From the Department of Things I Had In My Kitchen, I offer up the following recipe.

Ingredients:
Unsalted butter (about a stick)
1 clove garlic
Prawns (peeled and deveined if you like, though I used whole ones with the head still on)
Raw salted bacon, chopped (thick cut is best)
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation time: about 15 minutes

Mince garlic and set aside.

In a skillet with high sides, melt butter on medium heat. Add garlic while the butter is melting, it'll take a little while. When butter has completely melted and just started to turn brown, reduce heat enough that the butter doesn't brown anymore and add prawns, then add chopped bacon. Sautee prawns, turning as needed; test for doneness by poking with the tip of a butter knife. (Prawns will get firmer as they cook, first turning orange, then you'll be able to see the whiteness of the cooked flesh through the shell, then the shell will turn a darker orange as all that tasty brown butter cooks in.) The prawns should be done by the time the bacon finishes cooking, provided you're using good thick bacon.

Remove from heat. Drain butter. Arrange prawns on plate, garnish with bacon, and serve.

Why, yes, that is a Rice Krispie treat the size of my head.

So, there I was, hacking away in my living room, when I noticed that I was hungry. True to form, when I'm living and working alone, I forget to do things like eating. I remembered fixing a frozen pizza around 10pm last night, but I couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten before then, so I decided this situation had to be remedied. I could have eaten the other half of the pizza, but it didn't look nearly as appetizing for lunch as it might otherwise have for breakfast. I didn't really want to go out, though, so that meant cooking -- preferably something that didn't take a lot of time to fix. A quick survey of the ingredients in my cabinet suggested chicken soup, and it cooked up so quickly (maybe fifteen minutes, all told) and turned out so well that I decided to share the recipe.

I'm not going to indicate quantities here, because (1) I didn't measure anything, and (2) I don't know how many people you're cooking for. I probably made somewhere between two and three cups of broth, and used two small chicken-tenderloin strips that I had in my freezer; my technique for adding spices involves adding more and more until it looks and smells right. (Except for celery seed, on which more later.) This left me with enough food for two people, three if they don't like big lunches.

( So, on with the recipe! )

Also, note to self: the next time you think, "Gosh, that's hot. I wish someone made kitchen pliers," it should not take you five minutes to remember that "kitchen pliers" are actually called "tongs", and you do not own any. However, you are not allowed to go to Bed, Bath and Beyond by yourself ever again, so you should get someone responsible to go with you.

And seriously, trust me on the celery seed.