Cold comfort food?

In different parts of the world cold weather can mean different things. Perhaps in Florida a 60 degree day may be really cold where as a 60 degree day where I live is tolerable. To Donna it is "cold" when her friends the raccoons no longer come to the back deck for their nightly treats! This happens when the temperature drops under 32 degrees. No judgement here, she knows she shouldn't feed them but can't resist. When the temperature doesn't go above freezing for a couple days I also look to hunker down. Most likely in front of the fireplace eating some comfort foods. Comfort food to me means thick soups and stews!
I was lucky growing up with my mother and had two grandmothers that lived close and knew how to make wonderful soups. My favorite from grandma Francis was her Beef Vegetable Soup. My favorite from grandma Mary Ida was her Chicken and Homemade Noodle soup. I do not have either recipe and I suspect that they really didn't use one. Both grandmothers made wonderful homemade noodles that found their way into the soups! Yes I would give any thing to set at their table and share a bowl of their soups once again. Now mother made a lot of potato soups. Probably because we grew our own and filled our potato bin in the cellar for later use. Potatoes were something she always had on hand. They could fill the bellies of four hungry boys and not break the budget. Again she probably didn't use a recipe.
Now my go to soup for cold weather is from Allrecipes.com. "Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup". I first made this for Ty and Sam while on a visit and it has made our books of favorite recipes. We always try to make the recipes as written on our first try but this one can easily be changed up to meet your preferences. This time I used Orecchiette pasta instead of the noodles called for because it is what I had on hand from another recipe. Sometimes I will mash potatoes before serving just to make the broth a little thicker. Rotisserie chicken from my local grocery is an easy fit for the roasted chicken. Serve with garlic bread and a salad and it is a filling meal. Visit Allrecipes.com for this and many other great recipes.

For John :

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