A Taste of Home

A view from my mamas back porch looking out to the corn fields *that haven’t grown yet because it’s still cold*

It’s a cold, wet afternoon in gloomy Ohio. My mama (Midwest for grandma: pronounced maam-aw) insists on making me my favorite meal at her house: a PB&J sandwich with Campbell’s chicken noodle soup– extra brothy. What a classic meal for a child, right? Nothing could make my 8-year-old heart feel so complete. My mama always kept a can of chicken noodle soup for me at her house when I would come and visit. It’s one of my favorite past-times.

Of course, you can make chicken noodle soup in the microwave, but that takes away all the fun. I’d instantly run to the kitchen as fast as I could and hear my mama yelling at me to not slip on the hardwood floor–classic grandma things. We’d turn on the gas stove to a medium temperature. I always loved watching the flame come on the stove as most stoves at this time were electric.

Now, I’m letting you in on a little secret to perfecting the best chicken noodle soup possible…

1. Melt 1 tablespoon of salted butter into your pot of choice — I truly believe the butter is key here
2. Pour your soup into the pot
3. Slowly stir it in
4. After about one minute has past, add ONLY a ½ cup of water or heavy cream — my mama and I would mix it up depending on whether or not she had heavy cream handy
5. Add lots of pepper, a little bit of salt, and a pinch of lemon juice — to taste, but definitely add enough pepper. We liked to use fresh lemons
6. Keep stirring until your soup has came to boil
7. Pour soup into your favorite bowl and pick out your favorite spoon
8. For a finishing touch, add parsley– fresh or not
9. ENJOY!

Thank you to Karolina Grabowska via Pexels for this wonderful photo

Chicken noodle soup could make the coldest of days, warm and cozy. Chicken noodle soup could take the rain away from the cloud. I encourage you to make chicken noodle soup the next time you have a rainy day. It brings back so many great memories from my childhood– the cold floors in my mama’s house, listening to Elton John on her old school radio, my papa watching the news in the other room, and looking outside her kitchen windows to see the corn field behind her house. Chicken noodle soup resembles the small child I once was.