Chicken Soup - Traditional Noodle or Something Else?

My all time favorite chicken soup was the made-from-scratch soup my Mom made years ago on the farm. The very best part of it was the homemade egg noodles that were cooked in the chicken broth. I probably remember this so fondly because the noodles were about the only thing I could get down when I had a bad case of mumps. Just "slurp" them up ... as long as the noodles weren't to big. Nothing matched the taste of those noodles. Of course, the flavour may be memory-enhanced. That soup was definitely a comfort food. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find her recipe for the noodles. It was hand written on a scrap of paper in the back of an old Blue Ribbon cook book ... I think Mom got the recipe from an elderly neighbour.

I love to make homemade chicken soup all the time. When anyone in my family is sick or has a cold, I like to put extra garlic and ginger root in it. It helps to clear out your head, and takes the scratchy out of your throat.

Ohh... My mom made me homemade chicken noodle soup whenever I was sick or sad. She made it for me when I was pregnant and I wanted nothing but that!!! It is for sure a comfort food. I like to have big thick egg noddles in mine, and like my chicken to have a bit of a garlic seasoning on it... OMG I am hungry now and it's like 2am!!!!

chicken soup is a classic for sure - though I am not much on chicken noodle, unless the noodles are like those bow ties or little penne pastas - I like barley or rice in my chicken soup though. I usually start with a good stewing hen - boil the meat off, pick the bones then remove about half the meat from the pot for another meal - I add various things but most always will add celery, carrot, onion and peas, pepper and salt and whatever occurs to me at the moment. I generally make a big dutch oven full of it and keep sneaking tastes and sniffs until of course I put the dumplings on and then I can not take a taste for several minutes!!! I don't know what my favorite part of chicken soup is, but those dumplings sure are yummy...

I love chicken and I love noodles, but not necessarily in soup, unless it is won ton soup bulked up with a few strips of lovely emerald green spinach. My taste runs to the thick creamy milk-based soups so I would put nice chunks of chicken together with celery and diced carrots and potatoes. Float a few dumplings on top of that and some thyme and black pepper and you have a happy camper here. Hubby on the other hand prefers his chicken pot pie flavors in just that--a pie with pastry crust. He is not so much a dumpling guy. When I cook for two, it is really like cooking for one twice over because we have such opposite tastes in food. If I crave white clam chowder he is sure to be in the mood for red. If I grill a nice fish filet, he begs for a hot dog. He loves chicken noodle soup!

Homemade soup is wonderful. I like plain old chicken noodle soups with chicken, noodles, carrots, and celery. My favorite chicken soup though is homemade chicken corn chowder. I make it with chicken, potatoes, corn, carrots, and celery in a creamy broth. YUMMY!