Chicken Soup for the World

Chicken Soup for the World

I was recently thinking about my Buby (Yiddish for Grandmother) and how she taught me about how being present for others could be as healing as serving them a pot of homemade chicken soup. Throughout my life I had chicken soup served so many different ways. My mother would either make it with matzo balls, hers were floaters and not sinkers, or noodles. She normally used wide egg noodles. As I grew up and aged, I began eating chicken soup served so many ways. I have had it with rice, orzo, ramen noodles, wild rice, tortellini, ravioli and with no grain or pasta at all. It was when I was writing a poem about being chicken soup and was looking for an image of a bowl of chicken soup that I saw so many images of chicken soup and realized that the healing power of chicken soup is a universal one, and not just one I grew up eating with my family.

It is not just the chicken soup, it is the love poured into the preparation of it. Growing up my mother taught me how to make chicken soup from scratch. I remember patiently waiting for what she called the scum to float to the top and I would skim it all off. She taught me that the secret ingredient to add to every dish I made was love. She once told me the scum that I was removing was taking away anything which might harm those I loved and that I was to think about how much I loved people with each movement.

It is interesting how chicken soup has become this metaphor for something soothing and comforting. It is supposed to evoke memories of love, family and tradition. That is in party why Jack Canfield called his series Chicken Soup for the Soul.  Those feelings and need to be loved and comforted are a global need, something so universal that just about every culture has their own way or ways of making chicken soup recipes to show comfort and love in their own way.

Below are just a few ways of making this soup that might make you and your family feel loved and comforted.

Matzo Ball Soup

Greek Lemon Chicken Soup

Hearty Chicken Quesadilla Soup

Slow Cooker Tuscan Tortellini Vegetable  Soup

Chicken Verde Soup

Chicken Ramen Soup

Pressure Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

Arroz Caldo

Moroccan Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Korean Chicken and Ginger Soup

Hearty Chicken, Potato and Corn Soup

Let me know which ones makes you feel loved and comforted

To order any equipment to make these soups check out pamperedchef.biz/sharonjacobsonChicken Soup for the World

I was recently thinking about my Buby (Yiddish for Grandmother) and how she taught me about how being present for others could be as healing as serving them a pot of homemade chicken soup. Throughout my life I had chicken soup served so many different ways. My mother would either make it with matzo balls, hers were floaters and not sinkers, or noodles. She normally used wide egg noodles. As I grew up and aged, I began eating chicken soup served so many ways. I have had it with rice, orzo, ramen noodles, wild rice, tortellini, ravioli and with no grain or pasta at all. It was when I was writing a poem about being chicken soup and was looking for an image of a bowl of chicken soup that I saw so many images of chicken soup and realized that the healing power of chicken soup is a universal one, and not just one I grew up eating with my family.

It is not just the chicken soup, it is the love poured into the preparation of it. Growing up my mother taught me how to make chicken soup from scratch. I remember patiently waiting for what she called the scum to float to the top and I would skim it all off. She taught me that the secret ingredient to add to every dish I made was love. She once told me the scum that I was removing was taking away anything which might harm those I loved and that I was to think about how much I loved people with each movement.

It is interesting how chicken soup has become this metaphor for something soothing and comforting. It is supposed to evoke memories of love, family and tradition. That is in party why Jack Canfield called his series Chicken Soup for the Soul.  Those feelings and need to be loved and comforted are a global need, something so universal that just about every culture has their own way or ways of making chicken soup recipes to show comfort and love in their own way.

Below are just a few ways of making this soup that might make you and your family feel loved and comforted.

Matzo Ball Soup

Greek Lemon Chicken Soup

Hearty Chicken Quesadilla Soup

Slow Cooker Tuscan Tortellini Vegetable  Soup

Chicken Verde Soup

Chicken Ramen Soup

Pressure Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

Arroz Caldo

Moroccan Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Korean Chicken and Ginger Soup

Hearty Chicken, Potato and Corn Soup

Let me know which ones makes you feel loved and comforted

To order any equipment to make these soups check out pamperedchef.biz/sharonjacobson

Oldies but Goodies

Oldies but Goodies

Amongst my mother’s belongings was a ratty old drawstring bag that held a few old pieces of costume jewelry.  The bag was filled with holes, but the bag itself was filled with memories. I remember my niece coming to visit me and asking about her grandmother, my mom. She said she wished she had something of hers to hold on to. She and I both missed my mom. So I gave her this ratty old bag. It was not the bag itself that was of value but what it stood for. It was a bag my father had bought to her from his time in Korea.  He had filled it with mementoes for her of his love for her. Decades later all my mom still had was the bag.  It was ratty and worn, but mostly from her holding on to it and feeling the love that had bought it to her.

