Here are a few ideas to get you thinking about all the wonderful soup meals you like to prepare for when the kids come in with rosy cheeks from raking the leaves, or when the family returns from a brisk walk to see the different colors of the leaves as they fall from the trees.

• Save any juices from cooked or canned vegetables and mushrooms to use when you make a soup (you can keep them all frozen till you need to use them
• Never throw out bones from steak, roasts or chops until you have extracted all the good from them in the form or soup or a stock. If you don’t want to do it now you can wrap them and put them in the freezer till you need them
• Leg and knuckle bones are really great for soup
• Roast the soup bones before you put them in a liquid –salt them slightly and put in a pan in the oven at 375 degrees until brown and they have a tasty aroma. This will help to improve the color and flavor of your soup
• Put the soup bones and meat in cold salted water to cook in order to get the best flavor
• Sauté, in butter any vegetables you plan to add to the soup
• Add those vegetables at the end of the cooking time to keep them crisp and not mushy
• If you want a green soup pound some raw spinach in a mortar and tie the pounded leaves in a cheesecloth, wring the juice into the soup 5 minutes before serving
• If you soup is too thin, put some cooked vegetables in the blender or through a strainer and then add that puree to the soup
• Another way to thicken it is with using cornstarch. Mix ¼ cup cornstarch with 3 tablespoons milk and then add it to the soup
• The most important part of an onion soup is the base- so never try to make French Onion Soup without a good rich stock
• Get yourself a stock pan- it is a tall narrow kettle – if you are using a regular low-sided pot the liquids will all evaporate too fast

Are you ready for a soup challenge?

Try to keep a pot of soup going on the stove during the hot weather-
Boil it up once a day and simmer it covered for at least 10 minutes.
Add more water or liquids as they are needed – toss in leftovers from vegetable and meat dishes.
The flavor will continue to improve as days go by.
Thrown in a can of beans or a handful of macaroni or any other type of pasta every so often.
This can feed you family with great nutrition and for very little cost.

Put the soup in the fridge daily.

Bake a loaf of homemade bread- I always said that my family would eat anything if there was fresh bread to go with it. And they knew that they didn't get the second piece of bread until you are on the second bowl of soup!