Soup is a favorite food of many people and can be enjoyed any time of the year.  There are many options, and it can be a healthy and nutritious part of any meal. Crackers, bread sticks, croutons, and/or fresh crusty bread can be a nice compliment to a hot, steaming bowl of soup.  It’s tasty just by itself too. Many claim chicken soup has healing properties and it can be easy to eat and digest when sick. My grandmother used to make a huge, endless pot of homemade noodle soup (the best ever) every Sunday (without fail) and invited the whole extended family over to enjoy it.

I think of soup as a comfort food. I enjoy tasting a variety of soup(s) that I have never tried before. Soup can be delicious when prepared with familiar or new ingredients and spices.

Eating a bowl of soup can invoke a lot of memories that can be created around a table, when shared with family and/or friends.

A new easy, favorite of mine is homemade matzo ball soup.  I have enjoyed it in restaurants, in the past, but have never made it myself. My best friend shared her recipe with me recently, while my mother was sick. Her mother made it for me, years ago, when I was recovering and celebrating the birth of my first child.

With this new recipe in hand, I tried making it myself and we loved it! We made some simple modifications and have prepared it five times already, this winter. Soup is not just soup for me.  It represents a lifetime of wonderful memories.

Soup’s On! You may want to adjust amounts of ingredients to your preference. Serving size depends on if you would like a cup or a bowl. It takes about an hour to prepare. Leftover soup is just as good the following day.

Ingredients

• 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2-3 ribs of celery, chopped
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 10 cups of water
• 4.5-ounce box of matzo ball & soup mix
• 1 bag of extra, extra thin noodles

Directions

1. Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.  (We can’t forget food safety and personal hygiene when cooking.)
2. In a metal bowl, prepare the matzo balls according to package directions, adding two eggs, 2 Tbsp. of oil and the packet of matzo ball mix, in a metal bowl. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
3. Add 10 cups of water to a large pot. Bring to a boil and stir in the soup mix packet from the matzo ball & soup mix box.
4. In the meantime, take the matzo ball mixture out of the refrigerator and form into 5 uniform sized matzo balls. Drop them into the pot of boiling water. Immediately cover with the pot lid. Do not open.
5. Let the matzo balls cook for 20 minutes (covered) and do not open the lid.
6. After 20 minutes add in the chopped and sliced vegetables. Amount is optional.
7. Let the vegetables simmer about 20 minutes, until thoroughly cooked.
8. While the vegetables are cooking, in a separate pot, boil the thin noodles, according to package directions.
9. Once the noodles are cooked, spoon the desired amount of plain noodles into each soup bowl. We like a lot of noodles.
10. Then add one matzo ball per bowl and ladle in the soup mixture to fill each individual cup or bowl.
11. Enjoy!

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