A discussion I was having with Rouxdog reminded me of another variety of soup entirely, one I haven’t seen mentioned here. Rock soup. Yes, I wrote "rock soup". The major ingredient of rock soup is a rock, of course. Select this rock wisely and it can be reused for an infinite number of batches of soup. It is best to sterilize and test this rock by boiling beforehand. The rock can be considered "done" and taken out at any point, of course.
You’ll want to be careful to select a type of natural rock that is impervious to the temperature of boiling water, which is the second ingredient you’ll add. From here on out the ingredients added are limited only by your own imagination, and that of the children you may wish to recruit to assist you.
The rock soup is best suited to days when your children, grand children, or kin are bored witless. I’m sure you can see the infinite possibilities now. With the proper preparation and suspenseful buildup a pot of rock soup can be a magical thing and will encourage children to develop their own cooking skills. Have fun! [8D]