years of age after being together nearly 60 years.  After they were divorced, Harry's grandfather went to his ex-wife's house everyday to drink morning coffee with her.  He brought her mail to her everyday.  Until the day he died.  Like clockwork.  Like Bob and Sugah.

I guess the moral of the story is to appreciate the simple things in life.  A cup of coffee.  A good, long walk.  The feel of a cool breeze on your face. Your neighbors.

A Random Act of Green-ness

A few Fridays ago was Earth Day.  I thought it was the perfect opportunity to try to live a little "greener" as they say.  Last year I tried to garden from seeds and that just didn't work at all.  Apparently I do have enough of a green thumb to get the seeds to sprout, but that was about it.  So this year I figured I'd start with plants and see how that works.  In addition to plants making the world a better place by creating oxygen and all that, I am thinking I can help my own "green" by spending less at the grocery store and growing my own veggies!

I am going to try to container garden - where you grow plants in pots or other containers, rather in a bed.  I am doing this for two reasons: one - the dogs seem to care less about digging in pots than they do in the flower beds, and two - I'm not sure how well the plants will tolerate the HOT heat of Texas, so I might have to relocate them in the yard and that will work much better with containers.  I know the little cards that come with the plants say "shade" or "full sun" but I tend to think that the plants don't always like full, hot, hot, hot Texas sun. 

For all you wanna-be gardeners like me out there, Home Depot has had their vegetable and herb plants on sale, buy 2 get 1 free.  I picked up two "patio" tomato plants (good for container growing, the label says), two strawberry plants, a red bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, and a couple of cucumber plants.  I don't really like cucumbers but have always wanted to make my own pickles.  Weird? I also grabbed some herbs like mint, rosemary, parsley, cilantro, dill, lavender, and a few others.  The brand they sell, Bonnie Plants, is awesome because it also happens to utilize biodegradable containers made out of recycled paper.  You can just stick the plant in the ground as-is, so no pesky trans-planting needed and no trash!  How green is that?  I also grabbed a bag of Miracle Gro organic potting soil and some organic plant food.  Normally I'm not as concerned about "organic" as I probably should be, but if I'm eating it, I don't want it covered in chemicals.

So far, the cucumbers are growing like weeds and have several yellow flowers popping up.  The tomatoes are doing well, too, and I think some are almost ripe.  The cilantro and parsley do not like the direct, hot sun so I'll need to relocate them.  The herbs seem to do better being kept constantly moist, rather than allowing them to dry out in between waterings.  If they start to get too dry, they all start wilting.  It's been a learning curve, but so far, so good.

I'm really looking forward to being able to walk outside and get fresh herbs and the goods for fresh salsa, fruit salad and pickles right from my backyard this summer.