#2,547 Judi’s Chicken Noodle Soup.

It must be a Christmas miracle (or we’re burnt out on IHOP), but I found time to cook supper again tonight and it hit the spot just like yesterday did. Last week, our dear friend Judi gave a huge pot of her delicious chicken noodle soup to the 6 of us at the Mercantile because she knew we weren’t getting much time for home cooked meals. Our precious friend and former mayor, Mrs. Susan, brought us all dinner a couple nights later—proof that life in a small town is the sweetest life there is. These women knew that opening the store has been comparable to having a baby for us all and took care of us in this way, and that’s the most comforting thing in the world, isn’t it?

Judi insisted it was very easy to make her chicken noodle soup and explained how she tweaked it here and there, and tonight I tried my hand at it with my own tweaks here and there, and it was absolutely life-giving delicious and warm and wonderful on this rainy night. I cooked it in the HUGE pot I got from my grandmother’s kitchen a couple weeks ago which made the entire experience 10x sweeter (and easier, obviously, because it was her pot with her magic powers attached to it).

It’s a very easy recipe especially if you can get the diced onions and celery at your local grocery. Here’s how I did it:

Judi’s Chicken Noodle Soup

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded with skin and bones removed
12 oz. of extra wide egg noodles
4 quarts of chicken broth
3 tsp. chicken base
2 T. butter
2 T. canola oil
1 onion, diced
2 ribs of celery, diced
4 cloves of garlic, finely diced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 T. dried basil
1/2 tsp. Lawry’s seasoning salt
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter and oil together on medium, then sautee all the vegetables + basil and seasoning salt until fragrant and soft.

Add the broth, chicken base, and shredded chicken and bring to a boil on high heat, stirring a few times. Add noodles and reduce to medium heat for 10 minutes, and add salt and pepper to taste. It’s so easy. AND SO GOOD.

P.S.

We got a phone call about a really lovely and exciting possibility today that I’m dying to tell you about, but I can’t yet. Thank y’all for following along with our life here, friends. It means the world.