chicken-noodle soup (This is STILL good.)

Published: Wed, 10/29/25

Updated: Wed, 10/29/25

** boathouse * previous bodies * loon? * hamburguesas **

Yep, you might have seen this one before. I first sent it on 2.9.24. Hamburguesas El Gordo is still there.

This is good. Chicken-Noodle Soup / Once there was a place called Boathouse Coffee. (drawing of facade with blue awning. character inside drinking coffee might be a loon.) [It wasn't especially close to any body of water.] / 1. The NOODLES. 1 egg, beaten, 2 T milk, 1/2 t salt, ~1 c flour, pepper: more than seems right. Mix, roll out, cut into short strips, & set aside to dry (drawings of ingredients).

When I ran the Twin Cities marathon in 1997, the route went past that corner. I'd lived here just a year, and Boathouse was one of the few landmarks I recognized during the first half of the race. (crowd of runners, including young carolyn, running past Boathouse at 42nd & Cedar; carolyn saying "Oh, Boathouse! Only 19 more miles!") I moved away just a couple of months after that.) / 2. the CHICKEN. Salt & pepper 2 boneless chicken breasts. In a
skillet with a little olive oil, brown the chicken pretty intensely, then lower heat, add a little water, and cover to cook through.

(chicken breasts in cast iron skillet) / (20-something carolyn wearing office clothes, sitting at a desk with an old-timey telephone) In 2002 I moved back to Minneapolis and took a job about 5 blocks from that corner. Boathouse was still there for a while. Then it closed, and after some months another café opened in the space. It made it a year or so, then folded. Then another gave it a go. There were several rounds of this. / 3. the AROMATICS. 1 onion, cut in
thin strips; 1 large rib celery, minced; ~2T ginger, minced; ~3 garlic cloves. Melt a little butter in a soup pot and sauté all but garlic until soft. Press in garlic just at the end.

(40ish carolyn shown from the back, about to open café door) I had that job a long time, and I liked to take walks at lunch, so I visited this place in all its incarnations. I wish I could remember all of their names. / For a while, there was a piece of paper taped to the cash register (there was a cash register) with a typewritten poem on it called "I Give You This Poem for a Hot Dog." / I don't remember who wrote it, but I do remember the sense of
things of value being given and received, hand to hand, and the line "the one who womans the grill." / I had just started reading and writing poems then.

(paper coffee cup with steaming soup inside) In one incarnation of the café, they served chicken-noodle soup, heavy on garlic and ginger, with peppery homemade noodles and bright carrots and parsley. / If you ordered it to go, they handed it to you in a coffee cup. / 6. the HERBS. When noodles are done (~8 minutes — taste them!) add a handful of roughly chopped parsley and a thinly sliced scallion or 2. / Simmer just a minute more, taste for salt, and serve. /
Now Hamburguesas El Gordo is on that corner. Their tacos are excellent — I encourage you to visit if you can.

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Minneapolis MN 55406
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