It’s cold season and I don’t just mean the heart of our president. People are catching the flu from unprotected sex and sharing chewing gum with strangers. I was recently a victim of such a cold which left me pretty useless for four days.

Unfortunately, Jenny and I share a lot with each other. Germs are no exception as she too got knocked on her ass by the virus.

Our symptoms included running nose, congested sinuses, extreme desire to eat a whole cake without remorse, and mild cough. We survived the painstaking week due in large part to our excuse to make soup.

Every weekend we have at least one home cooked meal. It’s a tradition Jenny’s side of the family does. My family’s weekend tradition usually involved avoiding one another while dreaming of an excuse to be alone. You wouldn’t believe how many times we caught leprosy.

The weekend we were sick, the food choice was Tinola. This is a Filipino soup made with chicken, some green vegetable sayote, and lots of hot salty water.

The soup was relatively easy to make. Well, my part of chopping the meat was. I’m surprised Jenny allowed me to handle a knife whilst sick. Isn’t it when you’re sick that a poltergeist is most likely to inhabit you?

Disregarding the irresponsible decision to put a weapon in my hand, the Tinola turned out great. I think we stretched it out over four meals, too. I’m also fairly certain a rice patty is now barren due to how much of the white stuff we devoured.

It was our first time sick in the US together. Jenny had already seen me barf so this was child’s play in comparison. Thankfully, this time around, we were there for each other to cook a nice warm soup.