Grey and Red

      Our New England landscape can be summed up in one word - Grey.  We've got snow flurries and then rain on the horizon, so I fed and watered  the boyz up at the barn  and the girlz in the coop and cleaned out their living quarters, left top doors open for fresh air and they are snug and dry in the barn for the day. 

  The horse closest to you in this picture is  Max2 , now 31 years of age, that's ancient in horse-life. He's owned by a friend of ours.    Our Max - in the rear here, is Max1.   Opie, my redhead,  stands in the middle, the brat  boss of our little herd for sure. 

     Once I got all that accomplished and took a long hot shower to start the day, I drove to the nearest grocery store and picked up a few things to make a good, hearty soup for tonight's supper.   Even the bleak grey days of winter can be beautiful.... 

  I got the idea for this throw together soup after reading Debbie's post this morning on THIS blog.

   Basically, I sauteed some turkey kielbasa in my most favorite cooking tool in the house - my  big red Le Creuset pot.   Then I removed the sauteed sliced Kielbasa and added a little butter, chopped red pepper and sweet onion. When that was slightly tender and beginning to brown, I threw in some chopped garlic, shredded carrot, chopped celery, and let that saute a little more.  Then I added a can of crushed tomatoes, a can of cannellini beans, and chicken stock, enough to make it soupy.  Threw the Kielbasa back in and it's all simmering low on the stove till this evening.  About 15 minutes before serving, I'll throw in a bunch of baby spinach so the spinach is cooked but not drowned. The house already smells like  welcome home. 

   Speaking of which... This starting combination of  (red sweet) peppers, onions and garlic always reminds me of the very first time it occurred to me I was really going to enjoy cooking.  

    The Mr. and I were dating and I was cooking a meal for him for the first time.  At that time I had been living with my Aunt, finishing school, held two jobs and a barn full of horses to help take care of.  Busy girl, no time for cooking.   I had no idea what I was doing  and was on the phone with my Aunt several times during the course of the meal prep asking questions with the hope that I wouldn't royally screw it up.  M was at work, thankfully, not aware of the mess I was making in his kitchen.   

     

     Well, that first meal consisted of a chicken dish that began with a pepper, onion, garlic sauteed in butter combination.  oh, that heavenly scent.. I was THRILLED that I had created that delicious aroma with just those ingredients sauteeing in a pan.  From that moment on I paid more attention to the art of cooking,  experimented some and followed recipes handed down in my family, most of which I still use today -  Mom makes a mean stew and I haven't tweaked it in all these years. My grandmother and Aunt also legendary in our family for their good home cooking, I guess I got some of that from them.  They were all better about doing the dishes immediately after the sit-down,though.  On that I am the great procrastinator.  

      

 

   

        Till soon, friends...