There is just something about a big pot of soup simmering on a stove on a cold winter day.

Maybe it’s the aroma. Maybe it’s the warmth coming from the stove. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s that cozy feeling you get hanging around the kitchen knowing that a steaming bowl of soup is just a ladle away.

Of course, it could be all of the above. Face it, soup and winter just go together.

And the thing is, soup is a pretty democratic dish. Just about anything in your refrigerator can grow up and become part of a great soup.



Taking stock

Shellie Ross-Williams is the owner of Shellie’s for Today’s Cuisine in Carthage, Mo., and is well known for her homemade soups. Shellie says the key to a good soup is making the best use of whatever you happen to have around the kitchen.

“When I make a soup, sometimes I’m just cleaning out my refrigerator,” she said. “It’s taking items you have on hand. If you have some leftover chicken you can take the chicken off the bone and reboil it if you want and have a great base for a soup.”

It’s the base, by the way, that can make or break a soup. A good beef, chicken or fish stock is the foundation on which you build your soup. The stock is where a soup gets its flavor, Shellie said.

Another key to a great soup is what Shellie calls the “soup trinity.”

“You know how Cajun food has the trinity of peppers, celery and onion? My trinity for soup is celery, carrots and onions,” she said.

Those three vegetables, Shellie said, not only help to give a soup its flavor but also its color.

“A good soup should have good flavor, but it should also look appetizing,” she said.



Soup shortcuts

Of course, making a rich stock the old-fashioned way can take a while. And, really, who has six or eight hours to spend on broth? Shellie says there a lot of shortcuts out there that allow you to make a great soup without taking all day. For starters, most grocery stores carry a variety of instant beef and chicken broths that can be used as stock.

Shellie said there also are a number of pastes available that, when mixed with water, make a great stock very quickly.

“I can make an excellent soup in 30 minutes,” she said.

Another shortcut to a great soup, Shellie said, is to use leftover gravy from beef or pork roasts as a soup base.

Nancy Perry, the owner of Mastersons, said the store carries a number of premade dry soup mixes that can either be used as is or as soup enhancers.

Nancy said brands such as Turtle Island and Plentiful Pantry offer a wide variety of quick, easy and delicious soups.

“You just add water and whisk in the soup mix. I like to add leftovers like turkey or chicken. They are great on their own or with leftovers added,” she said.



Risqué recipes

Dorothy Scearcy, with Santa’s Old Broads of Grove, Okla., said nothing beats a good soup on a cold day. The 12 women who make up Santa’s Old Broads have just published the followup to their successful cookbook “Doing It ... in the Kitchen: Tried and True.” The cookbooks, are funny and just a little risqué.

“Like us,” Dorothy said with a laugh.

Both cookbooks are subtitled “Tried and True” because all of the dishes are longtime family recipes that have withstood the rigorous testing of several generations of hungry family members.

Sheila Fleming said a pot of soup on a stove makes the kitchen more attractive.

‘When people get together at my house you can’t get them out of the kitchen,” she said.

You can purchase a copy of volume One or Volume Two of “Doing It ... in the Kitchen” by calling (918) 786-7607. The cookbooks are $10 each or you can purchase both volumes for $18. All the proceeds from both cookbooks allow the women to purchase Christmas gifts for more than 100 Grove-area needy children.

The following soup recipes come from the new “Doing It ... in the Kitchen” cookbook.



Touch tantalizing taco soup

2 pounds ground beef

2 packages taco seasoning mix

3 cans jalapeno pinto beans, undrained.

1 can dark red kidney beans, undrained

1 can black beans, undrained

1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

1 can stewed tomatoes

2 cans original Ro-Tel tomatoes

3-4 (4-ounce) cans chopped green chilies

1 (16-ounce) can water

Brown ground beef. Mix in taco seasoning packets. Add all other ingredients and heat to boiling. Crumble Fritos in individual bowls, add grated sharp cheddar cheese and top with soup.



A gigolo’s Italian soup

1 pound hot spicy pork sausage

1 can garbanzo peas

1 (16-ounce) can tomatoes with basil, oregano & garlic

1 medium onion, chopped

2 zucchini squash, chopped

1 can beef broth

11/2 cup water

Parmesan cheese

Brown sausage, onion and squash. Add tomatoes, water, broth and peas. When hot, serve with Parmesan cheese.



Mike Pound writes for The Joplin (Mo.) Globe.