SC - OP: Chicken soup request

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

This is reminding me of the first time i cooked chicken soup.

I was 18, in New York City, had just dropped out of college after 
taking part in the first big anti-Vietnam War march on the Pentagon, 
and was living the hippie life. I had my first job, a M-F 9-5 in a 
department store, but my weekends... Well, that was a long time ago, 
and as they say, if you can remember the '60's, you weren't there.

I didn't know how to cook. We had a live in maid at home. My major 
cooking experience before leaving home was that i had experimented 
making rice. We used Uncle Ben's Minute Rice. I would occasionally 
add things like tomato paste, chicken bouillion cubes, or spices to 
the water before cooking. Whew-wee, how experimental. Otherwise, 
anytime i tried to make a boxed mix, i failed.

I had gotten terrible grades in home ec. in jr. high (back in the day 
when all girls had to take home economics, while the boys were doing 
cool stuff, like using a lathe, in wood shop), because i was lousy at 
sewing the patterns they forced us to use and cooking oatmeal and 
other drab dishes.

All i knew how to make, basically, was tuna salad and spaghetti.

So i went to a Kosher butcher and got a chicken. What did i know? My 
mother didn't do that - she phoned the butcher and he delivered. But 
i decided to do it the old way.

The feet! And the neck! And the gizzards! I'd never seen them before. 
But i took them home and they went into the pot.

I can't recall the recipe now. I probably added celery, carrot, and 
onion. Salt, no pepper. No garlic - i was from Chicago and you don't 
use much garlic in the suburbs.

When it was done, i ate the meat, but i wasn't sure what to do with 
the non-muscle meat parts. I may have tasted the gizzard and heart, 
then tossed them. I'm sure i didn't bother with the liver. I might 
even have sucked on a foot. I'm odd. But they don't have much meat.

A month and a half later i made from scratch and canned several 
different types of chutneys and Indian pickles and cooked a multi 
course Indian meal for a couple friends. Haven't done any canning 
since... unless you count the 2 gallons of Compost i made in December 
and i'm planning to make some Moroccan salted lemon rind...

Anahita
yes, we can learn