For some reason, it has been difficult for both of my children to learn the months of the year. When it comes the days of the week, the seasons of the year, or even telling time, they quickly became proficient, but the months of the year have been more challenging. Maybe the months are more difficult to learn because there isn’t an obvious dividing line between them. After all, if it’s a Monday, you can easily explain that tomorrow, after they sleep, will be Tuesday, but how do you explain why one month flows into another? To be honest, the months of the year often seem to fly by so quickly that I sometimes find myself getting confused or wondering, “Can it really be October already?!”. One way I have worked with my kids on learning the months of the year is through books. There are some delightful books with poems for each month of the year or rhymes that help children remember the order of months. Some of my favorites are A Child’s Calendar with poetry by John Updike, Around the Year a little volume with poems and illustrations by Elsa Beskow, and the poetry collection Snow Toward Evening: A Year in a River Valley illustrated by Thomas Locker. However, Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months by Maurice Sendak wins for the quirkiest and most easily remembered rhyme about the months. Each page of this tiny book shows a boy enjoying his favorite food, chicken soup with rice, in a variety of unlikely, and downright silly situations. From eating soup while ice skating in January, to enjoying a bowl under the sea with a turtle in July, this boy can enjoy his soup anywhere! Each illustration is accompanied by a short, rhythmic rhyme that always ends with the phrase “chicken soup with rice” and I find that this repetition makes it easier for many children to remember the monthly rhymes. Even if your child doesn’t struggle with learning the months of the year, this book is worth reading just for the pure fun of considering all the places you could enjoy your favorite food!
Discussion Questions for Chicken Soup with Rice:
- What is your favorite month of the year and what do you like about it?
- What kind of soup do you like to eat?
- What is the silliest or strangest place you can think of to eat soup?
- If you were going to make your own soup recipe, what would you put in it? (This might be a good time to look up soup recipes online or in cookbooks and plan on making a new kind of soup together!)
Buy the Book:
Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months by Maurice Sendak
There are so many possible variations on a basic recipe for chicken soup, but I decided to give mine a little bit of Asian flavor with the addition of soy sauce, sesame oil, and ginger. I find these flavors add a savory depth to the broth and the ginger is wonderful for settling stomachs or clearing sinuses during cold season. My recipe starts with a homemade chicken broth, with directions for either a stove top or slow cooker method. Homemade broth is a little bit time consuming to make, but the depth of flavor and added nutrients are worth the extra investment. Homemade broth can also easily be frozen for later use, so make a big batch every couple of months and freeze the extras! If you don’t have time for homemade broth, boxed broth is also great and the addition of soy sauce and sesame oil can really elevate a simple boxed chicken broth to something special. Instead of white rice, I used a wild rice mix with brown and wild rice because these are heartier grains that tend to keep their shape in the broth without falling apart. Also, wild rice has a nutty flavor that I find pleasing in a soup recipe like this one.
Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Remove the meat from the whole roasted chicken or chicken pieces and reserve in the refrigerator for later. Place the remaining bones and skin in a large dutch oven or stock pot, or in the bowl of a slow cooker. Add the rest of the broth ingredients and add enough water to cover everything.
For the stovetop: Place the covered dutch oven or pot over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer the broth for at least 4 hours, adding water as needed if the water level seems to be getting low.
For the slow cooker: Place the bowl of the slow cooker into the base, cover with the lid and turn the slow cooker on low heat. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, adding a little water as needed to keep the ingredients covered.
Once the broth has simmered as long as you like it, remove the broth from the heat and let cool for 1 hour. After the broth has cooled, strain it through a fine mesh sieve into containers and refrigerate the broth overnight. Once the broth has cooled completely in the refrigerator, skim off the solid layer of fat that forms on the top. Now your broth is ready to use!
Heat the oil over medium-low heat in a large stock pot or dutch oven. Add the onion and cook for several minutes until it turns translucent. Add the garlic and sliced carrot and celery and continue to saute until the carrot and celery just begin to soften.
Add the chicken broth, sesame oil, and soy sauce to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 15 minutes, or until the carrots are quite soft. Add the shredded chicken and continue to simmer until the chicken is just cooked through. Add extra salt or pepper as needed, to taste and remove the soup from the heat.
To serve: For each bowl, add 1/4 cup warm, cooked wild rice to a bowl, ladle some of the soup on top of the rice, making sure to get a good mixture of broth, chicken and vegetables. Top with a Tablespoon of chopped chives. Serve hot.
Ingredients
Directions
Remove the meat from the whole roasted chicken or chicken pieces and reserve in the refrigerator for later. Place the remaining bones and skin in a large dutch oven or stock pot, or in the bowl of a slow cooker. Add the rest of the broth ingredients and add enough water to cover everything.
For the stovetop: Place the covered dutch oven or pot over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer the broth for at least 4 hours, adding water as needed if the water level seems to be getting low.
For the slow cooker: Place the bowl of the slow cooker into the base, cover with the lid and turn the slow cooker on low heat. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, adding a little water as needed to keep the ingredients covered.
Once the broth has simmered as long as you like it, remove the broth from the heat and let cool for 1 hour. After the broth has cooled, strain it through a fine mesh sieve into containers and refrigerate the broth overnight. Once the broth has cooled completely in the refrigerator, skim off the solid layer of fat that forms on the top. Now your broth is ready to use!
Heat the oil over medium-low heat in a large stock pot or dutch oven. Add the onion and cook for several minutes until it turns translucent. Add the garlic and sliced carrot and celery and continue to saute until the carrot and celery just begin to soften.
Add the chicken broth, sesame oil, and soy sauce to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 15 minutes, or until the carrots are quite soft. Add the shredded chicken and continue to simmer until the chicken is just cooked through. Add extra salt or pepper as needed, to taste and remove the soup from the heat.
To serve: For each bowl, add 1/4 cup warm, cooked wild rice to a bowl, ladle some of the soup on top of the rice, making sure to get a good mixture of broth, chicken and vegetables. Top with a Tablespoon of chopped chives. Serve hot.