My niece now has that bag and it is of no use to anyone but her. It is a memory of a woman we both loved with our hearts and souls. A woman, my mother, who never wanted her to run barefoot when she was a toddler. A woman who birthed me in her heart when nobody else would give me a home. A woman who taught me to love others unconditionally and to treat everyone with dignity and respect.

I no longer have my mother’s bag, but my kitchen is filled with memories of her. Like her tea server and her Pyrex bowls and casserole containers.  I may not use them as often anymore, but their mere presence brings back memories of times in the kitchen with my mom. My son talks about the memories he and I have created in our kitchens. Like the time I taught him to bake cookies using those same Pyrex bowls and we made dishes together using my bakeware and my mom’s.  It is not about the products, it is about the memories they represent.

We all have things which trigger our memories. We hold on to them, long after the people and places are gone. Having my mother’s bakeware around makes me feel loved. It reminds me of how she taught me to cook and bake. It reminds me of how she sat me on the floor with a pot and a spoon when I was a toddler and told me to stir. It reminds me of the mother daughter dates we would have around food. Like sitting on a blanket on the kitchen floor drinking club soda out of a wine glass and eating bagels, lox and cream cheese that were just for the two of us.  The kitchen for me, is a place my mother and I bonded. It is where she taught me valuable lessons about life and the spiritual messages from food.

My son and I have created memories together using my Pampered Chef.  My stoneware is no longer new and is well seasoned.  He remembers the meals, not the equipment. He remembers making lasagna with me, not necessarily the rectangular baker, although he still remembers it. He remembers the garlic cheese bread and fighting someone for the last piece,  not that it was made in our fluted cake pan. It is the memories which are invaluable. Hold on to those memories. What we hold on to may become tattered and old, but the memories will stay with us forever.

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Zenful Kitchen

Zenful Kitchen

Recently I was asked why I describe my kitchen as zenful.  It is because I am intentional about keeping the feeling here relaxing and filled with calming energy. I love cooking by myself sometimes because it is easy for me to just cook and be present and not be influenced by the energy of others. It reminds me of an experience I had as a teen where I was sitting in a small rowboat in the middle of the lake by myself. I wasn’t rowing or anything. I was just sitting there in my boat, feeling the warmth of the sun and the coolness of the summer breeze. I just was.

That is not to say I don’t like having others in the kitchen with me; I do. However, I have to remember to maintain my peaceful presence in the midst of others so that the kitchen stays calm and relaxing.  If I am not the calming presence in the space, things can easily get pulled out of balance by others stress and need to be in control. If I don’t do anything, things can go wrong. So I stay the calm in the storm and restore balance, peace and that zenful feeling.

I remember a scripture in the New Testament where Jesus and the disciples are on a boat in the storm and everyone is panicking but Jesus who is sleeping through it. After they wake him up, he just looks at the storm and says peace, be still.  In the kitchen when I stay solid and calm, others do not panic and we are most likely to keep that zenful energy in my kitchen.

There are times that I have those rough waves and storms in my kitchen. Sometimes my friends want to help but get stressed out because of their own lack of confidence over what they are doing. The teacher in me has to remind them to breathe and have fun in the moment. This is how we learn and create amazing memories. In the midst of these moments, we learn how speak to the nervousness and say breathe, I can do this.  I have also had people try to boss me around in my kitchen because of their need to be in control.  Sometimes, I suggest we work together and collaborate, after all we are not in a competition. Other times, I delegate parts of the meal and act more like the conductor of an orchestra so that we all play together and serve up a meal that comes together in perfect harmony.

There are things which help me stay zenful in the kitchen. One thing is my remembering to take time to meditate and be at peace as I roll in. This is especially true when preparing a feast for company like I am this weekend. I remind myself to enjoy each moment and to infuse love into all that I make. I also envision the whole process so I know the least stressful and most enjoyable way to experience the day. I think about what I am doing and what it symbolizes, like how coring 5 lbs of apples for my apple crisp is an opportunity for me to think about my core values. I think about how the apples will be coated in ingredients which will help with their transformation and add flavor to them as they cook. I think about the vegetables I will be adding to my salad and what each one brings to the party I want people to experience as they eat. I try to remember that people experience love and comfort at the table in different ways. While I love my lasagna, I enjoy soup more (especially this time of year). Thus the menu this weekend will contain soup, salad, lasagna, garlic bread and a bubbling apple crisp with vanilla ice cream and homemade caramel sauce.

What I love doing most in the kitchen is infusing love and zenfulness into everything I make. I want everyone to not only taste the love but experience it. Each meal should be creating a memorable moment, one bite at a time. There is nothing like being at the table with those we love that nobody wants to leave. This is what happens in the zenful kitchen.

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