It went down like this.
The other day I had to make a cake. One of the ingredients that I needed was lemon extract. No worries here, I keep a fully stocked pantry. There isn’t much that I don’t have. I replace what doesn’t get used a lot, so that things stay fresh. I immediately write it down on my grocery list when I use the last of something, and rarely (and I mean very rarely) do I come across a recipe with something I don’t keep on hand.
I digress. The point here is: I needed lemon extract. So, half way into the recipe I reached into the lemon extract spot and pulled down . . . maple extract. Wait, what? O.k., reach back up there again and pull down . . . almond extract. Grr. So, I yanked out the handy dandy footstool (yes, I reach a full 5’1 1/2″ on tall days) and take a good look around. Now, during this process I was on the phone with my friend and I say, “Now where is my lemon extract!?” and she says “Well, I know you have some, because you loaned it to me a while back. I gave it back, you put it right in your purse.” Hmm. It’s not in my purse now.
At the end of this process of unloading my entire spice pantry I have 2 almond extracts, rum extract, orange extract, a bottle of good vanilla extract, 2 peppermint extracts and (lots of other stuff) . . . no lemon extract. Did I mention I was in the middle of making the cake? Well, I ad-libbed and added some orange extract, and it was fine. Still, I wonder, where is that rogue bottle of lemon extract?
Well, anyhow, I cannot stress the importance of having the right spices on hand. But, even more importantly, I cannot stress the importance of checking to see if you have the right ingredients on hand before you start cooking. Silly me, all these years in the kitchen and I didn’t remember that simple little thing.
Tonight, for dinner, I made soup. I like soup an awful lot. It’s fun because you can make the same recipe a little different every time by adjusting those spices by the littlest bit. Tonight was a chicken barley variety. I wrote it down as I went along so that you could enjoy it, too. I did use some left over Not-So-Sticky-Chicken in this soup, which gave it a little kick, it was kindy spicy, but really good. I also made some sourdough bread to go along with it, but that’s a recipe I won’t be sharing. I ditched the bread in the garbage and made a big salad instead. You win some, you lose some, right?
Chicken Barley Soup
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1 tbsp. dried onions
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. celery salt
1 tbsp. olive oil
8 Cups of chicken stock
3/4 Cup petite diced tomatoes, or 1 large diced, seeded tomato
1 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregano
1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
3/4 cup pearl barley
1 tbsp. coarsly chopped parsley
Saute carrots, onion, garlic and celery salt in olive oil for one minute in a large pot.
Add chicken stock, tomatoes, basil, oregano, and chicken and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to simmer and add barley. Cover the pot and let simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add parsley just before serving.
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