Mama’s Chicken Soup

Rinse 1 whole chicken and put it in a large soup pot. Cover with water, add a bit of salt and bring to a simmer.

While chicken is simmering:
Skim frequently.
Peel 1 onion.
Peel 2 carrots and halve both lengthwise and crosswise.
Halve 3 medium zucchini lengthwise.
Cut tips off 6 sticks celery and cut remainder in half crosswise.
Peel 3 large or 6 small potatoes.
Skim-Skim-Skim-Skim-Skim-Skim-Skim-Skim-Skim-Skim-Skim-Skim-you get the idea!

After chicken has simmered for about half an hour, throw in a few whole peppercorns. Add the vegetables as follows:
Put in the carrots.
On top of the carrots put the onions.
Then the celery, including the tips.
Then the potatoes.
On top put the zucchini.

Keep simmering for another hour and a half.

Remove meat and vegetables, strain broth.

If desired, return some of the vegetables to the broth and puree. Whether or not you do this, cook some pasta or rice in the broth, then make an avgolemono sauce:
Whisk 2 eggs with 1/4 cup lemon juice. Then gradually whisk in hot broth until volume is roughly doubled. At this point you can stir the avgolemono sauce into the hot broth without it curdling. Do this off heat.

Dress the chicken (which should easily break apart into pieces now) and the remaining vegetables with lemon juice and olive oil. Serve separately from the broth.