General Discussion & Chat: Coffee and... for Tuesday, Nov. 29 2005, 1 by MaryE

MaryE wrote:
Yes, Ann, my cat does visit my keyboard often. Mostly she sits between the computer tower and the monitor, then crosses the keyboard on her way to the kitchen. Sometimes she just sits down after she crosses it. Officially her name is Frigit (sort of a combination of a very cold stray cat and Bridgitt) but I just call her Sweetie Pie. Below is her picture when she curled up on the chair I had warmed. She is very quick to make herself at home in a pre-warmed chair.

My hubby called before I left for town telling me how slick the roads were. It snowed all the time I was gone and we got a couple more inches here. Small flakes don't make inches very fast. I checked the lucky number board at the discount store, didn't win anything this week, went to the thrift store to give them all the paper and plastic bags that have been piling up here and only bought some fish food for 35 cents, dropped off a bunch of cans and plastic bottles at the recycle center, returned cans and bottles for refunds at the grocery store, bought groceries, stopped at the vets office for worm medicine for the cats (I'm seeing telltale signs). And had lunch. Remembered the paper whites and amaryllis so went back to a store where I thought they would have them and sure enough, but I didn't want them enough to pay $4.99 for a kit of each, only 4 bulbs in the paperwhites and 1 amaryllis but they charge an arm and a leg for the pot and the peatmoss. So, I left without any.

I make my turkey soup by first boiling the bones and meat in enough water to cover the bones with salt and a few dried hot peppers and a couple of bay leaves. After a couple of hours I lift most of the bones out and pour the rest through a colander. Then I add onions, celery, parsley, carrots and sometimes rice to the liquid and cook them all in that for about an hour. Meanwhile I separate the meat from the bones, fat and skin. Often I make homemade noodles and cook them in the soup broth. I add the meat just before serving since I make a thick soup and don't want it to stick to the pan. The hot peppers don't make the soup hot since I usually only use about 3 per batch, they just add enough zip to make the soup not taste bland, and I take them out so somebody doesn't eat one by mistake, same with the bay leaves. I count the bay leaves and peppers so I know how many I need to find. My broth is tasty so I never add any bouillion or other flavoring agent. My husband bought me a couple of soup kettles, one is 16 qts and the other is 24 I think, so I make soup on a grand scale! Chicken soup is made the same way starting with a whole chicken which I cook in the pressure cooker and then proceed as above.

It's twilight and time to feed the horses and get dinner started. Have a good evening.