Soup assembly line!

I’ve continued making soup 1 bowl at a time (Zuppa for One)

It works for me to use whatever is available and have a wonderful bowl of fresh soup.

I found I preferred having 1 bowl of soup with what sounded good vs making a giant pot of something that I had to eat again and again or freeze.

Today, I started with some beef and lentil meatballs in a tomato chipotle sauce***, chicken broth, corn and…

…sautéed kale. I added just a splash of white balsamic vinegar to the kale before adding to the soup.

Let it all simmer just a bit…

Then the chunky croutons with cheddar under the broiler until brown and bubbly…

And a dollop of greek yogurt to cool it all. (my beverage is Hibiscus Blueberry refrigerator tea – so pretty!)

Soup for lunch.

The additional bonus – for me, since I LOVE to cook! – is that the process of doing this is a wonderful and relaxing break in my day.

So.

Yep, it is cold here. The high today was 6F at my house. The morning started at -1F. The good news – for me, Bear and Auggie – is that we are shadowed from the NNE wind by the Jewell Basin wrap of mountains. I can sometimes hear and see the wind high in the treetops but it is calm on the ground and little wind chill effect. Other places the wind chill has been in the -20 to -30 range and forecast to maybe be in the -40 range tonight. By noon tomorrow, although we will stay very cold, the winds are to be done.

By late next week, we will hopefully be at normal December temperatures of 20’s daytime, low teens overnight. And maybe some snow.

The good news is, this prolonged cold SHOULD put the kibosh on a LOT of bugs and things like yellow jackets and wasps. I’ll still put pheromone traps out this Spring, but I think/hope we will NOT have a repeat of last Summer.

Bear is LOVING the cold and it is a joy to see him enjoying. I have all necessary clothing for going out and about and I’m enjoying also…maybe a little less than Bear :) !!

Auggie went out yesterday when it was 7F. I set my phone alarm for 5 minutes and then got him in. He wanted to go out today when it was about 2. I took him in my arms to the front porch. He gasped slightly and hung to my arm. We came in and he seemed resigned to play inside! It was blue sky and sunny so I expect difficult to reconcile that it WAS indeed VERY cold outside.

It is after 6:30 p.m. as I write.

I’m done with work for the day.

A fire in the woodstove.

Time for supper for all of us and then some time in front of the fire.

I have things to read.

Bear and Auggie will find their spots near me.

All is well in my home tonight and I am grateful.

I pray that livestock and wildlife will find places to survive this very cold night.

*** Homesick Texan’s Tex-Mex Meatballs in Chipotle Tomato Sauce is the inspiration for the meatballs and sauce. The sauce I make exactly to the linked recipe. The meatballs, I subbed 1/2 lentils (1 cup cooked) for 1/2 of the ground beef, did not use any zucchini and I used 1/8 cup of Masa Harina and 1/8 cup of my own saved bread crumbs in place of cracker crumbs for a binder.