Thai Soup

Saturday, March 7th
Thai Chicken-Basil Soup; a new recipe I wanted to try. I read the ingredients: chicken, basil, onion, ginger, lime juice. . . fish sauce? I'd never heard of fish sauce but coincidentally found it at the grocery store while I was looking for the rice noodles. I began to combine the ingredients, the sauteing onions, poblano chili, fresh ginger and garlic smelled unearthly it was so satisfying. Add fish sauce and cook one minute read the recipe. I opened the foreign substance and poured out the appropriate measurement. As I drained the contents into the pot gradual wafts of its scent reached my nose and my hairs stood on end. Few things in all this world smell as that fish sauce did; the bodily fluid that seeps from the liver to the neighboring duct, the dark secret places of an unkempt woman, perhaps rotting flesh also smells as rancid as this liquid I was emptying into my pot of heavenly aroma. "Noooo!" I thought after the deed had been done. What was I thinking?! A rush of anxiety passed through my person and I realized what evil had contaminated our meal. I quickly continued the recipe puring in chicken broth, water, spices, anything to dilute the repugnance of the stench. The smell had reached Chase and he too was in a panic for our fit-for-a-king meal. Turn up the unit, boil, boil, boil! In time it passed and after I had added the other ingredients I tested the broth for quality. Success! It was heavenly, it was perfect. How ridiculous I felt looking on my moment of distress . . .but funny too.






METHOD
1. In 6-quart Dutch oven (pot), heat oil on medium until hot. Add onion and poblano, and cook 10 minutes or until lightly browned and tender, stirring occasionally. Add ginger, garlic, crushed red pepper, and 1 tbsp. fish sauce; cook 1 minute.

2. Add broth, water and half of basil; heat to boiling on high. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 20 minutes. Uncover; increase heat to medium-high. Stir in chicken and uncooked noodles; heat to boiling. Boil 1 minute.

3. Remove Dutch oven from heat. Skim off fat. To serve, stir in lime juice and remaining fish sauce and basil. Garnish each serving with basil sprigs. Serve with additional fish sauce if you like. (YEA RIGHT!). Makes 15 cups.


VERMONT PETERSENS

A Dream Come True

Christmas was fun in Vermont, I'd like to take this time to promote the possibility of a "Christmas in Vermont" year where you all come to OUR house for Christmas...iiiit wooouuuld beee fuuun(encouraging tone).

We went to New York City last weekend so I wanted to put a post up about it. I'm going to take excerpts from my journal for the full explanation.

"We left at noon Friday, frantically tromping through the house to tie up loose ends before we ran out the door. I should have packed the night before to avoid the fear of materials forgotten. Eventually we had every bag in the car and Enoch strapped in. We were off on our adventure..."

"We took the ferry across the lake to get to the train station. The apparent wind was bitter cold as we stood on the observation deck of the boat. Light flecks of snow fell more fiercely with the wind blowing the way it was. The lake looked tired and moody, it's gray water lapping against the port side. Great heaps of ice clung to the steeply rising shores and hung mercilessly with jagged points..."

"The train station(built in 186?) was something from a story book or a charming country painting. A broad platform stretched out from the building with lampposts lining the side, bowing their illuminated heads in an antiqued arch...The wood floor creaked with each step and rolled with the rock of the foot. A dusty gray cat, flecked with random patches of orange, lay self-absorbed on the well-used couch..."

"Enoch hesitantly took a liking to the thing and knelt on the floor in front of the couch and looked at the cat. 'Her name's Choochoo,' said the station manager, 'she does pretty well with kids.' Enoch and Choochoo exchanged stares as if communicating by some other means than words..."

"...Enoch busied himself on the train benches, climbing over handle bars and hissing like a snake. He called himself Kah from The Jungle Book...The rocking of the train was comforting, hypnotizing. The sun began to sink behind the hills and the small snowy villages were dressed in the pink light...Six hours passed and we were at Penn Station in NYC. The song, "One Short Day in the Emerald City" rang in glorious melody through my head. The stirring movement of busy people getting from one point to the next was thrilling and confusing..."
>
"We hopped on the subway and emerged in the city where lights were flashing, people passing and taxis flying by...It was 10:00 when we got settled in [to our hotel room]...By 11:00 we were in bed...ALL of us. Enoch slept the whole night on the mattress on the floor and didn't wake up until 8 the next morning..." We dropped Enoch off at the baby-sitters then,

"We were off to see...the wizard, in WICKED!"
"As we walked against the wind, our eyes squinting, unavoidably catching random flakes in our lashes, the bright flashing lights of a restless city jumped against the gray sky. Time Square, Macy's, the Empire State building stood as beacons of the 'great city.' I couldn't help but compare it to Gregory Maguire's description of Oz, 'A city of insistence, of blanket declaration.' I began looking at the people and not the places, considering their life. 'Look, the poor - I mean are they the poor? The hungry of Oz?...Or is it just the - the surplus? The expendable human selvage?(pg 170)' But I was there on vacation, for pleasure, so like any heartless human I shrugged off the serious issue and saw the city for its' surface, for it's dazzle and awe..."

"We approached the theatre and signs for the musical rose from the concrete..."

"My excitement overwhelmed me, I was dancing, shuffling, singing while watching Chase's face for a reaction. They all chuckled which made me feel juvenile, but not enough to stop my welling excitement. The forum to the theatre was flooded...Gentlemen wearing ties held up souvenir booklets, CD's, t-shirts and more. My heart felt like it would ooze out of my chest, it was swelling, not beating fast, just swelling. The stage was perfect, it captured the mood of the book. Primitive wheels with cogs interlocking, twisting roots agitating the side walls with their coarseness. A winding stair case and there, looming above the stage and peering into the audience, was the dragon which sat atop the 'Clock of the Time Dragon' in the book. It made us part of the story, we became the crowded flocks surrounding the prophetical clockwork, watching as lives unfolded before us. I settled into my seat desperately trying to conceal my excitement which had turned into emotion by then. Chase turned to me and asked if I was excited,...I could feel my face flush and my eyes well up with tears...yes, I was. The first act was glorious, funny, entertaining and dramatically finished with the song Defying Gravity. I cried through it...It's a song of liberation...I watched in joy, in jealousy, in passion as the green character broke free from the shackles of judgment and remained true to herself..."

"When the curtain fell I felt as though I was shaken from a coma. The lights rose and suddenly I was brought back into reality and for a moment I understood why those who've experienced the after-life and return are ready to go back at any time. I walked out dazed, reluctant."

"Our fleight home left at 10:40pm...Enoch had his own seat on the airplane, thank goodness for that. As soon as the engines began to rattle the poor tired boy was asleep, finally at 11:00pm. That was that, a quick, magical night in NYC to see WICKED. I loved it!"

We love you all.