ahhhhh...

i need to work from home

why?

because i need to be able to spend my day browsing etsy.com (go there RIGHT NOW! the link's at the side of my page and it will change your life if you aren't devoted already!!!)
looking at all the photographer blogs that i stalk religiously- Dustin Izatt, Sheena Jibson... Blue Lilly! Oh, Blue Lilly, how I love you.

I need to spend my days at a cozy little desk sitting on a green painted chair with a cute handmaid cushion on it, browsing how to make lampshades, or looking up more paula d. recipes... decorating my house all cute and fashioning my life after the ultimate homemaker, NieNie.

because what is work like for me right now? well I've been put in charge of the sick dorm. I'm sitting at the end of a hall with 9 rooms down it filled with 11 sick girls- 5 of which have been confirmed to have swine flu. the others are sure to follow, says the doc. awesome. I desperately needed hours, and so I have 2 shifts of this scheduled next week too. cause they expect many of the 100 or so girls in the school to get it too and rotate up through this newly christened 'sick dorm' in the next few weeks.

lovely.

I hate airborne but I think i'll choke a few down. pray for me.

every time damon gets sick (1: i never get sick, 2: this has only happened 3 times since we've dated anyway...), i CRAVE chicken noodle soup. why? because i love soup so much. and chicken noodle is the VERY BEST KIND. so i take the opportunity while my man is feeling down in the dumps to return to my love affair with...

The Lady's Chicken Noodle Soup.

(oh, you don't know who The Lady is? that's too bad. you haven't experienced the extravagance of big jewels, big hair, big big BIG southern drawl, and sticks of 'buttah' galore? please, allow me to indulge your wildest creamiest cheesiest fattiest most comforting comforty foodest ever...

Hello Pretty Blue Eyes )

in the meantime, GO MAKE THIS SOUP! (and see my variations at the bottom)

The Lady's Chicken Noodle Soup

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

Prep Time:

25 min

Inactive Prep Time:

--

Cook Time:

1 hr 0 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

8 to 10 servings

Ingredients

Stock:

• 1 (2 1/2 to 3-pound) fryer chicken, cut up
• 3 1/2 quarts water
• 1 onion, peeled and diced
• 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 bay leaves
• 3 chicken bouillon cubes
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Soup:

• 2 cups sliced carrots
• 2 cups sliced celery, with leafy green tops
• 2 1/2 cups uncooked egg noodles
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1/3 cup cooking sherry
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 cup grated Parmesan, optional
• 3/4 cup heavy cream, optional
• Seasoning salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Crusty French bread, for serving

Directions

For the stock: add all ingredients to a soup pot. Cook until chicken is tender, about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove chicken from pot and set aside to cool. Remove and discard bay leaves and onion. You should have approximately 3 quarts of stock. When chicken is cool enough to touch, pick bones clean, discarding bones, skin, and cartilage. Set chicken aside.

For the soup: bring stock back to a boil, add carrots, and cook for 3 minutes. Add celery and continue to cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Add egg noodles and cook according to directions on package. When noodles are done, add chicken, mushrooms, parsley, sherry and rosemary. Add Parmesan and cream, if using. Cook for another 2 minutes. Adjust seasoning, if needed, by adding seasoning salt and pepper. Enjoy along with a nice hot crusty loaf of French bread.

ok, now wanna know how i cheat? i buy chicken stock from the store. i don't boil a whole chicken, i just throw those chicken tenders in the boiling stock (i usually buy 2 jugs of stock and then just ad more water and a chicken boullion or 2), i use dried rosemary cause i can never find it fresh at normal stores

seriously, enjoy your heart out- the cream makes the soup, so i advise against skipping it. the parmasean is hit or miss, sometimes it clumps too much for my tastes. but i still love it.

our apartment...th

finally some pictures of our apartment! now, everything in here at the moment is my crap. and it's mostly NOT unpacked... but hopefully next month it will be much better when we have some decorations or more furniture... for now, we've got a great couch and our sentsy.

dinner.kitchen pantry...? coat closet? extra bedroom?
our master closet = my master closet.
our (tara's) messy bedroom
2nd bedroom (damon's closet- with my stuff in it.)

bathroom
living room

kitchen