Something Magical Happens When You Make Soup The Old Fashioned Way

Lisa came down with the infamous summer cold a week ago. Mine hit a couple of days ago. We're both down with the sickness. Lisa is feeling a little better, but she's got a bad cough and her ear is plugged. I feel like someone hit me in the face with a shovel before pushing me in front of a bus. I honestly tried to conquer some items on my Work at Home Dog Mom Weekend Honey-Do list, but...

Nope.

I even gave myself a pep talk during the late morning hours. I faithfully took my cold medicine and Ibuprofin. Kept hydrated. Shifted over to my fresh lemon and local raw honey cocktail at noon.

Nope.

When Lisa left to run a couple of errands and pick up a few groceries, I got up from the kitchen table and stretched. I inhaled and exhaled slowly the best I could with all of the congestion.

I refused to let this Summer plague defeat me.

I wasn't in any condition to swim oceans or move mountains, but I could accomplish something. I brainstormed for a bit.

Then...

It happened.

I made a beautiful peach crunch pie with a bag of fresh local peaches that were sitting in our refrigerator.

When Lisa got home, she put everything away. I made her a snack and told her to go rest with the kids on the sofa.

While Lisa was napping, I grabbed the silver soup pot that's older than I am and started making my homemade chicken soup. I added fresh summer vegetables, lots of garlic and herbs, roasted chicken and let it simmer slowly for a few hours.

Our home smelled amazing. 

Lisa took the kids out and fed them dinner while I cooked the noodles for the soup.

I made garlic herb bread with the fresh Olive Oil Ciabatta Lisa bought at the bakery.

We ate at the kitchen table while playing Yahtzee.

We both love soups and chowders and stews with a great loaf of bread. It's a staple in our home during the cold weather months.

But when you're sick, soup always tastes better. It doesn't matter if it's hazy, hot, and humid outside.

It's hard to explain.

Lisa doled out compliments about the soup throughout the entire meal. I thought a lot about that after I tucked her and the kids into bed.

I've made my chicken soup many times in the past for dinner.

There was just something different about it tonight.

Maybe it's because we're both sick.

Maybe it's because I didn't use the crockpot to make the soup.

Maybe it's because the silver pot I did use belonged to my grandmother.

Maybe it's because I used freshly picked vegetables that our friends who have become family gave us.

Maybe it's because I made it the old fashioned way.

Regardless of the reason, it was one of the best batches of chicken soup I've ever made.

There's a lot of truth in the term "chicken soup for the soul."