frustration

it was one of those days. i woke late. roommate hadn't set up the coffee pot. i stopped at 7-11 to fill my coffee cup for bus ride to church. i missed the bus i should've been on and wound up waiting nearly a half hour for the next. i got to church late. afterwards, i got on another bus to go to a film screening for "a chemical reaction" about lawn pesticides. i thought i knew which theatre it was at but i was wrong. [sigh] i decided to simply run the errands i intended to run after the movie and waited for the next bus and when it came and passed me up, i realized that i was waiting at the wrong bus stop. [sigh]

none of these inconveniences individually were major problems. cumulatively, i felt a bit like sisyphus rolling that rock uphill. i wanted a do-over. you know, when you are trying to live your life according to the simplicity philosophy there's a part of you that says i've got the key, the tool to all problems going forward. and then life happens. it's reality vs. your belief of the way it should be. and the reality is that having some frustrating days is precisely the way it should be. it's how we can practice the best that's in us and realize where we erred. it's that whole diamonds-are-coal-formed-under-pressure mentality.

i could've woken earlier. made coffee. got to the bus stop sooner. actually looked up the theatre's address. and double-checked the bus stop's sign. could've.

making sure i was at the right bus stop, i realized there was nothing else i could do until the next bus actually arrived. so i pulled out the latest issue of "the atlantic" from my tote and read it while i waited. and thought about where i'd erred.

it wasn't perfect

i love chicken. and i hate wasting even the smallest bits of it. a few days ago, roommate made an el pollo loco run and i greedily held on to my leftover bones. this afternoon i rendered the last bits of meat off of those bones, boiling them for about an hour in about 3 cups of water in my zojirushi electric skillet with about 1t of dried oregano and a few shakes of cinnamon. i used a slotted spoon to get the bones out of the rendering water and then added two low sodium chicken broth packets from trader joe's, making sure it was all combined. i replenished the evaporated water and while the temperature was rising, in a separate dish i beat a single egg and then added 1/2c lemon juice. once the temp of the soup was hot, i removed one ladle-full and added it to the egg-lemon juice, quickly stirring. then i added it all back into the soup. then i added about a handful of rice and added a bit more oregano and cinnamon to suit my tastes.

you may recognize this as greek lemon chicken soup. and as delicious as it was (particularly with a mexican bolillo roll (which is like a french roll)), it wasn't perfect. the darn egg curdled when it hit the hot liquid. now, i've made this soup before, so i know the egg and lemon juice typically disburses throughout the soup, thickening it. i think the egg curdled because it and the lemon juice were coming straight from the fridge. but, anyway, the point is that it wasn't perfect. and that's ok. it still tasted good, i still made use of the last bits of some chicken, and i made it.

over the years i've noticed some newcomers to simplicity lament that they couldn't find another use for this or that that experiment didn't quite work out. maybe it's time to color outside the lines a bit just to have the experience. it wasn't perfect, but it was good.

welcome

hello and welcome to un soupçon.

my plan here is simple: to share my simple successes. i've recently renewed my personal commitment to simple, abundant living and, while i want to keep track of what works for me, i know there are others who enjoy "exchanging recipes." so grab your pen, a few index cards and whatever you're drinking and let's chat . . .