Everyone in this family has an unfortunate Sugarfish habit.

When I was about thirteen, I announced to my family that I was a vegetarian. I'm pretty sure I gave them a song and dance about loving animals, cows are our friends, etc etc, but really: I was mostly just trying to be irritating, because thirteen.

A few weeks ago, my ten-year-old announced that he is a vegetarian, and shan't be consuming meat anymore. "No meat at all?" I inquired.

Me, sick.

One of the first recipes I posted way back in the day was for something I called "Sick Day Soup" - basically just a half-assed semi-homemade chicken noodle soup that I made for Kendrick whenever he was feeling bad. In keeping with most (all?) of the recipes I posted back then, it was full of shortcuts (using store-bought broth, pre-shredded chicken, whatever), and while I continue to think those shortcuts make sense for everyday cooking, sometimes - like when a person you care about is sick - it's nice to level it up and make something really warming and healing and special.

Enter: My new and improved Sick Day Soup. It takes awhile to make, but actually requires very little in the way of effort - most of it's just letting the ingredients cook themselves down on the stovetop while your home fills with wonderful smells. And the results? Are spectacular, and 100% worth the time. (I delivered a big jar of this stuff to my sick friend, and then polished off the rest - literally all of the rest - myself.)