Chicken Soup Day

"I want to take my temperature again," were my nine-year-old son's first words this morning.

"Hmmm," he said, frowning at the results. "98.4."

"Yeah, I think you can go to school," I said, stroking his forehead. "But look, only three more weeks until Christmas vacation."

It's such a typical child's lament: Thanksgiving's over, back to school.

But we adults have our own version of this struggle. For us, the days following Thanksgiving symbolize a farewell to sanity, the beginning of a mad crazy dash toward New Year's Day. Life shifts to fast forward.

"What should I do first?" I asked myself at nine this morning as I drove beneath the holiday lights the city workmen had put up right after Halloween. Like my son, I just want to curl up and read books in bed. I don't feel ready for what's next.

We celebrate both the Jewish and the Christian holidays in our household, so I've got to develop some strategies to help me make space and find peace. When should we get the tree? No party this year? Small party? Our holiday cards have not yet been ordered--plus, what should I do about the fact that I have more email addresses now than street addresses on my list?

Feeling a tinge of depression coming on, a bad mood that made me want to check my temperature, I went out and purchased everything I'd need to make a good chicken soup.

What other solution could there be? Making soup felt like one tangible thing I could complete today. It also felt like a vote for self-sustenance in a climate more dominated by strife.

So as I write, the aromas of celery and rutabaga are filling the house. The dog is resting at my feet. December is around the bend. But, doesn't some of that month's explosive joy have to do with the sheer screaming riot of all the preparations? If we had December pulled together, if we went into it year after year feeling fully prepared, would it be half as fun?

This soup, in the short run, will give my family and me the stamina we need to get through these pressing shortened days. I use Joan Nathan's "Hollywood Chicken Soup" recipe. Nathan is the nation's expert on traditional Jewish cuisine. Don't skip out on the rutabaga though. It lends a big heart, and a great difference.