This morning I made the first pot of soup of the fall. We lived on soup last winter, alternating between two  basic types. One using chicken and one using sausages as the main ingredient. I am not a big fan of meat, not a big fan of vegies either. If I wasn’t afraid I would die, would be come a vegetarian. (you cannot live on red wine and chocolate)  This growing and eating different  vegies is new to me…But I am experimenting throwing whatever is fresh into the soup and it seems to work.

Soup never got boring as we mixed them up depending on what was left over in the fridge. They never tasted the same twice. We are both pretty easy-going about our dining and as a result of 33 years of ordinary cooking  have a measured expectation from our meals. That said, it is nice to have the fresh ingredients from our garden to make the pasta sauces, stews and soups.. I have been making our own bread since we got here.

We have a very small freezer and space can’t be wasted. In the winter we try to only go to town every couple of weeks so the space in the freezer (once I have frozen my  Ladner blueberries)  is saved for meat… I love Ladner blueberries more than meat. Winters afternoons by the fire with a warm blueberry muffin and homemade Ladner strawberry jam will not be foresaken no matter how far from Ladner I live. So the small amount of meat we do have is tucked in beside the blueberries.

The farm on the island is selling lamb for 5.00 per pound. You can order a half or whole lamb.. We would like to support the farm and I do like lamb souvlaki a whole bunch so we are going to take the leap and order a half a lamb. Our neighbour is going to let us use their freezer with a can of our propane for fuel..The fridge is outside and I don’t really think we will have to use it for very long. I am going to have to find some lamb recipes and put my big girl blouse on and experiment.. K is getting a half also. She and I are going to learn to make sausages with the less than perfect bits.. that should be interesting…

I time the bread to come out of the oven just as the soup is ready. The smells in the house right now are pretty inviting.

E likes to cook.. He isn’t into fancy either but he has done more than his share while we were raising the kids. I was usually invited to wash up or make a dessert because the family knew I was cooking the dinner when they heard

the smoke alarm.

Rocky eating Willy the squirrels peanuts beside me while I type this.