It snowed this morning, fat, white flakes that melted as soon as they hit the lawn.

Those first flurries are a reminder that it’s soup season, time to scour fridge and pantry for ingredients to blend into a pot full of warmth and flavor.

Soup truly is magical food. I have seen the aroma of chicken broth lift my husband’s feet from the floor and carry him to the table.

The Soupmaker’s Kitchen, a cookbook by Philadelphia journalist and chef Aliza Green, is bubbling with inspiration. As might be expected, Green shares more than 100 recipes for potages, broths and bisques. Beyond, she offers savvy, kitchen-tested tips for organizing your own work space and reducing wasted food.

But what about stock, the Mount Everest of soupmaking? Whenever I think of stock I recall Peggy Morgan, a gifted writer and colleague at the Courier-Post, the newspaper that is and ever shall be South Jersey’s leading daily. Peggy, an exceptional home cook, confessed to having planted a flag at the summit only twice in her life. “Once for each marriage.”

In The Soupmaker’s Kitchen (Quarry Books, $24.99), Green demystifies stock and shares techniques that even a chowderhead can master. You will be amazed and gratified when you discover the depth of flavor stock adds to dishes.

Plus, you will be a good steward of the kitchen, making good use of peelings, scrapings and bones that otherwise might be tossed. Thus, the subtitle of the book: How to Save Your Scraps, Prepare a Stock, and Craft the Perfect Pot of Soup.