Grandma's Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken Noodle Soup

Grandma was at it again in the kitchen. She makes the best chicken noodle soup in the world.

Do you remember when you were a kid, playing outside in the snow, and then coming in to get a bowl of condensed chicken noodle soup? How it used to warm you up from the inside? I personally remember that the chicken noodle soup my mom always used to feed me and how it was seriously lacking. The soup it self was 9/10 broth and rediculously salty to boot. You were lucky if you received 2 or more pieces of chicken. And they were discolored! There was always that one piece that had a little black spot in it that you avoided like the plague. So by the time you got down to it, it was a bowl of broth with one decent piece of chicken it and some slimy noodles. But you ate anyway because it hit the spot.

Well, the weather is changing and fall is once more upon us. That bitter cold just slicing through your bones. With the unruly cold bellowing at your innards, comes the sniffles and a bulbous red nose swollen from the overuse of cheap tissues and napkins that are readily available. Yes, cold season is here again! Hooray for persistent bacteria! So what does this all have to do with Grandma's Chicken Noodle Soup you ask? Excellent question!

To start with, let's look at the consistency of this marvelous creation. Grandma's chicken noodle soup is overwhelmingly stocked full of home made noodles. I am not talking the slimy skinny tidbits from your average condensed can. These are whoppers reminiscent of lasagna pasta 1/8th'ed. Thick slices of yummy noodle. Oh it gets better! Next, Grandma so intricately chooses her carrots! Again, not store boughten pre-packed or frozen processed garbage here. These are real carrots that have been skinned, and hand sliced by this delightful elderly woman after being hand selected from the local grocery produce section. The next wonderous ingredient is salt. Not because of what it is, but how it is added to this arrangement of delectable morsels. She salts to taste. No measuring cup. I often ask her how much is too much, or , how do you know how much to put it? She always smiles and just shrugs her shoulders. She would then proceed to elaborate on how they used to cook in the old days with a 'pinch of this' and a 'pinch of that'. "We never used measuring cups..." Finally, she creates the stock. The chicken broth is the heart and soul of chicken noodle soup. The broth is actually created from the whole breasts of chicken that Grandma boils. She doesn't skimp on the chicken either. Whole breast, all white meat, is all she uses. No discolored 'what the heck is that black thing?' here. After boiling the chicken, she strains off most of the unpleasantries that come from the breasts themselves and pours the stock to the noodles and carrots and salt melody. Now, for the piece de resistance, the chicken! After the chicken has been slow boiled for hours and the broth poured off, the whole chicken breasts are taken from the cauldron and selectively chunked apart by Grandma's arthritis ridden hands. She stops from time to time to rub her sore joints, but muscles on to the finished product. After the chicken has been marauded by hands from yesteryear, the plump hunks of white meat are generously added to the savory selection. After all the ingredients have been lumped together, stirred not shaken, they are then cooked again in that same cauldron for some time.

By this time, that amazing smell that reminds you of making snow angels 20 years ago is beating you in the face screaming "Smell and know that I am all that is Grandma's Chicken Noodle Soup!". After the first waft of goodness tickles your nostrils, you are salivating beyond control. You rush downstairs to see where this delicious smell is emanating from. And there it is, in all its holy glory, Grandma's Chicken Noodle Soup slowly simmering on the stove tempting you. It is so powerful, you become weak in the knees at it's awesomeness. You clamber to the cupboard for a bowl; any bowl! Must....have....chicken noodle soup! It makes no difference if you just got done eating a salami and cheese sandwich with mustard and swiss cheese. It does not care if you are stuffed to brim with chocolate chip cookies and Snicker's bars....no. You are powerless to this magical artifact.

In one fail swoop, Grandma's Chicken Noodle Soup wins again! "You shall rue the day chicken noodle soup!" I shout in my mind as the dribblings of this salty nectar hangs in my goatee. Man I love that stuff....