Snow - grace grits and gardening

You will love this tortilla soup! But first, a poem…

All night

I watch the skies.

Like an excited child

I imagine deep snowfall, soup

simmers.

Chicken Tortilla Soup
(Gale Green’s recipe)

2 boxes (24 oz each) chicken broth
2 shredded chicken breasts (grilled or roasted)
2 cans Rotel
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 bunch chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste

Toppings
tortilla chips (the thinner & crispier the chips the better…)
avocado, diced
shredded cheese
sour cream

Add chicken broth, Rotel, corn, cilantro, salt and pepper to dutch oven and bring to a boil. Then simmer for 30 minutes. Add chicken and simmer for additional 30 minutes.

Add broken tortilla chips to bowl. Pour soup over chips to soften. Top with cheese, avocado and sour cream if desired.

Variations: Add rice and/or black beans.

Muy delicioso! Thanks Gale!

Update: I wrote this post in February 2013, after a big snowfall in Fayetteville. Thinking back, it may have been our last decent snowfall. This morning (3-21-2020), the sun is shining but we are all sheltering at home due to COVID-19. Soup makes things better. Stay safe everyone!

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Dallas weather is EXTREME. There is no other way to describe it. The temperature often ranges 50 to 60 degrees within a twenty-four hour period. Summer is hellish with weeks and weeks and weeks of 100+ temperatures and terrible humidity. Everyone begins to snap at each other from the heat and bad hair days. Acres of ranch land ignite and burn. Boats run aground from lack of rainfall. The tap water tastes like algae by Labor Day. Finally, when everyone is at the point of seeking counseling, that first cold snap hits around Halloween and yay, it’s fall, the best season of all, for about 14 days. You dare not blink.

As you begin to let your guard down to recover from the broiling summer, you realize it’s one week before Christmas and the pumpkins are still on the porch. Overnight, all the trees have gone bare. When did it become winter? Does the Earth spin more quickly on its axis now? Did Al Gore double-check this while inventing global warming? Although super short, Dallas winters do often include bursts of crazy cold from Canada which are brutal to our thin, watery blood unprepared for icy temps. Combined with Texas winds, the chill is often below zero.

Snow!

Last year we received over a foot of snow one day in January. It happened so quickly the weathermen, who were probably in their inclement weather prayer group, completely missed the forecast. They are still red-faced about this. In contrast, so far this year, we have managed to skip the cold messy weather completely, wearing shorts in December and eating lunch outside on MLK Day. It makes for nice dog walking weather, which Lucy and Annabelle appreciate.

I want changes of season. I want to see snow in the winter and sun in the summer. (But a normal amount of each would be preferable.) If I suddenly wake from a coma, I want to be able to look out the window and know what time of year it is based on the color of the leaves on the trees, not because the leaves are burnt to a crisp. I could never live in a place with the same weather month after month – that would be monotonous. I will not go on a Caribbean cruise for Christmas. It just doesn’t seem right, plus there is the whole “some people mysteriously don’t come back from cruises” issue. And the “I’d rather have a root canal than wear a swimsuit in December” issue. Ok, so I have issues…

This is the time of year that I start to get antsy. I’m ready for yard work. I need to clean the flower beds and trim the bushes and sweat. It’s cathartic. I begin to anticipate the tall purple irises that will soon pop up on the blades in the thick groundcover surrounding the fountain. I thumb through seed catalogs and dream of the day when I will not be limited to my city postage stamp yard and container herb gardening. Winter teaches patience. I know that underneath the ground, the bulbs and roots are hibernating, warming and waiting until the perfect time to show themselves.

I think I’ll drink my coffee this morning on the porch and have a little chat with my pansies. They probably have some insight into our crazy Dallas weather. Yes, I talk to my plants.

Last Spring’s Irises.

talya

Musical Pairings:
Dean Martin, “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!”

Tortilla Soup with a Poem

Is It Winter Yet?

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.