For years, I made soup the way my mom taught me, and it was good. This year, I changed things up, and took it to another level (at least, that’s my story 😊). In my lifetime, I’ve done a lot of things “because that’s the way Mom did it” or “that’s the right way to do it”. There’s comfort in carrying on with traditions and recipes and habits, but sometimes mixing things up and adding our own flair and seasonings is wise too. You need to be a little ferocious in life.
Chicken Soup Roasted bones make better soup than slippery slimy ones or dried out carcasses. It took me a long time to know this. Years spent simmering leftovers with an onion, a carrot, celery, and whole peppercorns (before I learned that those hard black orbs needed to be crushed to release their seasoning), straining the stock, adding chopped vegetables, barley, and what little meat had slipped from the bones. I learned to make soup from my mother a long time ago, when everything was different. Now I do it my way. With roasted bones pulled from the oven just before they change from caramelized to burnt, chopped vegetables, ground pepper, and orzo, not barley, because the grain has always upset my stomach though I chose not to admit it. You need to be a little ferocious to make a good soup, and have courage to change what no longer works. Old women have learned this. We’ve crafted and refined our recipe.