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Best wishes to you on your recovery!
I have to tell you that I have tears in my eyes...my Mom has the exact same recipe box! I remember it well...
Thanks for the recipe! I will try it today!

A really green garlicky new pickle that snaps when you bite it!

This is no fail...tried and true....the matzo balls are so easy it defies belief and delicious....
for the soup...
1 3+ pound chicken (or 5 lbs of chicken parts or backs and necks)

2 or 3 large onions

5 stalks of celery (use the leaves too if you have them)

8 carrots (I use the whole 1 lb bag of organic carrots)

1 parsnip

1 small turnip (optional)

1 or 2 small zucchini

1 bunch of Italian parsley

1 bunch of dill

3 whole cloves of garlic

Salt to taste

Wash chicken in cold water and place in a large pot. Peel onions and place whole in pot. Wash celery and cut stalks in half and place in pot. Peel carrots wash and place whole in pot. Peel parsnip, wash, cut into pieces and place in pot. Wash zucchini and cut into 4 pieces and place in pot. Peel garlic and place in pot. Cover all the ingredients in the pot with cold water. There should only be about an inch of water above all the ingredients. Do not use too much water!!!

Bring the soup to a boil and skim any foam off the top. Wash the parsley and the dill and place on top of the soup. Cover the pot but leave the cover slightly askew. Add salt to taste. Simmer for about three hours. Remove the chicken and veggies from the soup. Strain the soup through a strainer. Slice the carrots and add to the soup. You can use the cooked chicken for something else or shred the meat and add it to the soup. Serve with cooked small noodles such as orzo or egg barley. This soup will cure colds, flu, and just about anything that ails you.
Keep the noodles separate from the soup or else they will "suck"up all the broth. Put a portion of noodles in the bowl and then ladle soup over top. This soup is also great with Matzo balls.

I always used a Joan Nathan recipe for Matzo Balls and I was very happy.
In a pinch I have used Manishevitz Matzo Ball Mix which is really pretty good...but these are beyond easy and wonderful...you could season them with some cayenne pepper...go wild...they are a blank canvas...

Matzo Balls...
adapted from Claudia Roden'sClaudia Roden's recipe (from "The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand to New York").
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup matzo meal
1 teaspoon salt

Beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold in the lightly beaten yolks, as well as the matzo meal and salt until well amalgamated. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

In a pot of well-salted boiling water, roll dough into 3/4-inch (2-cm) balls and simmer in the water for 20 minutes.

The recipe also gave the option of adding a little ground ginger or finely chopped parsley to the dough -

Enjoy....your boyfriend will love the soup and you!