Chicken Noodle Soup and "You've got Mail"

Well it's official, the holiday season has concluded and now we enter the dead of winter. With it, cold and flu season starts and it seems like everyone is coming down with at least a few of the dreaded cold symptoms. We can go to our doctor's and drug stores and pump ourselves full of the various medicines that they have but for me, the best remedy comes from the kitchen in the form of good old Chicken Noodle Soup. It's easy to make and studies have shown that Chicken soup does help fight off a cold. This taste way better than those cough syrups too!!

1 Whole 2 to 3 pound Chicken
1 16oz can of Chicken broth
2 dried bay leaves
3 stalks of celery (Chopped)
3 whole carrots (peeled and chopped)
1 large onion (Chopped)
3 gloves of garlic (Chopped)
1 teaspoon of thyme (fresh or dried)
1 bag of egg noodles
Salt and pepper


Remove the chicken from the packaging, remove any gizzards that might be in the center cavity of the bird, and rinse the chicken. Place the chicken in a large soup pot along with the two bay leaves and pour the can of chicken broth on top. Add enough water to the pot to cover the chicken. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat. Let the chicken simmer in the liquid for 40 minutes. While the chicken simmers, now is a good time to prep the vegetables.

Remove the chicken form the pot and once it's cooled enough to touch, remove the skin and bones and shred the meat of the chicken.Place the chicken meat, the thyme, and add all the vegetables back into the pot and allow everything to simmer together until the vegetables have become tender. Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper.


Bring a separate pot of water to a boil and add plenty of salt to give flavor to the noodles. Cook the egg noodles to the directions on the package and drain once they're cooked. Sometimes I like to use cheese tortellini for Chicken Noodle soup instead. It breaks tradition but it's a nice way to shake things up from time to time.

Serve the broth and chicken over top the noodles with a few crackers and not only do you have a tasty dinner but a secret age old remedy for that nasty cold. Even if you're not the one that's under the weather, nothing says "I love you" more than making chicken noodle soup for your special someone who might not be feeling 100%. So dish up two bowls, grab your favorite blanket and relax on the couch. For some reason whenever I'm not feeling well I always want to watch a feel good movie and one of my go to favorites is "You've got Mail".

Nora Ephron brought another timeless romantic comedy with her 1998 film "You've got Mail". Once again starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks from her film "Sleepless in Seattle", this film is about two people who are completely infatuated with each other and at the same are mortal enemies. Meg Ryan plays Kathleen Kelly, a charming woman who owns a small children's book store that was once owned by her mother. Tom Hanks plays Joe Fox, who also owns a book store chain called Fox Books.

When Fox Books opens a store near by the Kathleen's shop, her business begins to dwindle and the threat of going out of business looms. During the day, Kathleen and Joe are in a book business war and will stop at nothing to get a leg up. Besides having similar businesses, the two also have in common the fact that they have secret online pen pals through email. Little do they know, their trusted online friends are actually their biggest rivals. "You've got Mail" is considered one of the new classics in the film world and one that is certainly worth a watch even if you've seen it before. Here is a quick glimpse at the film.