Rainshine

It has been raining. And raining. And raining some more. 

I have a new name for it:

Rainshine. 

Here near Seattle, we are used to the rain. 

We make little jokes about it.  

Like, 'We don't tan, we rust'. 

We have commercials about camping in the rain,
called 'Blue Tarp Camper, You're One of Us'. 

And when we see Mt. Rainier we say,
 'The Mountain is out', due to its perpetual cloak of clouds. 

We rarely use umbrella's, preferring the natural look of wet hair, and we wear sandals and shorts year round due to our nearly constant 50 degree temperature. 

Another popular commercial is 'Sandals and Socks Guy, You're One of Us'. 

In the winter we wear socks with our sandals. 

But we still wear our shorts. 

If the temperature rises above 70 degrees, people come out in droves, wearing tank tops and complaining of 'the heat'. 

But even though we are used to the rain, there are days when it just gets plain old tiresome. 

Especially on a holiday weekend when the rest of the country is enjoying bbq's with their families in the backyard. 

There was no such thing going on here. 

Instead we were forced to celebrate around the kitchen table. 

But we managed to make the best of it. 

I made a nice pot of homemade chicken rice soup, 

With some Irish Brown Bread while we counted our blessings. 

I was on pet-sitting duty for Weenie Baby and Peanut and we all stayed cozy inside. 

Don't you love their hopeful faces? 

Everyone loves homemade soup! 

With all the gloomy weather, my Christmas Cactus has decided to bloom again! 

One bright spot in an otherwise rather dim weekend. 

And look at these Stargazer Lilies my sweet Mr. brought home for me! 

They have scented the whole house! 

So in true Seattle fashion, we have just hunkered down to wait out the rain. 

With a fire in the wood stove and warm soup on the stove. 

It's just another day of rainshine. 

xoxo


Chicken Rice Soup
Serves 4-6

1 medium onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced (optional)

2 Tbsp olive oil or butter

2 boneless chicken breast halves

1/2 cup brown rice

4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth

1 cup water

4 carrots, sliced

1 Tbsp fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried (or more to taste)

2 Bay Leaves

1/2 tsp poultry seasoning

1/2 tsp salt

In heavy soup pot, cook onions, celery, and garlic in olive oil or butter until tender. Add chicken pieces, broth, water, and rest of ingredients. Bring to boiling, reduce to simmer, cook covered for 25-30 minutes until chicken is no longer pink and rice is tender.

Remove chicken, cut into bite sized pieces and return to pot.

Remove Bay Leaves.

Garnish with Thyme.

Serve with warm slices of  buttered Irish Brown Bread.

Enjoy!

xoxo