I was so excited

It was like Christmas with a new toy and I could hardly wait to get home to play with it. I had driven out to Kaysville in between snow storms to pick up my precious treasure. A new cookbook. I had tasted two fabulous soup recipes, a bread recipe, homemade carmels and a cheese/artichoke dip recipe over the holidays all from the same book. I stopped by the store to pick up a few needed items and headed home to create a masterpiece. I was feeling giddy as I texted my husband to tell him what I was making: Roasted Chicken and wild rice soup.

I tossed and flipped chopped onions, celery, carrots, and mushrooms into the pot with the finesse of a hopeful gourmet artist. I added chicken stock, milk, spices and salivated as the aroma wafted through the kitchen. The table was set with matching bowls and plates. Dad wasn't home yet, but soccer boy was starving. So I put out the soup and spoodled it out. The boys were seated and prayer given. I cautioned them about how hot it was at first and to blow on each spoonful. I took my first spoonful and savored each drop as it melted like butter in my mouth. Ummmm.

I looked around. Nobody was eating. I said, "What's the matter?"
Soccer boy, "It's too hot."
Me, "Blow on each spoonful."
Soccer boy, "That takes too long."
Cookie Monster, "It looks weird."
Me, "It's just chicken a rice, nothing you haven't eaten before."
Youngest, "What are those little black things?"
Me, "It's just the rice, it takes wonderful, try it."

They poked at their bowls and ate rolls.

Cookie Monster, "What are those green things."
Me, "Spices. Try it, it's really good."
Cookie Monster, "It looks weird."

In the time they took to whine, I finished my bowl, and announed something to the effect that they could cook their own dinner from now on! I may have been thinking a few choice names like 'ungrateful little snits!' (Snit being used in some foreign countries as a cross between a snot and a little sh... well never mind. Not to be confused with me being in a snit...).

I usually have a pretty thick skin. You sort of have to as the mother of 5 boys. It growth thicker and thicker with each birth til it's like the walls of El Morro in San Juan Puerto Rico. I think they're around 10 feet thick or so. Somehow, this time, there must have been a crack in the wall and they got to me, right in the heart. Even the tears flowed.

When Dad got home and expressed his enthusiam for the soup, I heard his tone change after a bit and the boys got a lecture. I heard random words like 'ungrateful', 'spoiled', 'more appreciation', 'your mother worked hard'. I would have giggled if I hadn't been so blurry eyed. I was in the office playing spider solitaire on the computer at the time. He came and found me with my leaking eyes and gave me a big hug and kiss and told me how incredible the soup was. He patched my boo boo right up. :)

So, if any of you would like the recipe, here it is:

Roasted Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

1 (6oz) Box Uncle Ben's Long Grain
& Wild Rice Mix
1 T. Olive Oil
1 1/2 C Red Onion, chopped
1 C. Celery chopped
1 C carrot, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pkg. mushrooms, quartered (I didn't use a whole pkg, and I cut the pieces smaller to try and hide them)
1/4 C. Flour
1/2 t. Tarragon
1/4 t. Thyme
2 C water
2 T. Cooking Sherry
2 (15oz) cans chicken broth
1 (12 oz) can evaporated Milk
3 C chicken, cooked & shredded (I used a store bought roasted chicken (yum)

Prepare rice according to package directions; set aside. Saute onion, celery, carrot, garlic, and mushrooms in olive oil for 6 minutes. Add flour, tarragon, and thyme, cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add water, sherry broth, and milk. Return to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Stir in cooked rice and chicken. Cook until heated through.

You don't need the sherry for this to taste good. Grandma, it would be easy to replace the flour and use some regular wild rice without the wheat gluten in the uncle bens mix.

Let me know how it goes with your families...!