My idea of the perfect meal in winter is soup. Served from a tureen set in the middle of the supper table, it can be as formal or relaxed a dish as you wish, depending on the kind of soup you choose to prepare. Eyeing some above-average looking cauliflower and cabbage at the market recently, I decided I would make a peasant-style vegetable soup, so I also picked up carrots, celery, sweet onions, red potatoes and a big fat bunch of parsley. Pasta is good in vegetable soup, as are beans, so some fettuccine nests and dried Great Northern beans went into my basket, too, along with a new packet of yeast for making flatbread to go with the soup. By the time I got home from the market, the weather was turning nasty – gray sky, cold temperatures and rain – a good day for soup, I thought. I started the bread first, and then, while the dough was going through its first rise, put together the soup, smooth sailing after the vegetables were prepped. While the bread dough was rising for the second time, I cooked the pasta. A meal consisting of soup and bread would be on the table soon and shouting out “soup’s on” will sound good, especially in January.

Sue Ade is a syndicated food columnist with broad experience and interests in the culinary arts. She has resided and worked in the lowcountry of South Carolina since 1985 and may be reached at kitchenade@yahoo.com, or by calling 683-0375.