Just for the record, this is not my picture, I'm just borrowing it.

My father's parent's owned a small farm. You know the small farms that raise a few crops, some cows, a roost of chickens, and one very mean goose. From what I was told, when my father was growing up, my grandparent's farm provided most of the food for the family. Grandmother would can, pickle, brine, and freeze everything she could. But life on the farm wasn't all work.

During the late summer, my aunt and uncle from Florida would come up to visit. I guess the humidity of Pennsylvania was better than the humidity, bugs, and hurricane's of Florida. They'd drive up in this big ole RV that had a hitch on the back so they could tow their car up also. When the RV would park on the farm, it was time for the family to gather for social time and chicken corn soup. My uncle and Grandpa would set up picnic tables in the yard and the big cast iron cauldron was placed on it's tripod over a fire. Grandma would go into cooking mode. Corn was harvested, chickens plucked, and eggs boiled. Everything went into the cauldron and the family would gather, potluck dishes in hand, for a all you can eat chicken corn soup gathering.

Chicken corn soup played an important role in many summer gatherings of my childhood. My parents loved to go to church dinners where they would sell chicken corn soup with the fixings and have a local country band play. I remember eating lots of corn soup and playing in a lot of church playgrounds as a child. They were often cheap dinners and a chance for my parents to socialize with people they new. Now the local churches seem to have switched to drive through chicken bbq's instead of the chicken corn soup picnics.

I've raised a family of soup eaters. In fact, as soon as she sees corn at market, my daughter starts bugging for me to make chicken corn soup. It's healthy comfort food. My recipe is basically the same and my Grandma M's and my Mother's recipe.

This recipe can be doubled easily. Soup reheats well and freezes well.

1 chicken or 6 boneless breasts

1 medium onion, chopped

1 rib celery, chopped

1 carrot, chopped (optional)

2 medium potatoes, chopped (optional)

6+ cups of cooked corn

6 hard boiled eggs, chopped

1 1/2 cups egg noodles, crushed slightly

water

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon dried parsley (or 1/4 cup fresh)

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon paprika

Boil chicken, onion, and celery in water until the chicken is cooked. Remove chicken to cool. Skim any fat off the broth. Bring broth to boil and add carrot, potatoes, and corn. Shred the cooked chicken and add to soup. Add seasonings and egg noodles. Once potatoes are soft, add eggs. Simmer for 30 minutes. Serve.