Heartwings says, “When you begin a task you never know where it will lead.”

My mother had a favorite saying. “Wouldn’t it make ya tired?” she would remark with a laugh and a shrug. This was usually followed by a tale of woe or at least of an unexpected difficulty. My mother was a great one for telling stories of triumph and loss. Many of her stories did not have happy endings, but they did detail some triumph of overcoming on her part.

I thought about this saying of hers as I realized that my search for the ingredients and recipe for Dr. Chen’s Healing soup was going to result in considerably more effort than I had planned. It seems there is a leak somewhere under my sink. I am not sure where it is, and I have not yet figured it out,  however I ended up removing the entire collection of bottles, jars, sponges and cleaning implements that resided there.

Because the cardboard box I had used to hold these things was soaked and starting to disintegrate, I went in search of a more durable container and found one. I then began replacing items. In the process I found the soup ingredients and the directions and set them aside.Finally, the work done, I began reading the list of ingredients and adding them to the large pot of water where I had already placed the chicken.

As I added them, I smiled to think that regardless how unexpectedly it had happened, I was happy to have reorganized the cupboard under my sink.

Sometimes it takes a small disaster to accomplish what normally gets neglected until something happens to prompt it. The water began to boil,  and as I smelled the fragrance of the soup with its multitude of herbs, I gave thanks for this very special opportunity.

May you find many opportunities within unexpected happenings.

Blessings and Best Regards, Tasha Halpert

Dr. Chen’s Special Soup

These ingredients may be found in Oriental food stores or on the Internet. They make a lovely soup.

1/2 of a chicken

8 cups water

8 red dates

6 pieces astralagus root

4 slices ginger root

1/4 cup American ginseng root

2 sticks cinnamon

2 Tablespoons red berries (barberries) dried)

Place all ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 1 hour or so. After soup has cooled, Remove skin, bones and undesirable stuff. Remove astralagus and ginger root, add meat and leave in berries, dates and ginseng. Store soup in the refrigerator and reheat as needed.