Benson has a cold. It's the same cold that I had a couple of weeks ago, but as anyone who cares about someone else can empathize with, I'd much rather that I was still sick than that Benson was suffering. (Okay, that's a bit dramatic--it is just a cold after all.)

Doing what any guy would do, I thought about how I could make him feel better, and I hit on the idea of making him chicken soup from scratch.

I made chicken soup from scratch for the first time a couple of years ago, also when Benson had a cold. I was house- and dog-sitting for my friends Rob and Rachel in their beautiful Redwood City home, so I got to take advantage of their jealousy-inducing kitchen. I stopped by the Albertson's between my work and their house to pick up the chicken, carrots, onion, celery and parsley my googling had told me I would need. I dumped it all in a large pot, covered it all with water, brought it to a boil, then let it simmer for a couple hours.

Then the problems started. I didn't know you were supposed to skim the fat off of the top. (Chicken fat may sound good, but floating globules on the top of your bowl of soup isn't very appetizing.) I also didn't know that you were supposed to throw out all of the vegetables used in the soup. The whole point is that the flavor from the vegetables ends up in the water--so the vegetables end up as bland lumps of fiber. I'm sure Benson appreciated the thought--and the ounces of loved I infused the soup with must have made him feel better--but the soup just wasn't all that great.

This time around, I learned my lessons. Instead of relying on Google, I used Julia. Ms. Child and I are on a first-name basis ever since I saw her getting a tour of the Media Lab. Media Lab students spent a not insignificant amount of our time giving demos of group projects to visitors, including corporate sponsors and occasionally celebrities. On this instance, Julia Child was getting a tour and someone else in the group gave her a demo--and I saw her. So maybe we're not as close as me and my good friend Bruce Aidells, but there's a connection there. Even if she didn't feel it. Or ever see me.

Anyway, I found her basic instructions for chicken stock at the front of her book Julia and Jacques: Cooking at Home. (This book was actually a gift to me from a guy I went on a few dates with right after moving to California, but we don't need to let Benson know that.) A few of the key things I picked up were (a) you want to simmer immediately after the water starts boiling or else your stock will be cloudy and, most importantly, (b) after skimming the fat off, boil the stock down by half. (Or, if you're feeling pretentious, you can decoct the stock instead.)

Cooking in general--and in particular making something involved like chicken soup--is quite relaxing. It does take a long time. I had to prepare the ingredients, let it boil, skim the foam off the top, let it simmer, strain out the solids, chill the soup overnight to let the fat congeal, skim off the fat, decoct the stock, and add salt to make it just how Benson likes it. But the truth is, I enjoyed it. And the fact that I was doing it for Benson made me enjoy it that much more.

When I think about it, I realize that part of the reason I enjoy cooking almost every meal is the realization that I'm making something someone else might enjoy--usually Benson, but maybe someone at a potluck or a Thanksgiving dinner. There's a nurturing aspect of cooking that gets intensified when you're trying to make someone feel better, but it still exists when you're just trying to fill his or her belly with something tasty.