Rainy days and little pleasures...

Rain is rare where I live, so the steady gray and wet weather of the last couple days is a welcome change. The strong winds and tornado watches I could do without, but like most things in life, there's a little bad that comes along with the good that you just have to live with. I'm sure that by the time the rain moves out at the end of the week, I will be glad to see it go – but for now, I'm still enjoying it.

My favorite thing about bad weather is all the little pleasures to be found in taking refuge from it. Yesterday, I arrived home from work to find our old wooden screen door nearly torn off, our front step light actually destroyed from the wind (I still can't figure out exactly how that happened...) and our metal flag pole bent 90 degrees. By the time I grabbed everything and managed to maneuver it indoors, I was pretty much drenched. But I dried off, cranked the heat up, turned on The Golden Girls marathon and decided to indulge in cooking some comfort food for dinner. I had taken chicken breasts out to thaw the night before, but instead of grilling them as intended, I decided some homemade chicken soup sounded better.

I put some chicken stock on the stove, cut up some carrots and threw them in along with some additional spices. I cooked the chicken in a separate pan, adding a little crushed red pepper to give it some punch. When the breasts were cooked, I cut them up and added them and the seasonings from the pan to the soup and let it all simmer for an hour or so. I decided some brownies were in order, so then I threw a pan of them together. Between the soup and the brownies, the house smelled just heavenly. When my sweetie got home, I added some egg noodles to the soup and started on my homemade cheese biscuits. Everything was delicious, if I do say so myself, and it hit the spot - which is really the point of comfort food. And my sweetie enjoyed the soup so much - I really think it was the spices that did it - he ate two large bowls. And polished off the biscuits.

The rest of the evening I spent huddled under my favorite blanket with my dogs and my man, watching comedies on TV and eating brownies. There's something wonderful about being able to take shelter from a storm and indulge in such comforts, don't you think?

Wishing you days filled with little pleasures, be it rainy or sunny...

Photo by clairity via flickr

*****

And speaking of little pleasures, I am so honored to receive this fabulous designation from the Duchess of Tea. If you have not stopped by Rose Tea Cottage for tea, you must. The Duchess always has such beautiful treats on offer. It's one of my favorite blogs to visit, particularly if I need a pick me up. Beauty abounds there. Thank you, Duchess, for your kindness.