Children grown and gone. Trying to cook lighter and healthier for the two of us now. Love to make soup--it's a chance to be creative and not worry so much about measurements. It's hard to make a bad pot of soup--or to duplicate a good one! I save bits of leftovers in the freezer for use in soups, just like my mom did. I love it when someone asks me to make a particular dish to bring to a pitch-in. Years ago, when I was a young cook, I wanted to duplicate a lemon pudding cake and finally got my mother-in-law to share her treasured recipe. I made the whole thing finished and it looked just like hers. We couldn't wait for dessert to give it try. It was awful!! What had I done wrong? I called her and read the recipe back to see if I had it wrong--no, everything was correct. So I went over it step-by-step with her. I guess her directions weren't specific enough for a beginning cook: she said to grate one lemon. So I did--the whole thing. Of course, she meant only the zest (and juice), not the bitter pith. Now I know.