Weekend soup serves weekday worker

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Winter brings with it additional responsibilities, such as shoveling snow, getting the furnace tuned up and applying enough layers of clothes so that you don't freeze on the way to work.

Maybe that's just in Chicago where I'm from, but even in warm climates, the fear of cold propels us to self-protect. A Southern California rain can be chilling when the temperature dips below 60 degrees. (Stop laughing, please.)

That's where soups come in. They are warming. They are nutritious. They are best prepared ahead on the weekend. And they are easy to make. In fact, for people who work, they are the quintessential weeknight dinner, since they are ready to be eaten when we are ready to eat. After a long day of work, it's nice to know someone who loves us has dinner waiting ... even if that someone is us.

There are really only four cooking skills required:

• Skill one is chopping ingredients. This is accomplished with a knife.

• Skill two is sauteing. This involves quickly but gently cooking food in a pan with a little bit of oil or butter. This is no-effort cooking. If you're working hard, you're not doing it right.

• You may also need to complete skill three, which is opening a can or two, and even opening the refrigerator.

• If these skills are confusing, you should not be navigating the fourth skill, which is turning on the stove. Pick up the phone and call for carryout. But get someone else to drive over for the pickup.

Make soup on the weekend, and you have a home-cooked meal waiting for you when you come home from work on Monday. Just add bread, crackers and maybe a sprinkle of cheese. Don't forget to thank the cook.

Sausage and barley soup with mushrooms