It's all in the stock

No, not that stock, silly!  ...especially with my company's stock selling at a 60-year low!  One of my favorite Christmas presents last year was Alice Water's new cookbook 'The Art of Slow Food'--and even though my friend in Detroit is borrowing it for the time being, I remember one thing I learned...the secret to soup is in your stock...and the secret to your simple soup stock is cooking your base vegetables slow and easy.  So, tonight I decided chicken soup would be good for dinner (and lunches)--so picked up the ingredients on my way home from the office tonight. (I'm slowly--slowly--getting over my fear of raw meat, Rach and Linda!  Slowly!  I can actually stomach touching raw chicken now...barely!  But 9 years of life as a vegetarian are bound to leave you with some issues, eh?)  It's just about ready, though I may be too full from the bread, cheese and yesterday's leftover wine...(Rachie, the picture of the wine, cheese and bread is to entice you to get your ticket and come on over!!)