Verbatim

Greetings! It's been a minute, hasn't it? I read two books that I liked, although I felt that both were too long.

The first was Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano. On the very first page we meet William, whose sister died, at age 3, just a few days after he was born. His parents never recovered, and he grew up in a loveless, joyless home. He discovers his passion for (and skill at) basketball and throws all he has into that. At Northwestern University, he meets and begins dating Julia, who comes from the opposite type of home: an extremely tight-knit family where the four sisters are all best friends and the parents are involved in every aspect of their lives. William is immediately welcomed into their family, and to a way of life and relating to others that he has no experience with. So the book is definitely about love and family, but also about how past experiences form someone and whether people can ever really change. I enjoyed this one a lot, although as I said, I did not feel like it needed to be 400 pages—I was screaming for the editor to make some cuts!

The second book was Same As It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo. I really liked this one a lot, despite it coming in at a whopping 560 pages! The Julia in this case is in her 50s, married with two kids, and seemingly has it all. But she's never been happy (I'm not sure I've ever read about a more obviously clinically depressed character who is seemingly unaware of it) and tends to sabotages herself when joy threatens to come her way. I especially enjoyed the writing style, but the main appeal of this book for me was the character of Helen Russo, who we meet right at the beginning but have no idea who she is or what her importance is to Julia. I won't give anything away, but she was one of my favorite characters I've met in a long time. If you are a mother, I think this book will be especially appealing, as it really plumbs the depths of the many emotions that come with that territory. I'm looking at the reviews on Amazon, where many people compare Lombardo to Anne Tyler, and in terms of writing with heart about quirky, dysfunctional families, that's right on the money. There was also plenty of humor. I am definitely going to get my hands on Napolitano's earlier book, The Most Fun We Ever Had.

And soup? Who's thinking of making soup right before Memorial Day weekend? Well, I made this a couple of months ago but neglected to tell you about it—I was feeling a little under the weather and this soup cured me! Like magic. Anyhow, we're having a bit of cold snap here in New England, so maybe I'll get one more chance for hot soup before it's a million degrees and humid around here! This is a riff on chicken soup, but you puree the veggies (mostly carrots), which creates the most luscious creamy soup (but without dairy), and it's a gorgeous color too:

Blended Chicken Soup with Pastina (NOTE: The chicken and pasta are not blended! That would be gross! And frankly you could omit either if you want…)

4 thyme sprigs
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 large carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
3 celery stalks, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
½ cup pastina or other small pasta (I had orzo on hand, so I used that; ditalini would be cute too.)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Chopped fresh parsley, for serving

Tie 1 thyme sprig around the remaining 3 thyme sprigs; set aside. Season the chicken all over with kosher salt and ground black pepper; set aside.

Heat the oil in a medium heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion, season with kosher salt, and cook, stirring often, until translucent and softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the carrots, celery, and garlic and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 3 minutes.

Add the broth and thyme bundle. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer; cook until the vegetables are slightly softened, 10 to 12 minutes. Add the chicken and simmer until cooked through and the vegetables are completely softened, another 10 to 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a small pot of boiling salted water according to the package directions; drain.

Using tongs, transfer the chicken to a plate. Let sit until cool enough to handle, then finely chop. Remove and discard the thyme stems (most of the leaves will have fallen off into the soup). Working in batches if needed, transfer the soup to a blender. Add the lemon juice and a generous drizzle of oil and blend until very smooth.* If needed, add a little hot water to reach the desired consistency (I did not need to; it would depend on how big your carrots were, I guess). Season with salt and pepper.

Return the soup to the pot, stir in the pasta and chicken, and garnish with parsley. Serve, and feel better almost immediately!

*At this point when I'm editing a recipe that has a blended hot liquid, I always say: "Remove the center cap from the blender lid. Hold a kitchen towel over the hole in the cap while blending to allow steam to escape." Otherwise the pressure could blow the lid off and you will end up with gorgeous orange soup all over your ceiling.