The first time the Christmas tree fell over it wasn't too bad. Yes, a bunch of those shiny silver ball ornaments were crushed and it made a ginormous mess, but none of our special ornaments were damaged. We got it cleaned up, back upright, re-decorated, and moved on.
When it fell over for the second time, landing on my laptop and the glass coffee table and shattering ornaments far and wide, I was so over the holidays. But despite my best efforts, the people who live in my house wouldn't let me cancel Christmas.
So we cleaned up, AGAIN, and this time we threw the stupid Christmas tree out on the deck, all 10 feet, approximately 479 pounds of it. Pretty sure I muttered, "And STAY out!" when it hit the deck. Next, we hauled up the ghetto fake Christmas tree from the garage and the people who live in my house had a wonderful time decorating this Plan B tree with every horrible hand-made Christmas ornament their teachers had inflicted upon us over the years. They took special glee in putting the particularly ugly and tacky ones front and center.
The Christmas spirit was restored. Such that it was.
When I was finally allowed to box up Christmas, there was a definite level of satisfaction. Time for soup! But again with the problems. 3 out of 4 people who live in this house thought that cheeseburgers sounded better than soup. In the past, I may have interpreted this as a challenge to create a Cheeseburger Soup for the win. But I haven't been so much on a winning streak lately. Conceding, I simply put Mr. Soup on hamburger duty and I made myself a delicious soup for one.
And for those of you keeping score, that's People Who Live in My House: 3, Soup-a-Woman: 0.
Spicy Potsticker Soup
Broth
2 T. toasted sesame oil
2 T. finely minced fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press
1/4 c. soy sauce
2 T. rice vinegar
2 T. creamy peanut butter
2 t. good quality fish sauce (I like Red Boat)
1 T. sriracha (use less if you don't like it pretty fiery)
4 c. chicken broth
2 c. water
Heat oil in pan over medium heat until hot, but not smoking. Add in the ginger and garlic and sauté briefly, around 30 seconds to 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add in the remaining ingredients, whisking to combine them well and simmer the broth for 20 minutes to combine and balance the flavors. This is quite spicy, so if you're sensitive to heat really watch the sriracha amount.
For the Soup
For each serving:
1 1/2 c. broth
4 frozen potstickers (I use Ling Ling brand)
Sautéed mushrooms
Sliced baby bok choy
Shredded carrot
Sliced green onions
This is a different soup than my normal approach. Normally I make a big pot and freeze individual containers. However, because I'm using frozen potstickers for this soup, I simply made a pot of broth and refrigerated it. The broth will keep 4 or 5 days in the fridge, no problem. Then, I prepped the vegetables and refrigerated them separately. When I wanted a bit of soup, I simply scooped out a cup and a half of broth, heated it to a simmer, then added 4 potstickers and cooked them in the broth 7 minutes (until cooked through) and then stirred in some of my reserved vegetables. Simmer one additional minute to heat the vegetables and Voila! Soup for one!
