As Friday night approaches, homes across America will fill with the soothing aroma of chicken soup.  It’ll cure what ails ya – they don’t call it “Jewish Penicillin” for nothing!  Everyone has their family traditions and secrets (my Aunt Minnie put parsnips in hers, and that spicy, earthy flavor really sends me). 

If you think yours is tops, you might want to enter the “Better Than Your Bubby’s Chicken Soup Challenge” put on every year by the National Jewish Outreach Project as part of their “Shabbat Across America” program on March 20. Visit the website for rules (recipes are due by March 2). The prizes include a free trip to Israel!

But a note of warning: I covered the first annual NJOP contest as a journalist in 2004, and one thing stands out in my memory of the judges’ comments.  If you had a grandmother who made chicken soup for you in your youth, then there is no such thing as “Better Than Your Bubby’s.”  And that’s the true challenge of any chicken soup contest.

Please dish below on how you concoct chicken soup.  Or is your bubby’s secret just that?