The "Makin' Soup" Story

It was an ordinary day. Just makin' soup. My Grandpap's Chicken Corn Soup. Every year when the new supply of corn starts to appear in the county, I buy two dozen ears and make soup. Yesterday my grandson, Caden, and I stopped at a produce stand near his house and picked out the corn. After work today I got the big pot from the garage and prepared to make the soup. Seems that each time I make it I do something slightly different, but it always turns out the same. I think that Grandpap is watching over me to make sure that it does turn out terrific. I had purchased a large stewer chicken that was cut into pieces with a few pieces of extra fat. The extra fat makes for a great broth.Covered the chicken in the pot with water and turned on the burner to medium. Learned years ago not to try to get the chicken cooked in a hurry or it will burn and you'll have to go get another one. While the chicken was cooking, I husked and cut off all the corn from the ears into our big green bowl. Some of you know about that bowl, I'm sure. I have this special little knife that I love to use for that purpose. Has a serrated edge and works great. If you encounter a worm or two while cutting the corn off the cob, add that to the batch if you're daring. That was my Grandpap's favorite thing to do when making the soup. He enjoyed seeing who would get the worm. When the corn is finished I put a few eggs in a pan of water and hard-boil them. Recipe calls for 2-3 eggs, but I love eggs in my soup, so I triple the quantity. After the chicken is starting to fall off the bone, take it from the water and cut it into small pieces. I also had the liver and gizzard in with the rest of the chicken, since I love to eat them, but the heart didn't quite make it into the pot. As I was washing the chicken to put into the pot, I dropped the heart into the sink and it went down the garbage disposal. I tried and tried, but couldn't reach it at the bottom of the disposal. I took that as an omen that maybe that shouldn't go in the soup. DO NOT discard the water you boiled the chicken in, since that is the stock for your soup. OK, pop the chicken back in the pot, add the corn, salt and pepper, and two bags of baby lima beans. Love that final ingredient! Cover it all with extra water which will be the broth of the soup. Back to medium temperature for an hour to cook the soup. After that hour you can add the hard-boiled eggs and a stick of butter. Make it real butter as Paula Deen would do. Simmer until you are ready for the meal. The smell of the soup cooking is tremendous. When Carol came home from work, she immediately said, "Boy, does it sure smell good in here." The last ingredient for a great meal my Grandpap would be proud of is buttered bread. Dig in!! If your nose doesn't run and you don't have sweat running off of you, the soup's not hot enough. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.