Ever since I cracked the soup code a few months ago one of the things I do pretty much weekly is make chicken soup. I used my great-grandmothers recipe as the basis. Of course, in typical grandmother fashion, she didn’t write anything down, so we had to go from memory. It took me a few tries to get it right, but now that I have it’s pretty much turned into my crack; I crave it like nothing else. I don’t usually plan it for Sunday, but that’s usually what ends up happening. In a way it’s kind of a nice that it does because I end up making it for me and my siblings only. It’s nice for just the four of us to get together and share a meal. I see them daily anyway, but there’s something special about sharing a meal, even if it’s just chicken soup and stuffin’ muffins, and maybe even some chocolate chip cookies like tonight.

Plus tonight we have the added bonus that we still have two dogs. Our pup that was in the vet’s office last week because of kidney failure due to Addison’s Disease came home on Thursday like a whirl-wind. Now that she’s on the correct medications and luckily didn’t suffer any permanent kidney damage she’s 100% normal; tearing up the backyard running laps, going for walks, eating and loving everybody.

Crock-Pot Chicken Soup

• 1 whole chicken fryer, quartered
• water
• 1 cup celery, finely chopped
• 1/2 – 1 cup small pasta
• 1 & 1/2 Tsp sea salt
• 1 Tsp Thyme
• 1/2 Tsp Basil
• 1/4 Tsp pepper

Put chicken into crock-pot and fill with water; cook on high for 4 hours. After 4 hours remove chicken from crock-pot, strain out skin and fat; chop breast meat and add it back in with celery, seasoning, and pasta. Cook on low 30 minutes more before serving.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 & 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 Tsp baking soda
• 1/2 Tsp salt
• 1 cup butter flavored shortening + 2 Tbls water
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 2 Tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup hazelnuts -or- pecans
• coarse sea salt to top (optional)

Cream sugars, eggs, butter, and vanilla extract. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt then slowly add into creamed sugar. Once smooth mix in chips and nuts. Put on cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt. Bake @ 375 degrees 9-11 minutes.

I know putting sea salt on top seems kind of insane, but trust me it’s delicious.