Hunkered Down

Hellloooooooo there.  It's been a minute.  Or a year.  I sort of lost steam on this project after my beautiful nephew James' death, and wasn't inspired to pick it back up.  Until now.  The world is upside down, we are all in our homes, so it seems as good a time as any to talk about cooking again.  And drinking.

So let's pick this back up, shall we?

Recap of 2019:
Noah moved to Asheville, NC. Working as a cook to pay the bills and making his way as a budding musician to feed his soul.  (Audiogoblin).

Corey graduated from College of Wooster, got certified as an International English teacher, worked in a restaurant while she waited for paperwork, visas, etc. Left February 16th for South Korea, approximately one week before Corona virus took over South Korea, and now the rest of the world.  Schools were closed, then scheduled to reopen, then delayed, but they are hoping that the new reopen date of April 1 will hold.   South Korea has been a model in all of this, I tell you what: ubiquitous testing, radically transparent communications, widespread use of tech tools to empower its citizens with knowledge.  Amazing. 

Dylan graduated from ETHS and started his freshman year in the Gies school of Business at University of Illinois.  Fraternity, U of I b-ball, buddies from home, Big Ten life.  He has had a fantastic start there and loves the place. And now he's home - the rest of the year will be online.  Not the way he expected to end his freshman year,  but he's rolling with it,

Doug and I had exactly four weeks of the nest being empty! Thankfully we both still have our jobs and we're all just hunkered down.  I am jealous of friends and family who have all their people under their roofs, but we're so glad to have Dylan here, and we're all getting used to the rhythm of the partially-refilled nest. 

So I've been cooking.  This week, soup. 

  Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is one of our standbys.  I did not have all the ingredients but was not going to venture out to the scary grocery store again so one must make do, you know?

Into the crock pot you throw:

2 chicken breasts (or any cut of chicken)

1 chopped onion

1 can rinsed black beans

1 can diced tomatoes with juices

1 diced jalapeno if you have one and like the kick.  

tsp ish of minced garlic

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1-1/2 cups chicken broth, 1-1/2 cups water (or any combo of the two)

Cook it low and slow for six or so hours.

 remove the chicken and shred it

 throw back in the pot

 crush some tortilla chips on the bottom of your bowl

Ladle the soup right on top.  

Add some chopped cilantro if you have it, cheese if you like it, hot sauce if you go for that. 

Enjoy.  It's so good.

 Then we get to the cocktail situation.

One of the upsides of this madness is that I am reconnecting on a regular basis with some old friends.  My college housemates and I have had a chat ongoing for days.  We were discussing food, drinks, our home bar setups and favorite cocktails - I have been making a cocktail of the day most days - and Rebecca said her current favorite is a
Corpse Reviver No.2.  

I had never heard of it.  And to make it I had to go to the (scary? exciting?) liquor store.  But people?  Worth it. So good!

 This is my favorite citrus squeezer.  I know, it's disgusting, but it was a wedding gift and is so trusty and gets the job done.  Tragically, I dropped it on the floor last week and bent one of its legs.  I stuck it in the vise and straightened it out but, as you know, metal does not respond to breaks and bends very well, and I think I have to -sob- admit that I need a new one.  Isn't that SO SAD?  

Anyway, this drink calls for you to rinse a chilled martini glass in absinthe.  Absinthe!  Remember this painting? The Absinthe Drinker by Degas.  It haunted me as a student.  

In Paris in mid 1800s absinthe was a popular drink, known for its high alcohol content and associated with bohemian culture, so became a target of the prohibitionists, and rumors swirled that it would make you crazy or hallucinate.  When I zoomed with my family later that evening, with the cocktail in hand, and said there was absinthe in it, Ellie said, doesn't absinthe make you blind?  I think it just, if you drink too much of it,  makes you drunk.

It's got a licorice/anise flavor and I love me some licorice, so if this quarantine goes on forever the above photo may well resemble me. 

 ANYWAY

 you chill your martini glass

 you rinse it with a dash of absinthe

 you add the rest of the ingredients into your cocktail shaker: fresh lemon juice, cointreau, gin and a french apertif called Lillet Blanc.  Shake.  Pour. Enjoy.

The weather still SUCKS in Illinois, making this in-home business harder, but it is indeed good weather for soup, fires,  games, puzzles and zooming with the fam.

Hang in there, everyone.   Stay safe.