Poor Lauren. She has a cold. When Lauren gets colds they last for two weeks, minimum. And since I have been basking in my good health all weekend (excluding explicit epilogues), last night I called her cell phone on her way back from the airport and said: "Would you like me to make you chicken soup?"

She said: "Would you? That would be awesome."

So I whipped out my Epicurious chicken soup recipe which, since it's on the internet, I can reproduce for you here. It is not the most authentic chicken soup recipe: that would involve making your own chicken stock (a process that takes over four hours). But this recipe is incredibly delicious, incredibly nutrtious and--to quote the recipe itself: "perfect for a cold winter's night."

OLD-FASHIONED CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP
16 cups canned low-salt chicken broth (<--I just bought two quarts worth and that was plenty)
1 3.5 lb chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 carrots, peeled, thinly sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
8 oz dried wide egg noodles
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley (<--I subbed dill for the parsley because I love dill in chicken soup)

1. Combine chicken broth and chicken in heavy large pot. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover partially and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Using tongs, transfer chicken to large bowl. Cool chicken and broth slightly. Discard skin and bones from chicken. Cut chicken meat into bite size pieces and reserve. Spoon fat off top of chicken broth.
2. Return broth to simmer. Add onions, carrots and celery. Simmer until vegetables soften, about 8 minutes.
3. Stir in noodles, parsley (or dill) and reserved chicken. Simmer until noodles are tender, about 5 minutes. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper.

It was really the last step that made this particular soup taste better than any I've made before. I don't think I ever use enough salt, so this time I was really generous and, according to Lauren, "this is the best one you've made by far."