In America, I could hardly be described as someone who cooks...who even enjoys cooking. My bank of recipes that I could proudly say I was able to make was sadly very small. However, since coming to China, I have had the opportunity to explore my cooking capabilities. With some trial and error, I have increased my recipe bank and my confidence. Part of my dislike for cooking came from the lack of confidence I had in myself. I expected to be able to whip up a good meal the first time I tried to prepare it. My mom always made it look so easy. She has a knack for cooking...anyone who has every tried her food knows this is true. Being raised by someone who I would call nothing less than a guru for some good, home-cooked meals, I never thought I could equal that. She always encouraged me to learn and to at least try. With time, patience, and expermentation, I am getting better than I thought I ever could. I recognize when things go well together now. I actually enjoy chopping and mixing and tasting and seasoning.
I recently attempted to make home-made chicken noodle soup. This is one of my favorite things to eat...ever! My mom and my Aunt Shannon (all of the women in my family are excellent cooks) make a mean chicken noodle soup. They always start from scratch. I didn't even cheat and cook the chicken seperately. Nope, I bought the whole chicken and cooked it in the broth.
Okay, I may have cheated a little bit....Technically, I could have bought a live chicken and started from there, but I am not in "Man Vs. Wild" here. I had the guy at the market chop off its head for me. I didn't want to have eyes staring at me in my kitchen. I also cut the feet off and threw them away. I didn't want them in my soup. I was so excited to start this raw; however, I forgot that I would be cutting through bones. That was quite interesting, and it could have been entertaining had someone been in my living room watching me saw through using my entire body mass on top of the knife. This is the little guy after I did some serious chopping and sawing. That is the knife I used. If I decide to do this again, I will be buying and using a better, bigger knife. I will also have the guy at the market chop off the feet. When I asked him to chop off the feet and head, he chopped off the head, but he just trimmed the toe nails on the feet. I laughed and accepted his attempt. I put all of the above parts in the soup and cooked it for two hours with the veggies. I'm guessing that is okay. I haven't gotten sick, so that is a plus!
This is what it looked like:) I added mushrooms because I have a slight obsession with the fungus.
I felt that I had to blog about this cooking experience because it was the first time I have ever tried it, I started from scratch, and it turned out really, really good. This was a milestone in my cooking life.
Here's to my mom's encouragement!
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