The Restorative Powers of Soup (and Rum)

Monday morning Jen woke up feeling achy, like she was coming down with either a cold, flu, or the dreaded H1N1. I wasn't feeling all that great myself but seeing how I am fine today I chalk all that up to sympathy pains.

Yesterday did fill me with enough fear to run out and buy plenty chicken bones and veggies so I can make a big pot of chicken stock from which to make a big pot of chicken soup. My plan was that if I were to become incapacitated by anything, H1N1 included, I would survive on chicken soup and a big pot of Romanian paprikash which I am also cooking today. I bought fresh pineapple and other fruit on which I could munch on without having to spend any energy on preparation. To also make absolutely sure we weren't getting sick I spent some money on liquor, including rum. I made hot tea and laced it with rum. Jen also opted for rum but she went for coke instead of tea. I don't know if it was the rum, the french onion soup I made for us, the sleeping or the warmth or all of the above but we woke up feeling better this morning. I'd dare say "good" but don't want to jinx it. Jen even felt good enough to go back to work. I still have the day off which is good, I now have all this food I have to cook!

So today, curled up near the fireplace, Food Tv on the background, old Romanian cookbook nearby I decided to read up on some Romanian recipes. After perusing for a few minutes I found most recipes are terrible. For example, there's a recipe for lettuce soup. Great. What kind of lettuce? Or, there are these dumplings Romanians can put in soups and stews. One recipe is made with egg, butter and flour and another recipe appears to be identical to the previous one except it asks for 1/2 cup of milk or water. They might both work but which is better? I am in no mood to experiment today, I already have my hands full. I'll go for the milk-less one and hope for the best.

I'm off as my chicken stock needs skimming and my pork loin needs its garlic stuffing, not to mention my fingers are getting stiff here by the window in the study. There must be something wrong with the heat, I'm not getting any in this room and we don't have the know how to fix it. DiYers we are not.