Make cream sauce, cook until thickened and comes to a boil, reduce heat. Stir in chicken. Add a dash of pepper. Return to boiling and serve immediately. Makes 5 cups of very rich soup.

For Cheese Soup, omit the chicken, but add 1 cup shredded cheese and a few drops of yellow food coloring.

Meals and Meditations, compiled by United Methodist Women, Rockville, In.

From Fred Peters:

Broth: 1 chicken (about 5 lb) 2 1/2 quarts water

Soup: 3/4 c butter (room temperature) 3/4 c flour 2 c light cream (Or half-and-half) 6 c chicken stock, heated 1 1/2 c cooked chicken breast, finely chopped Salt, to taste, if desired Freshly ground black pepper, to taste 1 c fresh parsley, snipped, to garnish

Broth: Simmer the chicken for about 1 hour. Remove the chicken and cool; remove the meat from the bones. Reserve the white meat and save the remainder for other uses.

Soup: Blend the butter and flour together in a mdm (3-quart) saucepan. Warm the cream in a seperate pan. Add the warmed cream to the butter-flour mixture and stir until smooth. It will start to thicken when it is heated. Stir in two c of the hot stock. Cook over low heat, stirring, until heated through and blended, about 4 minutes. Add an additional 4 c of stock and the chopped chicken. Season to taste with salt, if desired, and pepper. Heat to serving temperature-steaming, but not boiling or the cream will break. Watch the pot closely to keep from coming to a boil.

Serve from a heated tureen and ladle into heated bowls. Garnish with snippets of fresh parsley.

About 8 servings