FAQs

How did you name your soups?

Mi Madre's Chicken Tortilla

When Mary Ellen Williams and her friend retired in 1991, they created Log Cabin Soups, now Cooke Tavern Soups. After building a very successful soup business, they retired for a second time! Mary Ellen’s son, Greg has carried on the family business since 2000. Mary Ellen continues to put her wonderful culinary skills to practice, creating and perfecting soup recipes. Greg honored his mother with this soup to recognize her wonderful talents and loving dedication to Cooke Tavern Soups. Thanks Madre!

Henna Marie's Potato and Cheese

The Muddy Paws Marsh needed a new guardian after we lost our beloved dog Max after almost sixteen years. A good friend Liz, who volunteers for PAWS, a rescue shelter in State College PA, sent us a picture of Henna Marie. We couldn’t resist the wonderful similarity to Max, and felt it was ‘meant to be’. She is happily the new Muddy Paws Marsh protector so we felt she needed her own soup named after her!

 

 

Colonel Maxwells Minestrone

We allowed our wonderful dog Max to have a taste of our Minestrone recipe and one of our competitors’ Minestrone recipes. He sniffed the competitor’s soup, ignored it and went over to joyfully eat the Cooke Tavern Soup’s final creation. How could we not name it after him? Max also inspired the creation and naming of our Muddy Paws Marsh Wetlands Educational Center also located on the property.

Farmer Al's Homegrown Tomato Basil Bisque

This soup was named after Greg’s father, Al Williams.

Sweet Annie's Butternut Squash Bisque

Mary Kay’s mom is the feature of this fabulous fall time gourmet treat. Annie had a ‘special’ birthday in 2012 and so we wanted to honor her with this special soup. Annie is always doing something special and sweet for someone, so we thought it appropriate that we called it Sweet Annie—since that describes her so well. A special Happy Birthday honor to a sweet birthday girl!

Are the soups nationally recognized?

Today Show guest chef Giada De Laurentiis Warms Up to Cooke Tavern Soups

November, 14, 2008

Spring Mills, PA – November 14th, 2008 Cooke Tavern Ltd. a producer of gourmet freeze dried soup mixes was featured on NBC’s Today Show November 11th in a segment titled, ‘What’s New in the Food World’.

Renowned Italian chef Giada De Laurentiis chose Cooke Tavern Soups as one of her favorite picks from the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center November 8-9 in Washington D.C.

De Laurentiis, whose recipes are featured on The Food Network’s Everyday Italian and Giada’s Weekend Getaways, picked two gourmet food products from the two hundred twenty-five vendors that attended the show. While describing Cooke Tavern Soups, De Laurentiis said, “These soups are fantastic. Know what I love? You can add your own ingredients to it and you’ve made your own soup.”

These exemplary mixes do not contain any salt, preservatives, or MSG, offering consumers a healthy choice. Designed for busy people who want to create and serve a great homemade soup without the fuss of starting from scratch, De Laurentiis said, “They (soup mixes) give you additional ideas of ingredients to add to make them special.”

The soup mixes are available on-line as well as in many gourmet food and specialty gift shops. Storeowners appreciate selling these mixes as they create a loyal customer following by offering consumers an opportunity to make homemade, healthy, and ‘goof proof’ recipes.

frequently Asked Questions

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What makes Cooke Tavern Soups different from other soup mixes?
Cooke Tavern Soups uses freeze dried vegetables and herbs in all our mixes.

Freeze drying is the best way to preserve vegetables and herbs, better than frozen, canning, or plain air-drying! Freeze dried vegetables retain their color, texture and most important of all, flavor, better than any other method of preserving!

It is what makes our soups not only look great, but taste like they were made from fresh vegetables! Our mixes contain:

  • NO Preservatives
  • NO added Salt
  • NO MSG
  • NO artificial colorings or flavorings
  • NO ‘clumps’ of fillers at the bottom of the bag!

At Cooke Tavern Soups, we like to say it’s not just what we put into our mixes; it’s what we LEAVE OUT that makes them great!

What are the top sellers?
Our very first product was Candlelight Corn Chowder which is still our best seller today! Other top sellers are:

  • Henna Marie’s Potato and Cheese
  • Mi Madre Maria Chicken Tortilla
  • Yankee Doodle Chicken Noodle
  • Barn Raising Country Vegetable
  • Ten Shilling Sherried Mushroom
  • Fireside Supper Bean
How much does one packet of soup make?
Depending on the soup, each mix makes 2 to 3 quarts.
Why does "no salt" appear in places but there is sodium listed in the nutrition facts?
We do not add salt to any of our recipes. However, there can be sodium naturally found in some of the ingredients. 
Can I freeze my leftover soup after I've prepared it?
Yes! The following soup mixes freeze well:

  • Mi Madre Maria Chicken Tortilla
  • Yankee Doodle Chicken Noodle
  • Barn-Raising Country Vegetable
  • Fireside Supper Bean
  • Blacksmith’s Black Bean Chili
  • Pioneer Split Pea
  • Autumn Harvest Pumpkin Lentil
  • Colonel Maxwell’s Minestrone
What is the shelf-life of your soup mixes?

The soup mixes have a shelf life of one year. They do not spoil after a year; however, some of the herbs lose their potency.

If you want to make them last even longer, when you purchase, put the bag into a Ziploc bag and put in the freezer until you want to make that wonderful soup.

Do you carry any vegetarian soup mixes?

Yes, all of our mixes are vegetarian. There are no meat products or meat flavorings in any of the mixes. On each of the labels, there are wonderful vegetarian recipes.

Do you carry any gluten-free mixes?

Yes, the following mixes are gluten free:

  • Sweet Annie’s Butternut Squash Bisque
  • Aunt Henna Marie’s Potato Cheese Soup
  • Autumn Harvest Pumpkin Lentil
  • Candlelight Corn Chowder
  • Pioneer Split Pea
  • Blacksmith’s Black Bean Chili
  • Farmer Al’s Homegrown Tomato Basil Bisque
  • Ten Shilling Sherried Mushroom
  • Mi Madre Maria’s Chicken Tortilla
  • Voilá French Onion
  • Peter Piper’s Stuffed Pepper

“Certified Gluten free Facility” by National Celiac Association since 2015

(Other mixes contain pasta and/or barley)

Do I have to register to place an order?

No, customers can check out as a guest. Registration allows you to check up on past orders and leave product reviews. To register as a new customer, click on “register” on the top menu bar and fill in all the required information. Wholesalers must register to purchase wholesale

I forgot my username and/or password. How can I recover them?

To recover your password, click on “Login” at the top right of the the top menu bar, and then click “lost your password”. For security reasons it’s not possible to recover your user name in the same way. If you don’t remember your username, contact us using the form on the Contact Us page.

Can I view my previous orders?
Yes. To view previous orders, simply log in with your user name and password, and choose “My Orders” from the menu on the left.

Contact Us

Have questions about our soups, ordering, reselling or fundraising opportunities? Reach out via this form. We look forward to connecting with you.

VISIT US

4158 Penns Valley Road
Spring Mills, PA 16875

CONTACT US

866-422-SOUP (7687)
info@cooketavernsoups.com

OPEN HOURS

M-F: 8am - 5pm