I am Barbara Felt-Miller and I approved this post.

It is an election year and you can’t look anywhere without seeing something about the candidates.  I understand that voting process is complicated.  (I did see every School House Rock.)  The part I don’t understand is why is there so much “smack talking.”

People these days seem to always be talking about bullying and how it needs to stop.  Why doesn’t that mentality apply to election campaigns?  Isn’t all the name-calling and negative advertisements just a form of bullying?

Why do people need to tear each other apart to prove that they are the better candidate?  Shouldn’t the candidate’s platform stand on its own two feet?

How about the polls?  85% of the political polls are made up just to make a party’s candidate look better.  (Um, my percentage may be made up.)

I don’t talk about politics with anyone.   It gets ugly too fast.  I have yet to find a person who doesn’t instantly go into name calling before they speak of the positive aspects of the candidate they support.

The naïve part of me wishes that if the contenders just sat down over a bowl of soup before the election, they would be much nicer to each other.  Think about it, soup always makes you all warm and happy inside.  It takes some time to eat so they would have some time to rationally talk about their issues.  And finally, watching someone blow on a spoon of piping hot soup, really is kind of intimate.  It would be a bonding experience.

So with the election in a couple of months, I hope our candidates and their supporters can sit down, talk like adults and have an honorable race.

I don’t see any political party actually taking my advice to discuss platforms over soup but I personally would find it much more interesting election if they did.

Politically Correct Chicken and Pepper Soup

Ingredients:

  1. 3 Tbsp. Butter
  2. 1 red pepper, seeded and diced
  3. 1 poblano chile, seeded and diced
  4. 1 small onion, diced
  5. 1 Tbsp. Garlic, minced
  6. 1 tsp chili powder
  7. 1 tsp cumin
  8. ½ tsp ground coriander
  9. 6 Tbsp. Flour, divided
  10. 3 cups whole milk
  11. 1 cup beer
  12. 2 cups chicken broth
  13. ½ cup dry converted rice
  14. 2 cups cheddar cheese
  15. 1 jalapeno, diced
  16. 2 cups cooked chicken
  17. 2 Tbsp. Chopped cilantro
  18. Lime slices for garnish and corn bread is good too!

Directions:

  1. Melt butter in large pot.  Stir in ingredients #2-8.  Cook until peppers begin to soften.  (About 5 minutes)
  2. Coat vegetables with 3 Tbsp. Flour and cook 2 minutes.
  3. Whisk in beer, milk and broth until smooth.  (Do this step slowly to prevent lumps)
  4. Bring mixture to a simmer.
  5. Add rice, simmer covered about 15 minutes.  (I stir it so the rice doesn’t get too gummy)
  6. Combine remaining flour with cheese and jalapeno in large storage bag and shake to coat.
  7. Add cheese to soup one handful at a time.   Make sure cheese is melted completely before you add the next handful.  (Do NOT let the soup boil at this point or the cheese will break and curdle)
  8. Add chicken and cilantro, heat for 3-5 more minutes.
  9. Serve with lime slices.

Paid for by Bloggers Against Bullying.  (Okay, no one paid for this but wouldn’t that be a nice group?  I’d bring the soup!)