Chicken Soup from the Soul

There is a popular affirmation book: "Chicken Soup for the Soul", but my husband makes the real chicken soup for the soul. His chicken soup takes you to a place of warmth and serenity much more quickly than a mass produced, over-hyped, trite tome.
I will try to describe this remarkable bowl of happiness even though words don't come close to how it feels deep inside when you take your first, hot, aromatic spoonful.
This beloved man creates magic as he's chopping, tasting and adding herbs and spices into the bubbling soup pot.  There is no recipe, it just comes from divine culinary instinct as to what would be best for this particular batch.
Your spoon drops into the steaming bowl and comes out with pieces of grilled chicken, bok choy, carrot, maybe some tiny pasta and the golden, savory broth.  The broth is the cradle that rocks this bowl of soup.  Sometimes there's a hint of clove, sometimes a touch of parsnip but there is always satisfaction.
The biggest ingredient is John's love of creating this soup from scratch.  His face lights up when decides to go to the Chinese market to get the chicken parts and vegetables.  He comes home, puts on John Coltrane or Miles Davis and gets to work on his own piece of art, chopping and stirring, adding and tasting.
Every single bowl from beginning to end of the batch is delicious. More than that, it's a quiet place to go in your mind while it warms you through and through and all distressing thoughts vanish as you savor this soul soup.
One day, I'll write about his Caesar Salad.

P.S. As soon as I figure out how to load up pictures, you'll see a steaming bowl of soup!

I need to rant...

I have lost my cooking mojo.
I only feel like ordering in or just cooking up a frozen pizza.
I've planned on making Tyler Florence's Ultimate Spaghetti Carbonara tonight, and I don't even feel like putting it together!  Bacon and eggs pasta?  What could be easier?
I really don't get it...is it depression?  I feel tired and I was feeling poorly end of last week, my stomach was betraying me (I'll get you stomach! <--see me shaking a fist at my belly).  I don't even want to get up earlier than usual tomorrow and get those maple apple bacon donuts...:-((. sniff...
I think I'm pissed off at being obese.  There, I said it.  But really, I'm not pissed about being obese, I'm more pissed at the way other people think that I shouldn't be as heavy as I am.  I'm not too sad about being a full-full-figured woman.  I like keeping my weight up with good food and good wine.
I'm pissed about Weight Watchers.  I know that I if I do the program (oops, slipped into a 12-step mantra) I will lose weight, but I refuse, refuse to put anything in my mouth with the words non-fat on the label.  I think they fail to realize that anything that is labeled "non-fat" has a higher sugar content and what diabetic needs that?  I know I can keep the full fat cheese and just figure it into my points for the day.  Right now, it sounds like much too much work to count points and plan meals in advance.  I used to do it, but was I really happy doing it?  NO!  I do like losing weight, but lets face it, I'm lazy and want to wake up 20lbs lighter tomorrow just because that is my intention and it's a good one! Shit!  I'm okay with who I am right now and the way I look...is that so wrong?
It has been suggested by those closest to me (and you know who you are) that I should get a gastric bypass procedure.  Really?  and then what?  I'd have to stop going out to wonderful dinners with you and stop experiencing incredible foods you cook because I can only eat a 1/4 cup of food!
You know what that will lead to other than smaller jean sizes?  Severe depression and probably suicide.
But I would be thinner....

Phishing for Phood

This is what I did this morning:
Read "Tyler's Ultimate" cookbook; some good stuff in there. I was a little disappointed in the recipes inside the book because I can find more and better recipes from the Food Network website by typing in "Tyler's Ultimate".  I'm glad I got the book from the library and controlled myself and didn't buy it first.  I am growing up so fast!
Got on my web surf board when Facebook no longer held my attention and I went back to my emails and started going through the food newsletters I receive, which are quite a few.  I re-signed up for the Culinate newsletter and I can't remember why I unsubscribed.  That will remain to be seen.
I floundered to BakeSpace, one of my favorite sites for sweet things and I discovered that there's more there than sugar.  Maybe one day I'll do the right thing and share a recipe.  I decided I'm going to make an artichoke dip I found on the site for Sunday since it's Super Bowl since I have to work and I don't actually follow football, but it's a good reason to make dips, right?
Maybe I should do something with the 2 bottles of Franks Hot Sauce I have in my pantry for some reason.. I've already checked out their website and I think something could be fixed up.
Then, I bottomed at the Food Network and looked up the bacon episode from "The Best Thing I ever Ate", a program I've set to tape all episodes, to find out just exactly where those maple apple bacon donuts are in San Francisco. Easy to get to by car and I plan to pick up some this coming weekend. Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum!
I also looked up Animal restaurant from the same episode to see if there was a recipe for the bacon chocolate crunch bar but there isn't, so I've ordered the cookbook from my library.
Time to get back...I think my phishing pole is tugging.