Dear C –

I have been writing to you for some time – sometimes in my mind, sometimes on paper. Somewhere there is a notebook with a few pages of a letter to you, where I mention depression and me not calling you and you not calling me, as well.

Today, though, I had a triumph borne out of desperation: I fixed the toilet.

“Hello?”
“Is your toilet running?“
“What?”
“You’d better go catch it.”

Our toilet was running, and because the landlord is just the last person we want to interact with, and because now the plumber won’t come without the landlord’s consent, I peered into the depths of the tank and googled “Fluidmaster 400” and “Fluidmaster 400 hissing sound” and watched some videos, which involved grabbing the Fluidmaster firmly by the shaft and pushing up, and 1/8 turns, and clever use of a Solo cup, and lo! I fixed the toilet. I don’t know if you’ve ever fixed a toilet – and you probably have because you are practical like that – but for me this felt like possibly the apex of my life’s achievements. I rarely feel a sense of satisfaction or completion, or good-enoughedness, but today, C, I really did.

Then I sat in the sun for a little, with the cat, listening to the spring sounds of woodpeckers and Lesser Goldfinches, and the song of a Ruby-Crowned Kinglet (which I just learned to recognize – it goes teeter teeter teeter teeter TI) and thought about the rotisserie chicken about to go bad in the fridge.

And I made a soup, which turned out quite well and it made me think of you, again.
I had a can of chipotles in the pantry that expired at the end of 2020. This morning I used a bit of them in a shakshuka, and this evening I made a soup with the chipotles, scrap stock, the borderline chicken, onion, garlic, carrots, and a can of chickpeas and most of a can of corn (I saved some of the can to eat later with mayo and cayenne/chili powder – my bastardized elote treat).

Chicken Chipotle Soup

1 onion (I used red as that’s what needed using)
Oil (I used a couple Tbsps of olive)
A few cloves of garlic- roughly sliced
Couple carrots – chopped to your taste
Chipotle peppers – 3ish/to taste (Canned? That’s what I used; and they came in adobo sauce – added benefit.)
Cumin – couple dashes
Some roasted chicken, taken off the bone and in bite-ish sized pieces (I had a leg & a thigh and a breast & a wing)
Diced tomatoes – 14.5 oz can
Stock – 3 cups or so
Can of corn – 14.5 oz or however much you like
Can of chickpeas

Optional for garnish
Sour cream
Carrot tops and green garlic tops, chopped (but really any green to your taste would do)

I might have bought this can just for the looks of it

Dice the onion and saute in the warmed oil, when translucent —
Add the chopped carrot
Saute saute saute til the carrots start to soften, then —
Add the garlic & saute just until fragrant
Add cumin & chipotle —
I took the chipotle peppers and squeezed them through my garlic press
Saute for a minute
Add the chicken
Add the diced tomatoes
Rinse out the can and add the rinse water
Add the stock
Probably some salt – to taste
Put it on high so you bring it to a simmer
While it’s getting there –
Add the amount of corn that you want and
Add the can of chickpeas,
And, if you’re into it, add some of the aquafaba, maybe all of it!
I kept some to play with later

Once the soup has come to a simmer, make sure the carrots are cooked to your taste and turn it off.

Serve garnished with sour cream and chopped greens – eg. carrot & green garlic tops – that’s what I had in my fridge.

In my next missive – spring salads.

Much love,

M.