The mean March winds are roaring, and it’s downright spooky here. Outside gardening chores will need to wait until another day. It’s also an excuse to putter around the house and procrastinate on tasks like gathering tax receipts or paying the credit card bill. After all, there are social media posts to ‘like’ and junk drawers to organize.

There’s still dinner to consider, windy weather or not. My go-to idea for cool evenings is homemade soup. It’s a snap to make and a way to use up various vegetables lingering in the deep recesses of the fridge and pantry. Everyone should have a signature dish, and my specialty is savory chicken soup with clouds of creamy dumplings. This is a meal that will make a person feel cherished, especially if you include scratch-made chocolate chip cookies for dessert. I still have the junk drawer that needs organizing, so a package of Oreos will have to suffice.

Check out the old Woman’s Day magazine clipping of one of my soup tips.