Chicken Soup for the Soul

This morning most of us on the East Coast woke up to pouring rain.  I promptly ignored my alarm clock until my husband slightly nudged me reminding me it was my favorite time of day, 5 a.m.  Even though I only had a 3 mile run and was doing so on the treadmill to save time, I knew I had to get going.  Since Aaron has been battling a cold, there was a lot to do before work at 8:45 a.m.  It is these days where I do choose to forgo the TV or books on tape and just blast the music during the run to clear my head.

Before I knew it, "rest" time was over and I was off to battle the day.  Our place needed massive cleaning and I did not want to leave it for my husband so I set to work doing dishes, collecting the trash, and then bringing it down to the end of our way too long driveway in the pouring rain.  By 7:45, I was cold and wet and ready to hang in the towel and get ready for work, but before I could do so I had to help my husband.  He needed some chicken soup.  Didn't you know chicken soup cures all?

Now,  we have been sampling many of chicken soups in the past two days while we battle this cold.  From Whole Foods to our local farmers to instant nothing is doing the trick.  And honestly, we were both too busy and tired to just roll up our sleeves and make it on our own. Unfortunately, with each soup came disappointment.  Nothing compared to Aaron's mother's Jewish Chicken Soup that used to smell up the home before Friday night dinner paired with matzah balls and challah.  This stuff was life saving.  I remember the first time I had it, sitting at a 4 hour long Passover Seder with Aaron's family.  It must have been 9 at night, we still had not gotten to the eating part of the Seder and I was sooo sick, but trying my hardest to stay with it.  It was then that Aaron's mom snuck me a mug of her soup.  It was like coming back to life.

While Aaron's mom has since sadly past away, she is by no means forgotten. I talk to her often (no I am not crazy) and am often visiting with her through dreams and meaningful songs.  But one of my favorite ways to visit with her is through the food that she cooked, the recipes she wrote down for me, and the moments we shared.  So when I had extra time, due to a short workday today, I knew the only thing to help my hubby was a visit from mom or the next best thing, her soup.  We set to work making it - I tried to get him to sit down but he could not help himself.  Luckily one of the wonders of this soup is the prep is like 10 minutes literally.  And before we knew it, it was in the pot and the house was smelling of Debbi's soup.

Now I can't say Aaron is 100% better from the soup but he is absolutely getting there and you better believe I credit much of it towards the soup.  I don't know, there is just something special about it.  Regardless, you might all think I am a little nuts, but it also just so important and meaningful for me to take moments to "visit" with those you can no longer truly speak with, especially those who I consider to be a second mother, and hopefully this combined with the soup will kick this cold's ass and we will be ready tomorrow for a new day.

My mother-in-law and I finding my wedding dress

Do you have any special recipes like this or do you all think I am pretty much insane...don't answer that ;)