It's party time! Bring a board game and your favorite soup!

A soup party? Probably never thought of it. Right? But it's a great idea!

January may be National Soup Month but people start celebrating as soon as the autumn season arrives. A soup party is great fun! Especially if you live in places where you get to experience the changes of the seasons. That means you don't live in Florida, Texas, or Hawaii or other places with a tropical climate. The climate in these places really doesn't get you in the mood to savor a hearty bowl of steaming hot soup.

But if you're in Maryland or Virginia and the winter season comes – there's that chilly nip in the air that makes you feel frisky. There's also a light dusting of snow on the ground outside and inside is nice and warm and cozy because you decided it's cold enough to get a fire started in the fireplace. The only thing you need to complete this idyllic scene is the aroma of a tasty pot of soup coming from the kitchen. My spouse says if you grew up in a tropical environment, snow and cold weather can cause depression. There is some truth to that but it does not have to be like that. The winter season seems to make a lot of people cheerful and they get even happier when their insatiable craving for soup is satisfied.

So! Do you want to get together on the weekend with a group of friends and play board games like Monopoly, Scrabble, Chess, or A Game of Thrones for hours and hours? Invite them to soup party!

You prepare your favorite soup. Tell your friends to bring theirs, as if it's a potluck celebration. Make sure there's lots of warm bread or rolls, plenty of salad, and a never-ending supply of tea or lemonade.

Soup party not your idea of a good time? OK. Giving credit where credit is due, it wasn't my original idea either. Got it from a cookbook called Entertaining With Ease. For me, it is fun! Also, this would be great for me because domestic diva/goddess and perfect party hostess, I am not! This book is a Better Homes and Gardens® publication and the copyright is 1984. For decades, it has been my Go-To guide for recipes, cooking tips and entertaining. For Your Information: My fave soup recipe must include seasoned chunky chicken thigh pieces, sliced links of a spicy Italian turkey sausage, diced potatoes AND beans (red, black, no matter) OR peas (black-eyed peas, purple hull peas, crowder peas), and a green leafy vegetable; preferably kale, but mixed greens, spinach, or bok choy are all acceptable substitutes (the greener the leaf, the better) . The rolls and salad are optional. There's a recipe in the cookbook for a hot and hearty sausage soup which I varied slightly and made my own.

By the way, you can also use this idea for summer fun. Do you like cold soups like vichyssoise and gazpacho?