One of the meals Maricela is fond of making is chicken soup. She’s very informal about it, throwing in whatever we have on hand. The basic recipe here is:

• 1-2 pounds of fresh chicken, which was still walking around the owner’s backyard earlier in the day
• Assorted vegetables, picked within the past 24 hours
• Salt and spices to taste
• Water

Even better: serve with tortillas, hand made from dough that was ground this morning.