I Love Homemaking

Joe's Recipe for Chicken Soup:

* Note: If making a small amount of soup, just alter the amount of ingredients to fit. This recipe is for a  large soup pot.Whole Chicken or 4 chicken breasts. Boil in large stewing kettle (something like you saw in cartoons of cannibals cooking people) Add generous amt. of salt.Slice 6-7 carrots end to end. No need to peel.Cut up 4 stalks of celery.Cut up 2 large onions.When chicken parts are done...take out of boiling water, but do not throw water away. Allow chicken parts to cool. Carefully cut or pull chicken bones away from meat. Slice the chicken parts longways. Lay slices flat and slice longways again...then cut into cubes. Throw everything together into the pot.Now, add to the pot, 3-4 teaspoons of chicken base (you can buy this at the store rather inexpensively) And stir all together. Then add generous amt. of dehydrated parsley flakes, or better yet...fresh. The best Chicken base of the several that I have tried is the Chicken Base bought at the GFS store.Finally, using white pepper, add salt and pepper to taste.Now for the noodles..... Boil noodles in a large separate kettle.Now I use wide no yolk egg noodles and rotini combined.In this large kettle, put in more water than you think you'll need and then add few drops of cooking oil (keeps noodles from sticking together). Bring water to a boil and add the noodles...stirring frequently until tender. After noodles are cooked, pour into a scolapasta and drain. Then rinse noodles thoroughly with real hot water (this removes all the starch). (If you prefer, just cook the noodles until Al Dente and then add them to the liquid soup.)Add all the noodles to soup mixture in kettle, bring to a boil again and simmer for half hour or more.NOTE: The amount of noodles that you will use will depend on how large of a kettle that you started with. Just remember more noodles is better than less noodles.... You may want to sprinkle a small amt. of cumin into the soup towards the end and stir in thoroughly. ENJOY!***Also, if you would like you can add potatoes to the soup, just peel 3-4 med. sized Yukon Gold potatoes. Cut into large cubes. Definitions... Scolapasta = A colander Joe's grandma was from Sicily and spoke very little English. He lived with her and could speak Italian fluently. (I have to say that I add a box of chicken broth...I think it gives more flavor, but Joe prides himself in how he can make a tasty soup without it. )

Here I am today with all kinds of things going on in my head. Recipes, and cooking mostly. I have two big pots of soup  starting on the stove and another pan with beef for chop suey. I'm making Joe's chicken noodle soup and beef vegetable soup and for today's meal....chop suey. I love to cook like this and the cooler days just get me all warm and fuzzy with homey ideas. 

I love home making. It's what I always wanted to do. Raise children and keep a nice home. I enjoy what I call marathon cooking. Preparing meals to have good leftovers. My high school foods teacher called leftovers....planovers. I have always remembered that....since the 50's when I was in school. She taught us to cook with real ingredients...once she brought in chickens with the feathers on for each cooking station. We had to clean the chicken and learn how to cut it up. Then we all did different recipes and tasted them all when they were finished cooking. I still have my old recipe cards from her class. She was a regular Julia Child....a tall woman with some meat to her  :)

As you have heard before....I enjoy cleaning cupboards, drawers and closets. Sometimes I just get an urge to clean my closet. My daughter laughs at this...."Mother...you just did that. You have the most orderly closet I've ever seen. Would you like to clean mine?"  My shoe boxes used to sit on the upper shelf and I had labeled them as to how they fit. Brown loafers, tight or Black shoes...tassels. This all saved me time. I know what's in the box and whether I can wear them for a long period of time...or just a little like when I go to Church. It's my system. I have a new system....I keep seasonal shoes in a shoe bag holding 12 pairs. I only keep 12 pairs for a season....tossing a pair as they get old. Twelve shoe boxes are on the shelf with shoes that are for the next season. I change them as the season ends. 24 pair might sound like a lot....but when you figure in shoe boots, and garden shoes, crocs, slippers etc......they add up. Gather up all the shoes you own...I'll bet you have as many as I do. Maybe more...Imelda :) 

I am planning the chop suey for dinner today. I know that Joe and I will have a little cup of that chicken noodle soup tonight, while watching a favorite TV show.

So, I had better get back to my "home on the range." The chicken is done and it's time to add the veggies.

Balisha