Thursday, April 2, 2009

The Rain is Falling

"The rain is falling all around,
It falls on field and tree,
It rains on the umbrellas here,
And on the ships at sea."

Robert Louis Stevenson

The ducks are so happy. They waddle in the fields. They swim across the pond. They quack with delight.

The rest of us are a bit soggy. I take that back. We are thoroughly drenched.

Patrick moved the chicks to a larger room. They have tripled in size. No new babies from Thistle. All the other 14 kids are hanging out in the barn, eager for some sunshine.

The two-legged kids played in the rain for a little while, but came in soaked and grumpy. We made thick chicken soup with homemade egg noodles and cream for supper. Yum. I sure am glad Patrick and Max and Rachel butchered those roosters yesterday! Here is the recipe for a cozy supper:

CREAMY CHICKEN NOODLES
Butcher one mean rooster (or get some chicken on the bone)
Cut up an onion, celery and carrots.
Saute veggies in a big stock pot with some lard or bacon grease or olive oil.
When tender, add chicken parts, several cloves of garlic, some peppercorns and water to cover everything.
Simmer until meat falls off the bone. Debone the chicken, toss the bones out and put the meat back in the pot. Add salt.
Continue to cook the soup and let the broth boil down and thicken up. If you have some other vegetables you want to add, now would be the time. Maybe some peas. Chopped up peppers.

Make the noodles:
Beat 2 eggs in a measuring cup and add cream(or milk) to total 1 cup.
In a large bowl blend together 3 cups of freshly milled whole wheat (or unbleached flour).
Pour the egg/cream mixture into flour and mix together. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes
Roll out the dough on a flour-dusted surface. Try to get it as thin as you can. Cut the noodles with a pizza cutter or sharp knife.

Put the noodles in the pot with the boiling chicken soup. Simmer til tender. If you want to make it really good, add about a 1/2 cup to a cup of heavy cream, and or some cheese. Top with some freshly cracked black pepper. Feel the comfort.

Max has to return to NJ tomorrow morning. We will miss him so much. So glad he got to come for a visit, even if it didn't stop raining.

5 comments:

Beth said...

Oh, that soup sounds heavenly, especially for the cold, rainy days we've been having lately. I loved the first line of the recipe: "Butcher one mean rooster." :-) Well, I don't have any mean roosters, but I still might try making your soup!

So sorry about Quizzy. I'm glad you have the babies to make you laugh.

CountryDew said...

We need the rain so much I can't really complain about it, although it has been rather dreary of late. At least I don't worry as much about the well.

gingerhillery@mac.com said...

Beth, hope you like the soup even if you don't have a mean rooster! Anita, we are also very relieved to see water flowing. I was happy to read Kevin Myatt's report in the Roanoke Times that we are moving our way out of the drought. If we get a few more rains it will help even more. Thank goodness that they are falling in Georgia as well.

Sweetflutterbys3 said...

That recipe is a must try! It sounds very tasty. Thanks for posing it. I'm always looking for something new to try on the family.

Raph G. Neckmann said...

Your recipe sounds lovely! Being giraffes and vegetarian, we will have to make it without the 'mean rooster'! But I am sure it will taste gorgeous.

Thank you for visiting my blog - do call again!