With the recent stormy weather came the craving for soup so this week I made a beef vegetable soup. It got me to thinking about our son, Jody, and his chicken noodle soup. We’ve never gotten the chance to enjoy his soup, but his family loves it. More than once, Jody has called us to visit while he waits for a chicken to finish cooking. He uses an oven-baked chicken for the soup, and I’ll bet that he uses some of the drippings in the chicken broth, too.

I love chicken noodle soup — in fact, sometimes I even crave it. There are so many ways to make the soup, depending on the time you have to spend in making it. This week’s column features a recipe to make the soup from scratch, but you can cut corners by using canned broth or bouillon cubes, leftover cooked chicken or even canned chicken. After Thanksgiving dinner, I sometimes cook the turkey drumsticks in a pot of water with celery and carrots to make a broth and then use leftover turkey meat in the soup.

Chicken Noodle Soup

3 pounds (more or less) of chicken, cut up to fit in a pot

4 cups water

4 cups chicken broth

2 carrots, cut into pieces

1 ½ cups sliced celery

1 cup coarsely chopped onion

1 eight-ounce package broad egg noodles

¼ cup chopped parsley

Put the chicken in a big pot. Add water and broth. Bring to a boil. Turn the heat down. Cover and simmer for about 20 to 25 minutes. Add the carrots, celery, and onion. Cover and simmer about 15 to 20 minutes longer, until the chicken is done. It will be done when the meat is no longer pink at the bone. Remove the chicken. Let it and the broth cool. Skim the fat off the broth. Remove the meat from the bones and cut the meat into bite-size pieces. Put the pot back on the stove and bring the broth to a boil. Add the noodles and cook according to the package directions, until tender. Stir the meat and parsley into the soup.

Watch the grocery store ads for specials on chicken meat. You can use packages of chicken parts that are not real meaty if you wish, to make a less expensive soup. Experiment! Make the soup your own. Add a little chicken bouillon if you think the broth needs it.

If you have a recipe that you would like to share, send it to me at PO Box 415, Craig 81626 or call me at 824-8809. I’m looking for recipes!