Young Jane Young and Chicken Matzo Ball Soup

 I saw a reference to this book on a book blog I follow and I checked it out.  So glad I did! This is Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin.  I read one of her other books, the Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and really liked it so I had a feeling this one would be good.  

The story is told from the view point of 5 women.  Aviva Grossman had an affair with a prominent congressman and she was branded a slut by the internet.  This is the story of what happened.  I loved all 5 of the viewpoints.  At first my favorite was Ruby who is just a firecracker of a kid.  Later i realized my favorite might have been the congressman's wife story.  Now I'm not sure.  I really liked all of them.  Why do we shame the woman but the man goes untarnished and has a great career?  it is totally shades of Monica Lewinsky in this story .  A fun, fast read which also made me think about how we treat women in society.  I highly recommend it. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

I decided to make Chicken Matzo Ball soup for this one.  This seemed right for a few reasons; 

   1) Rachel Grossman is a good Jewish mother 

   2) it was Rosh Hashanah this week. 

  3)  i have a terrible cold and everyone calls this Jewish Penicillin! 

I even made my own chicken broth!  Here is what i'd say...   it was just okay.  It was a lot of work making my own chicken broth.  I think the broth i use is just as good if not better.  Next time i will just use that. 

But , here is the recipe if you have the time and patience for it! 

• 4 lb whole chicken (use a whole chicken, or a mixture of white and dark meat chicken pieces - must be bone in, skin on)
• 2 lb celery stalks, cleaned
• 1 lb carrots, peeled
• 1 yellow onion, skin on, rinsed clean
• 2 ounces fresh parsley (one large handful), rinsed clean
• 1.5 ounces fresh dill (one handful), rinsed clean
• 2 tsp black peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves
• Kosher salt
• 1/8 tsp saffron threads (optional-- adds a rich yellow color and depth of flavor to the broth; only use high quality expensive saffron, the other kind has no flavor)

I did not use saffron.  I couldn't find it.  I cleaned the chicken and covered it with water.  Cooked it in a giant pot with the onion, 3/4 of the celery, parsley, 2/3 of the dill, peppercorn, bay leaves and salt.  Bring the water to a boil and let boil for 15 minutes.  Scrap off the white foam from the pot.  Then turn down to simmer and let simmer with a lid on for 90 minutes.  Remove the chicken and drain the broth.  Throw out the onion, celery and other stuff and just keep the broth.  pick the chicken .  Add broth back to the pot and add the remaining celery and carrots.  add more salt and let cook for 20-30 minutes until the carrots are tender.  Add chicken and the remaining dill.  cook maybe 10 minutes more.   spoon over Matzo balls.  I used the Matzo ball mix which worked just fine.   

Enjoy!