Well-Seasoned

This flu season, don’t let that miserable virus get the best of you

Anne Quinn Corr

This article was supposed to feature a big picture of Sharon and Brooks Way surrounded by pumpkins in front of their farm on state Route 550 as they prepare for the harvest festival they’ll host over the next two weekends.

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The festival gained brief national fame last year, when shooting star Sarah Palin stopped there as she stumped her way through the county. The farm’s broad expanse along Buffalo Run has an aspect of clarity, of being on top of the world.

But I didn’t make it out to Way’s. I was waylaid, instead, by a debilitating flu that kept me flat on my back in bed for 96 hours. And I know I’m not the only one down for the count.

The H1N1 virus is rampant on campus and many of my students have been positively diagnosed. I didn’t go to the doctor. I had the regular flu shot 10 days before. I knew what hit me after I read the symptoms to watch for on the CDC Web site: sudden onset of symptoms, usually in 3 to 6 hours; fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue.

Check. All of the above. conference I was registered for in Roanoke, Va. Instead I sipped herb tea sweetened with Tait Farm lavender honey and counted my blessings.

My biggest blessing was my husband who proved to be a great nurse.

On Wednesday I crawled home and went right to bed under a pile of comforters, trembling with chills. Every joint in my body was aching, all the tendons and ligaments screamed. My second blessing was my dog who couldn’t believe his good fortune in being allowed up on the bed — but it was the best way to keep warm.

The first 24 hours were bleak and

dark, but sometime the next evening I awoke from my fitful sleep and smelled the aroma of chicken soup fragrant with onion and celery. I knew I was going to make it.

I spent 4 days in bed, getting out only to take hot lavender baths before crawling back into blessedly clean, crisp sheets changed in the interim.

My old favorite Uncle Pete tray from childhood delivered bowl after bowl of chicken soup or toast and tea. Friends

This flu season, don’t be a hero by going to work or school if you have symptoms. Be a hero by making chicken soup for someone who needs it.

Anne Quinn Corr teaches basic food preparation

in the nutrition department at Penn

My husband uses a gem of a cookbook called “Dad’s Own Cookbook: Everything Your Mother Never Taught You” by Bob Sloan as a guide for his own version of this classic. Serves 6-8 For the stock: 1 chicken, 4-5 pounds

1 leek, trimmed, split and cleaned

1 large onion, peeled 1 whole turnip 2 whole carrots For the soup: 1 turnip, peeled and cut into half inch cubes

2 carrots, peeled and cut into half inch slices

1 tablespoon salt 1 teaspoon dill seed 6 ounces egg noodles 1 cup frozen peas Rinse the chicken and put in a large stockpot with the leek, whole onion, whole turnip and the whole carrots. Add about 4 quarts of water, or more, enough to cover the solids in the pot by a good 2 inches.

Bring the pot up to just below a boil over high heat, skimming off the scum (coagulated proteins) that accumulates on the surface as it rises to the boiling point.

Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 2 hours, allowing the steam to escape so the mixture concentrates and reduces.

Remove the chicken and whole vegetables from the broth, setting the chicken on a baking tray to cool until it can be picked off and chopped to use in the soup or for another use (even if you put plenty into the soup, there will be enough chicken to make another dish).

Strain the broth through a colander lined with cheesecloth into another large pot and skim off the fat that is floating on the top to discard or save for another use. (If the stock is made ahead you can refrigerate it at this point and easily lift the cold fat off the next day.)

Add the diced turnip, sliced carrots, the salt and the dill to the stock.

Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium low and simmer for half an hour. When the vegetables are tender, increase the heat to medium.

Add the noodles, frozen peas, and as much of the chicken meat as you want.

Cook for about 8 minutes, until the noodles are soft and taste for seasoning, adding more salt if necessary.