re: TulaneLSU's Perfect 10 Ezekiel 24 quarantine chicken rice soup

Put the Dutch oven back in the oven at 350. You will let this cook for 2-3 hours. I once accidentally forgot it, only returning at 5 hours. It was delicious, but most of the liquid evaporated. The longer, the better the flavor, but you may need to add water. This time gives you adequate opportunity to read several chapters of Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologica or John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion. Do not waste this time in idleness or idolatry. Use it for edifying reading, service, or prayer.

One benefit we are seeing to this current shutdown is the closure of casinos, bars, and professional sports. These three things are detrimental to society. Casinos, obviously, prey on the stupid and weak of society. Sure, some are able to gamble without falling into ruin. Gambling, though, is driven from profits of those who put significant portions of their income into those dirty hands of chance.

Bars and alcohol, likewise, destroy the least as well as the highest. Big Alcohol is Fake News, though, Big Alcohol has cozied up to Big Media and infiltrated all of American life. One of the things I do appreciate about President Trump is his teetotaling stance. I suspect he would be a homeless beggar if he drank alcohol. Without the Devil’s drink, he became a billionaire and the President. Think of what you could accomplish if you were not stunted by this evil liquid.

And finally, professional sports. To a point, professional sports can be good for a society, if they are used for modest diversion. But as they are in our society, they injure families and communities. Fanatics bow to the altar of these silly games, forsaking their children, spouses, churches, and yards. Perhaps the uptick in waving, happy communities we are seeing now is partially a product of the professional sports shutdown. No one’s reason for being and reason for excitement should be watching anonymous adults playing sports. We were designed and created for far more than what sports can give.

Our current quarantine is turning back the clock, and making us pure again. Is it so bad to yearn for a time when we were young? To yearn for the simplicity of third grade? Alcohol, gambling, and professional sports meant nothing to us then. Throwing a ball, singing wholesome, encouraging songs together, riding a bike, looking for buried treasure, these were the diversions that made childhood special. Some of us threw away that purity for easy pleasures, pleasures which have since devolved into addictions and chains. It is our time, our time now to break free from those chains and reclaim the fun and simplicity of our childhood.

The stock is now ready. It’s time to get a very large glass or ceramic bowl and the colander. Be very careful because to burn yourself at this juncture is probable if care is not given to the task. Put the bowl in your sink and colander over the bowl. Using heat mittens, take out the stock and drain it into the colander and bowl. Be careful of the rising steam. It too can cause a bad burn. You will be left with some delicious stock, as pictured.



My stock has never been beautiful in appearance. Some people are, by technique, food coloring, or lighting, able to make that golden stock. But I cannot. My stock usually looks like swamp water. My goal, however, is not beauty in appearance but beauty of taste. And my stock reaches that goal.



Quickly clean out the Dutch oven. Cook the leeks of medium high heat on the stovetop in the Dutch oven with a little butter to prevent sticking. This will take about three or four minutes. When translucent, add the drained stock, which is about 8 cups, one cup of rice, and the chopped chicken. Bring this combination to a boil. When boiling, reduce heat to low, stir and cover. In 15 minutes, stir the soup. The rice should be plumping. After 30 minutes simmering covered, remove from heat. You now will add the lemon pepper, which is plenty of savory seasoning for this dish. Let cool and enjoy with your closest friends and family at a distance of at least six feet. If you are wearing your plastic face guard, you will have to remove it to eat.



The famed fork view of Meridian Dog:



Friends, find the good in this troubled time. Be kind and generous.

Faith, Hope, and Love,
TulaneLSU