Oh, The Weather Outside Was Frightful...

But, my new stove was soooo delightful...

Yes. I spent the "Blizzard of 2005" in my kitchen cooking up a pot of homemade Chicken Soup.

My soup secrets:

1. Fresh Thyme. It adds that herbal hit, je ne sais qua to the broth.

2. Garlic. Boil at least 3 - 4 large cloves cut in half, when the soup is boiling down. Most recipes only require an onion in terms of the Alliaceae family, but trust me on the garlic.

3. Boil noodles separately. Cooking noodles in the soup itself adds starch into the broth. You'll achieve a much more amiable balance between soup and noodle, if you add the noodles once cooked through.

4. Cheating (a little): I usually end up adding a packet of George Washington Golden Broth towards the end of the process for an added bit of flavor intensity.

The result this weekend was a gorgeous, savory chicken broth, teeming with herbs and onion-garlic goodness. And, with a warming pot like that on my stovetop, all I had to say to Mother Nature was this - Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!