As mornings go...

As mornings go, mine has been fairly productive already. I've exercised. I've daavened - said the morning service - something I've been severely remiss on. I put a chicken and veggies in the crockpot so that tonight I can make noodles and have a nice comfort food dinner without really cooking. I love the crockpot. It feels like someone else cooked.

I'm drinking coffee, I'm reading email. I'm relaxed, if somewhat achey - my arms do *not* like pushups, even girlpushups. BTW, my husband never heard of girlpushups.

I just need some breakfast and a shower and to dress, and I have a half an hour until I have to do either, and I'm set for the day.

I'm even printing up fanfic for the road.

(no subject)

The boiled chicken was a success. Last night, I chopped a couple of celery hearts and a large spanish onion, and put a frozen pullet in the fridge to thaw. This morning, I put the celery, the onion and a bag of peeled carrots in my crockpot, along with the still frozen chicken, a couple of bay leaves and some thyme. I didn't bother adding salt because the bird is kosher, and therefore salty. I would have added white wine except I didn't have any. I did add about a cup of water. I covered the pot and set it on high.

When I got home from work, my house smelled of strong chicken soup. It was just delicious. Eventually, I put up a pot of noodles (where I learned that a tall, skinny pot does noodles better than a short, fat pot. Oh, well.) and took the bones out of the chicken. This meant that I picked up the still whole bird, thinking to put it in a bowl, where it would cool and I could use my fingers to strip off the meat.

It fell apart. I ended up picking the bones out of the pot itself as the meat collapsed. Because I'd used a pullet, an older layer, it still had lots of flavor, but it was completely tender. Once I got as many bones out as I could, I stirred the whole thing. Later, I mixed the noodles and meat and broth in each bowl. It was delicious, warm and comforting. Just what we needed tonight.