Chicken soup on a cold day

La Gringa's homemade chicken soup

As Steve from San Pedro mentioned in in his nice comment, "OK, LG, it hasn't rained in over a week. Been sunny and comfortable so no excuses. We miss you." Yes, we did have a week of nice warm weather with the usual bright blue skies. The weather was especially nice as nights were still rather cool − good sleeping weather. I kept meaning to get a photo but now we have another "frente frio" (cold front). I stuck a 5-gallon bucket out in the rain on Saturday and we received 11 1/2 inches of rain (29 cm.) between Saturday and Monday night!

I used to laugh at those weather reports and say they should be called "frentes tibias" (tepid fronts) because the temperature was never below the mid 60's F (16-20 C). I would see people bundled up in sweaters and ski jackets while I was still wearing shorts, t-shirts, and flip flops. Apparently my blood has thinned, because lower 70's and upper 60's does seem cold to me now. I think part of it is because the humidity (95% or so lately during these cold fronts) makes it feel colder. Now El Jefe laughs at me, saying "Remember when you used to say...."

Anyway, the cooler weather is great soup weather. There is nothing like a steaming bowl of soup on a chilly day. Since we don't get many chilly days in La Ceiba, I took the opportunity to make this chicken soup yesterday along with some homemade rolls. Yummy.

There are a million and one chicken soup recipes so I'll just list the veggies that I put in this one. My soup always varies depending upon what vegetables are available and look good.

Carrots
Onions
Garlic
celery
Green beans
Snow peas
Zucchini
Mini corn on the cob
Red pepper
Parsley

I served this soup with wild rice for a change of pace. The slightly crunchy texture of the wild rice was a nice contrast. Of course, I boned the chicken before completing the soup. I hope the cold front will last for a couple of days because as you can see from the size of the pot, we'll be eating soup for a few days more.