When my grandchildren were small, we spent many weekends tent and trailer camping, or at a wonderful old summer camp with 100-year old log and slap-board cabins, on Lake Mary Ronan. Because my daughter and son-in-law worked until 5 and then had to pack the kids and dogs up and do all the things parents of small children do, I always volunteer to handle the food for the weekend. And the Littles always said, "But Nani, make the chicken soup for dinner Friday night!" Here is my recipe for "The Chicken Soup"
Creamy Chicken Soup
1/2 cube of butter
1 onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
3 fresh chicken breasts cut into chunks
2 cups sliced carrots
4 potatoes, peeled and diced
4-6 cups of water
3 bullion cubes or 3 tsp Better Than Bullion
3 bay leaves
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt (don't salt too much, as the canned soup has plenty of salt)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
In a very large pot, saute the onions and celery in the butter until they are translucent. Add the chicken and stir and cook until it is opaque. Next add the potatoes and carrots and then the water (you want everything covered with at least 2" of water, as it will cook down. Bring to a boil and turn the heat down medium/low. Add the seasonings and allow the soup to simmer for about 45 minutes. When that is done, mix the cans of cream soup with enough water to make them "pourable". This way the cream soup will be nice and smooth when you add it to the pot. Note that you do not want to bring this to a boil once the cans of soup are added. You want to just get the soup heated enough that it comes back to a simmer that returns as soon as you stop stirring. Add a cup of water if this is too thick a soup for you.
Along with rolls, this makes enough for 7 hungry people. If you are not 7 hungry people, it can be put into quart jars and will keep in the fridge for a week. It will freeze well, but you may find that the cream soup separates a bit when defrosted. This does not affect the taste, perhaps only the aesthetics of the soup...
This recipe goes along with some of my most favorite memories....
Yum! This sounds like a perfect camping dinner!