“I love snow for the same reason I love Christmas: It brings people together while time stands still. Cozy couples lazily meandered the streets and children trudged sleds and chased snowballs. No one seemed to be in a rush to experience anything other than the glory of the day, with each other, whenever and however it happened.”
― Rachel Cohn, Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares
NOTE: I spend my Wednesdays Unplugged from appointments. It’s my day to stay home, enjoy cooking and welcome our kids and grandkids for dinner in the evening. We end our meal with quotes from the Norwegian ‘Quote Cup’ passed on to me from my grandmother. I share a quote and a recipe here each week, along with an update and photos of what has been going on in our lives. I love trying new recipes…and love getting recipes you would like to share!
We saw Corduroy at the Minneapolis Children’s Theater last week, excited to see it again five years since they last presented it. We loved it as much as ever, one of our favorite productions… Corduroy only says two words, “friend” and “button”… so much physical humor, it is delightful and full of giggles. Went to the American Swedish Institute the next day, also delightful before the snow arrived this week and shut everything down. I love how time stands still in a snowstorm… amazed to find our newspaper delivered and buried under the first round of snow when I opened our front door in the morning!
RECIPE OF THE WEEK
Somehow a snowstorm seems to command homemade soup. No family night because of the storm, but I had ingredients on hand to make soup, including tender hand harvested wild rice from the headwaters region of the Mississippi near Itasca State Park. It’s a more delicate consistency from most of the wild rice you find in the grocery stores. I cut up baby cut carrots I had on hand… would do it again, used half and half vegetable and chicken stock that I had on hand. The recipe is based on one from Food and Wine by Amanda Johnson, used more carrots instead of celery and added more spices.
CHICKEN AND WILD RICE SOUP
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cups cut up carrots
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon beau monde seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon sage
- 1/4 teaspoon rosemary
- 1/4 teaspoon parsley
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 cup uncooked wild rice (5 ounces)
- 2 quarts chicken stock
- 2 cups water
- 4 cups bite-size pieces of roasted chicken or turkey
- 1 cup heavy cream
In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, melt the butter. Add the carrots, onion, garlic, spices and a generous pinch each of salt and pepper and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables just start to soften, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and cook, stirring, until evenly coated and lightly browned, about 3 minutes.
Add the wild rice to the saucepan and gradually stir in the stock and water. Bring to a boil, then simmer over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes. Add the chicken and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the wild rice is tender, 10-15 minutes longer. Stir in the cream and season with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.
Sharlene Hensrud, RE/MAX Results – shensrud@homesmsp.com
