Soup's on.

There is something great about coming home to a warm place and a great meal waiting for you.

No matter how bad my day happened to be —and this one starting with the inability of D.C. to clean up the icy roads — it can still take a turn for the better with a great homecoming.

When I walked into my apartment building last night, with spicy aromas wafting through the hallways to greet me, I crossed my fingers that those delicious smells were coming from my apartment. Sure enough, my roommate was in the kitchen stirring a pot of soup that made my mouth water. Luckily, my roommate is a great sharer — which brings us back to the importance of sharing.

Coming home to a cooked meal is perfectly timeless. I remember my grandmother telling me that the best way for a wife to win points with her husband is to cook up a small pan of onions right before he gets home. It fills the house with delicious savory smells and creates the illusion that someone has been working in the kitchen all day. While this may be a sexist, antiquated 1950s housewife trick, it does make sense.

In fact my dad used this trick to tempt my sister and me out of the solitude of our bedrooms and sullen moods. I remember being somewhat disappointed, however, when I would sneak into the kitchen, looking for a hint of what was for dinner, only to find a measly pan of onions. Regardless, it achieved the initial desired response of startling the senses, awakening the taste buds, and boosting the mood.

I suppose it just goes to show that those small things can brighten the day and can be as simple as frying an ordinary vegetable to achieve an extraordinary response, coming home to a glass of wine waiting for you, or just knowing that someone put in the effort for you to dine in style. While I realize that some of us don’t have time to whip up something up to greet our friends — and I often include myself in that category — taking the extra step once in a while is only the small effort of turning on a burner and washing one extra pan. The effort will not go unnoticed.

P.S. I’m now eating the delicious soup my roommate made and as I exclaim over the paired spices with the perfectly cooked potato, my day has officially taken a turn for the better.