Although this post will be published tomorrow as usual I’m making a start on it today since I’m really not sure how the coming weekend is going to unfold!
Jillian, my Boarder over the past 5 months, is getting married tomorrow afternoon at 200pm. However the Environment Canada Weather Office has issued a “severe winter storm” warning. Right now the temperature is well above freezing and it has been raining hard since last night but during the evening there is supposed to be a drastic drop in temperature to around -10ºC accompanied by a change over to ice pellets and then heavy snow. This will continue throughout tomorrow with 25cms of snow and high winds forecast.
Because Jillian has been involved for a number of years with several of CTM’s Ministries there are many members of the Crosstalk “family” invited to the wedding including the Huyer family (my Godsons and their parents) from Ottawa. Their original plan was to drive down Saturday morning but when we spoke yesterday Victoria told me that they were considering trying to come this evening in order to get ahead of the worst of the storm. With these worsening conditions, I just sent her a text asking if they still thought it wise to even try and come as the Weather Office is calling for “hazardous driving”. If they do come, they will be staying here and will stay over until Sunday as we also have our thrice-yearly Praise & Thanksgiving Gathering scheduled to take place at St. Peter’s Church on Sunday afternoon.
All of this upset ends off quite a turbulent week as Jillian packed up her room in my house and we tried to carve out a few special “good-bye” times to share. We had lunch AND dinner together on Wednesday and watched some videos together then her sister Janice (who arrived from Toronto Wednesday evening) came yesterday to help transport all Jillian’s belongings to the apartment she and Victor have rented just two blocks away from my house!
So suddenly it is pretty quiet around here in the lull before the (literal and figurative 😊!!) storm.
Last evening Jessica came for dinner and to flesh out details of the Day Camps portion of Sunday’s Gathering as Day Camps and both Junior and Senior Youth Camps are each contributing a section of the Service and Jessica, as a valued Committee Member, will be giving a report on the plans for our 2018 Program “One of Us”. Somehow in the coming 2 days I shall also need to complete preparations for our January Committee Meeting, taking place on Monday. AGH!!! Right now I’m off to pump up air mattresses and make the extra beds in case the Huyers get here tonight and then this afternoon I plan to make a HUGE pot of a very special Chicken Noodle Soup. IF the Huyers do come for the wedding and IF Victoria and Timothy are able to drive out to the far eastern part of the city where the reception is to be held, then I shall be feeding dinner to the 3 boys and there is nothing like chicken noodle soup as the quintessential winter comfort food. I divided up the work by cooking the chicken, taking it off the bones and straining the broth yesterday so today it will be all about cutting up all the vegetables and assembling the soup, although I shan’t add the noodles until I heat it up for dinner tomorrow as they get squishy if they are reheated.
If you are stuck inside during some nasty winter weather maybe you would like to make a batch too 😊 Remember-don’t add the pasta until you are just about ready to eat it!
Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup
Broth & Meat Prep: –
- 1 4 lb. chicken OR 4 lbs. chicken pieces with the bone in
- 1 whole onion, peeled
- 1 carrot, peeled
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 bay leaf
- salt and pepper to taste
Place all of the above ingredients in a large stockpot with approx. 12 cups of water. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 1 ½ -2 hours or until the chicken is falling off the bones. Strain the broth into a very large bowl, place the chicken in a separate dish to cool and discard the vegetables (unless you have a large dog sitting next to you who will very happily eat them 😊).
Refrigerate the broth and once the chicken is cool enough to handle remove and discard the skin and bones and refrigerate the cooked meat.
Next day: –
- 4 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
- 4 parsnips, peeled and thinly sliced
- 3 stalks of celery, sliced
- ½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 12 oz. egg noodles (I like to use Farfalle)
Remove the broth from the fridge and skim off any excess fat that has solidified on the surface. Tear the cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces and set aside. In a large soup pot melt the butter and sauté the onion for about 5 minutes, until translucent. Add the reserved broth and bring to a simmer. Add the carrots, celery and parsnips and simmer for 10 minutes then add the chicken. If you intend to freeze all or part of the soup now is the time to remove it from the heat and divide it. When you are ready to eat it, bring it back to a steady simmer, add all or part of the pasta and simmer until the pasta is al dente. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve with a crusty loaf or baking powder biscuits. Yum.
