As winter's chill settles into your bones, it's time to simmer up a soul soothing, slurpy bowl of love, using what else but bones. Soup is the most basic of foods, feeding body and soul with it's life giving elements bathing in slow simmered nourishment.

​Growing up, soup was as basic as bread at our table. And it was the broth that played the starring role; vegetables and meat were an occasional and unnecessary accompaniment. 

As American as baseball, apple pie and my born-on-the-4th-of-July husband, chicken salad takes center stage on picnic menus and buffet tables across the fruited plain. In our refrigerator, chicken salad is as much a staple as eggs and butter. It is Mike's favorite choice for a quick satisfying bite, whether sandwiched or piled onto a bed of greens, that he (operative word is "he") manages to put together himself. Needless to say, I try to always have it on hand!