chicken soup for the soul

so it was a little cloudy yesterday, a perfect day to stay home and make soup. so i went to pavillions and purchased an organic whole chicken and promptly put him (or her) in the magnalite pot handed down to me when my grandmother, thelma huntington barton passed away. i love this pot, for the simple reason my grandmother owned it. she was famous for cooking roasts in this aluminum vessel...a red meat and potato girl she was. i still remember her making steak for my grandpa in a scorching hot cast iron skillet. and he loved it barely cooked. only real men eat their steak practically raw.

and he was a real man indeed, dirty cowboy boots and all.

a bit of nostalgia on the stove.

the nostalgia continued as i proceeded to cook this lovely chicken until it literally fell off the bone. carrots, celery and onions were added. i then spooned in the plump dumplings, a recipe from my other grandma, orlene larsen henrie. a recipe which took me awhile to master. i still remember every time we would visit her, she would make this delicious dish...because she knew it was my favorite. she also made these wonderful sugar cookies filled with raspberry jam-with a little cut out on the top. i wish i had gotten that recipe from her too...she had all of these memorized and cooked all of this in a tiny, neat kitchen with painted pale green cupboards and formica countertop. she lovingly raised five children in this kitchen, the size of my bathroom and didnt complain once. now she was a real woman.

so i hope my grandmothers were looking down on me yesterday with little smiles on their faces, knowing the love i have for them in my heart.

knowing i am a product of their strength and integrity.

and the soup was delicious.

grandma henries dumplings

1 cube butter

2 cups water and a little salt

boil this mixture, than dump in quickly

1 cup flour

stir vigorously, then add

2 eggs

stir more, then spoon into hot soup, NOT boiling

cook 15 minutes.