If I could stretch crime scene tape across my kitchen door to keep the in-laws out while I make holiday dinner, I'd do it. But for some strange reason, my husband thinks that would be rude.

So I resort instead to soup.

A bowl of something warm and creamy is so much more than a first course.

It is a diversionary tactic.

Soup's on, and everybody's off to the table and out of the kitchen.

"You get them out of your hair - you lovingly get them out of your hair," said John Shields, chef of Gertrude's at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Surely there are multi-taskers out there who can keep up their half of the conversation with Aunt Betty while simultaneously mashing potatoes, making gravy and carving the turkey. I am not one of them.

I'd always assumed that personal failing was known only to humble home cooks. But Shields assured me even professional chefs who turn out hundreds of meals a day sometimes struggle to put out a spread for family.

"I find it much more difficult at home," he said. "They want to socialize with you. ... It's really a juggling act to be able to get everything out and make it look like you're relaxed and everything's fine."

At moments like this, soup really is good food.

The truism that guests are magnetically drawn to the kitchen meets its polar opposite in soup, which pulls them out again. At family holiday meals, Shields has accomplished this by serving a potato-parsnip-leek soup garnished with a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream, chives and a grating of fresh nutmeg.

Mm! Mm! Good! for hungry guest and frazzled cook alike.

"It keeps them busy for a while," Shields said. "You always want to do that because it becomes so crazy."

Sometimes Shields sets up a soup station, where guests can fill their own bowls. Other times, he gets a volunteer to ladle and serve the soup. Either way, he uses that time to finish up the rest of the meal.

Lest every bowl immediately become suspect, let it be said that there are hosts who serve soup selflessly, who seek only to fill their guests, not empty their kitchens. Count Cindy Wolf among them.

When the chef-owner of Baltimore's Charleston restaurant hosts Christmas dinner for family, the first course is either oyster stew or a soup made with fresh chestnuts. For the latter, she roasts and peels the chestnuts, simmers them with chicken stock, cream and sauteed onions and shallots, and finally, purees and seasons the mixture - all with nary a thought of rousting relatives from her kitchen.

In fact, Wolf recommends soup for holiday gatherings as a way of spending more time with guests on Christmas, not shooing them away. Because soup can be made ahead, Wolf only has to reheat that course at dinner time, freeing her up to socialize.

"I think that's one of the great things about soup," Wolf said. "Soup is great the next day - it's better. ... As a professional chef, you want to try to do as many things ahead of time so you're not trapped in the kitchen."

The soup is only a small part of Wolf's Christmas menu. The rest: roast beef tenderloin with nicoise olive relish and a sauce made of red wine, chicken and veal stock; roast duck with pecan stuffing; cauliflower with brown butter; green beans slow-cooked with ham (a concession the normally crisp bean-inclined chef makes to her mother's York, Pa. heritage); a cheese-and-fruit course; and for dessert, flourless chocolate cake and pistachio creme anglaise.

That menu might push the average home cook over the edge, but Wolf can pull it off without losing her head, partly because of that do-ahead soup. She actually wants guests in the kitchen - no crime-scene tape for this hostess - so they can serve themselves from a pot on the stove.

"I'm looking for great food I think will please everybody and some components I can do ahead," she said. "I am making things that are special for them, but I'm not going crazy."

Chef Scott Sommer of Columbia's Iron Bridge Wine Company dishes up a much more limited spread on Christmas, but soup is on his menu, too.

"I kind of take the day off," said Sommer, who would rather watch his 1-year-old daughter, Gillian, and nearly 3-year-old son, Gabriel, open gifts than spend the day in the kitchen. "It's much more about the kids and the presents and doing the Christmas morning thing. When the kids are older, we might worry about having a more traditional Christmas meal. But right now it's about not getting bogged down."

Sommer's mostly serves "snack-y foods" like nachos and a vegetable tray that people can nibble on throughout the day. A sweet potato-pear soup he makes the night before helps turn that into a meal.

"The soup's already done," he said. "I can just throw it on the burner over low heat and forget about it. ... With two little ones running around and my in-laws in town, we've decided to keep the chaos to a minimum."

Chef Cindy Wolf's Chestnut Soup

Makes: six servings

15

fresh chestnuts

1

tablespoon corn oil

1/2

Spanish onion, small dice

2

shallots, small dice

1

tablespoon butter for cooking

3

cups heavy cream

1

cup chicken stock

1

teaspoon kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 325

Rub chestnuts with corn oil and roast for 25 minutes. Allow to cool enough so you can handle them; they are easier to peel when warm. Peel and make sure to remove brown skin.

In a soup pot, preferably stainless steel and heavy-bottomed, melt the butter on medium heat. Add the onion and shallot and sweat until soft, then add chicken stock and cream. Now add the chestnuts. Simmer slowly stirring frequently so it doesn't stick. Cook about 30 minutes. Cool a little and then blend in a blender until smooth. Finish by adding salt and pepper to taste.

Notes: If your chestnuts aren't fresh, they won't be soft, and pureeing them will be difficult. But if you can't find fresh, buy the jar and use 8 ounces. Di Pasquale's in East Baltimore sells them in jars and in vacuum-sealed packs. The store also sells the fresh variety but said the nuts are nearing the end of their season, so the packaged kind are a better bet.

Nutrition information

Per serving: 524 calories, 49 grams fat, 29 grams saturated fat, 4 grams protein, 18 grams carbohydrate, 1 gram fiber, 169 milligrams cholesterol, 497 milligrams sodium

Golden Pear Soup

Makes: 6 servings

1 1/2

pounds yams or sweet potatoes

4

cups water

1

stick cinnamon

1 1/2

teaspoons salt

3

large ripe pears of any kind but Bosc

1

to 2 tablespoons butter

1/4

cup plus one tablespoon dry white wine.

1/3

cup half-and-half, light cream or milk

A few dashes of ground white pepper

Peel yams or potatoes and cut into small pieces. Place into a large saucepan with water, cinnamon and salt, bring to a boil, cover and simmer until tender (about 15 minutes). Remove cover, simmer an extra five minutes over medium heat. Remove from heat, discard cinnamon and set aside.

Peel and core pears and cut them into thin slices. In a heavy skillet, saute the pears in butter for about five minutes over medium heat. Add 1/4 cup of wine. Cover and simmer until pears are soft (five to 12 minutes, depending on ripeness).

In a food processor or a blender, combine yams and pears with their liquid and process until smooth. (You may have to do this in batches.) Transfer to heavy soup pot. Add cream or milk and remaining tablespoon of wine. Heat very gently until warm. (Do not allow to boil). Season with white pepper.

Note: When he makes this soup, Chef Scott Sommer of Iron Bridge Wine Company garnishes it with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and parsley, chives or thyme.

From: Mollie Katzen's "Still Life With Menu" (1988)

Nutrition information

Per serving: 165 calories, 4 grams fat, 2 grams saturated fat, 2 grams protein, 33 grams carbohydrate, 7 grams fiber, 10 milligrams cholesterol, 633 milligrams sodium