If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know two things about me: I’m a lifelong vegetarian, and I love my grandmother. If you’re wondering why you should take advice on how to make homemade chicken soup from me, rest easy friends, this one is from Grandma.

Chicken Soup; Not Just for Flu Season

Chicken soup is internationally recognized as the food of choice for the down trodden. Got the flu? Chicken soup. Common cold? Chicken soup. Rotator cuff surgery? That’s right, chicken soup!

As I’m writing this, my husband is down the hall undergoing his 3rd shoulder surgery. You heard it… 3rd shoulder, 15th overall. (Isn’t football life fancy?)

Besides being a comforting cliche, there is actual science supporting chicken soup’s healing powers. So when there’s a man down in this house, chicken soup is on the stove!

This recipe is so special to me and has been a part of our family for generations. A big thank you to my little “Granny” for demonstrating how it’s done and letting me use her kitchen in the house where I grew up!

The Soup 

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken thighs
• 3 large carrots
• 4 stalks celery
• 1 medium onion
• parsley
• salt and pepper

What to do:

1. Wash chicken and place in bottom of an 8 quart pot.

   

2. Fill 3/4 of the way full with water and bring to a boil.

   

3. When the foam on top of the water turns brown, skim it off with a large spoon and discard. Try not to think about this part… it’s kinda gross.
4. Add 1/2 tsp. salt to water and cook for 1/2 an hour at an “easy boil”.
5. Add vegetables and a pinch of salt to the pot. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until veggies are tender.

   

   

6. Remove chicken thighs from pot, shred meat, and return to pot (discard skin and bones).

The Dumplings (Kluski)

 Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 egg
• about 6 oz. of cold water

What to do:

1. In a small bowl, mix first three ingredients.

   

2. Add water, a little bit at a time and keep mixing.
3. Add water until dough is very soft and can be beaten with a fork.

   

4. Boil 3 quarts of water.
5. Drop dough by the tsp. into boiling water.

   

6. “Kluski” will rise to the top when it’s done.

   

7. Drain and serve in soup.

   

A few side notes:

• When we did the photoshoot for this post my sweet grandma was a little concerned about her hands being in the shots; she said the hands really show a person’s age. Well, Granny, so does a boatload a great-grandchildren… and you have a lot of them. Plus, I think her hands are beautiful. They lived through the depression and a world war. They raised my mother, and they helped raise me. They can paint, draw, play the piano, and cook the best chicken soup in the world! I love your hands and I love you!

• One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received was to keep a collection of hand-written recipes. When I left home for Massachusetts with Matt I took a simple spiral notebook and started gluing recipes in it from my mother, mother-in-law, grandmothers, Matt’s grandmothers, aunts, sister-in-laws, friends,… everyone. It’s a true treasure and I would highly recommend creating one for yourself.

  

   

• As I’m wrapping up this post we are back home, several days into recovery, and our patient is doing great! Since many of you may never have rotator cuff surgery, I thought I’d give you an inside look at the marvels of modern medicine and the advancements made by the most respected hospitals and orthopedic surgeons in the world; this my friends is how they know where to cut….

  

   

• By the way, Dr. Gill really missed an opportunity here… he could have written or drawn whatever he wanted on Matt that day. If the roles were reversed the good doc would have woken up with a Mike Tyson tribal face tattoo. C’mon Tom!

If you like Grandma’s chicken soup recipe, check out this one for her apple pie!!