The Holidays: Simple and Slow

 I've always loved the holiday season, and in years past (particularly while I worked on Wall Street), I was quite organized and had a schedule of when I'd make fruitcake (really misunderstood food), send out holiday cards, and craft my little heart out.  But it's gotten harder and harder to find the time or frankly, the energy to plan or even conceive the narrative arc of my holidays.  I had a lot more time when I worked on Wall Street.

Anyway, I was unnecessarily starting to worry that Christmas would whiz by and leave me discombobulated on the side of the road.  I think that not having a lot of things to make for gifts this year has left me worried that I've forgotten something (as opposed to having made the decision that I don't need to throw myself into the craftory* this season).  But I realize that if I slow down and just take notice, the things I love about the holidays are revealing themselves around me.  So, when I saw this post on the Alabama Chanin blog on Wednesday, I thought - hey, that could be an easy gift to make for someone - and got excited.

How I Have Spent My Sick Days

My three main activities over the last five days (oh my god!) have been sleeping, reading, and, to a far more limited extent, eating.  Mainly I've been sampling chicken soups.  Unfortunately, I didn't have any homemade in stock (believe the last family illness wiped out our supplies), so I had to rely on commercial products.

Wolfgang Puck soups are perfectly serviceable.  I had both the Chicken with Egg Noodles and the Chicken with White and Wild Rice varieties.  My main comment is that when they're not piping hot, I find they take on a more viscous texture.  I like mine a little clearer.

I wasn't quite sure how I'd feel about Imagine Organic Creamy Chicken Soup because, well - it was just a dairy-free creamy soup with no chunks of anything in it.  However, I was pleasantly surprised.  I found it quite tasty and didn't miss the chunks, but that also may have to do with the fact that I was often sipping it out of a coffee mug.

What I really wish I had was some good matzoh ball soup.  Not some tired grocery store variety, but something that came from Ratner's or the Ratner's cart that I used to go to when I worked on Wall Street.  Yes, it's true.  I worked on Wall Street and got matzoh ball soup from a cart.