Chicken Noodle Soup for The-Worst-Pet-Owner-of-the-Year-Award-Winner's Soul

 Yes, if there was an award for the worst pet owner of the year, I’m fairly certain I would be the winner.  (Or at least the runner up.)  But we’ll get to that in a minute.

    As you are well aware, my darling husband, J, is home.  His birthday was Saturday, and as per his request we made a trip to our hometown so that he could celebrate with his family.  We left Friday evening after dinner, and we got home about an hour or so ago.  It was a very pleasant trip filled with too much food and just enough visiting.  It was fairly uneventful.  I do have to say though, I was surprised at how many jokes I found myself being the butt of due to my newly acquired accent.  Evidently I’ve been living in south Mississippi too long, because it’s starting to show.  I didn’t expect to get so many comments however, especially considering I moved from a town in south Louisiana that only two hours away from my new home.  I also found it funny that the main person making the jokes was my older sister.  She may be an English major, but she is also the one who pronounces ass, as if she can’t get enough of the “a”.  I can just hear her now, “Michael! Get off that four-wheeler!  Well, don’t come cryin’ to me if a snake jumps up and bites you on the aaaass!!!”

   I may be paraphrasing, but I promise it’s only slightly.  It’s all in good fun anyway.

   After a rather fun weekend, we came home today, and as soon as I opened the door I could tell something was off.  We had left our dog, Roux, with a friend, but we left VooDoo, our inside kitty, with enough food, water and litter to be okay on his own for the two days we were gone.  When I walked in, however, I didn’t smell anything from the litter box.  Upon closer inspection, I realized that there was nothing in there.  His food looked untouched as well.  Then I heard him.  His meow was so soft and pathetic I raced upstairs.  It was coming from the guest room, and the door was closed!  I yanked that door open to find my poor baby had been stuck in there ever since at least 3:00 pm on Friday afternoon.  

   I immediately brought him downstairs, and practically shoved him face-first into his food bowl.  After that, I put darling J to work cleaning up any messes.  (My only defense is I hardly ever go into that guest room, so someone else had to have shut him in there by mistake.)  Although VooDoo has not suffered any real damage, he is alternating between walking around the house howling miserably, rubbing up against my hand furiously as if he can’t get enough affection, or just sitting down in front of me, glaring and making a low pathetic meow as if to say, “Nice going, mom!”  Unfortunately he’s not buying the whole “It wasn’t me; it was your daddy” line.  (Even though it’s completely true.)  Here’s hoping he doesn’t decide to retaliate.  I mean, his name is “VooDoo” after all.   O.o

   On that note, I think it’s a comfort food type of night, so I’m going to share a recipe for one of my favorite comfort foods: Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup.  This is a Paula Deen recipe (of course).  Be warned, it makes a bunch of soup, so if J's gone, I usually cut it in half and still have enough to freeze.

Chicken Noodle Soup

3 pounds skinless chicken breasts  (You want the bones for flavor.)

6 quarts chicken broth

4 bay leaves

3 cups diced carrot

3 cups diced celery

2 cups diced onion

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper

8 oz egg noodles

Place chicken in a large stockpot or Dutch oven.  Add chicken broth and bay leaves.  Bring to boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 40 minutes.  Add carrot, celery, onion, seasonings, and return to a simmer.  Cook for 20 minutes. Remove chicken from soup.  Remove and discard bones.  Coarsely chop chicken and set aside.  Bring soup to a boil over medium-high heat.  Add noodle.  Cook for 10 minutes or until noodles are tender. Add chopped chicken; cook for 2 minutes or until heated through.  Remove and discard bay leaves before serving.   

The perfect trio: Chicken Noodle Soup, Ritz crackers, and Sweet Tea