NOT SOCK SOUP .....

 

"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth. It is the time for home..."  -Edith Sitwell
Every winter my mother would make vats of soup. She made what she called Sock Soup. A bit of this and that, with leftover bacon grease, or sausages, and cabbage...

  

Sometimes it smelled like she'd  actually boiled socks  in the pot.  .......soup has come a long way since then.

THIS is  Hamburger Soup. It doesn't taste like socks. When we lived on military bases  THIS was THE soup of choice for all gatherings, in minus 35 Celsius weather in Ontario, and the Maritimes.  Big crock pots of this lovely, chili- like soup, without the chili seasoning, served by roaring fires, to hungry hoards, with homemade crusty buns, or scones.... 

Haul out your largest crock pot. Get it heated up with  a cup of hot water....this is kind of a add-whatever-you-want soup .....you can add meat, or just have it as vegetarian. This batch was made with no-salt ingredients......

I cooked up a large pack of gr beef in oven, while adding veggies to the crock pot. Let the oven do the cooking while you get everything else ready....

CHOP: a few stalks of celery, a small group of potatoes, some onion, if you wish. Not too much onion, as it can get VERY strong ,as the mix cooks in slow cooker. 

MICROWAVE: A bag of frozen carrots, peas, corn, green or yellow beans till warmed up. 

Varied Thrush

DUMP: 1 large container of no sodium veggie broth or beef broth into crock pot.  

ADD: warmed up veggies, potatoes, celery, CAN of tomatoes,  TWO cans of (no salt) kidney beans, another carton of broth, if you wish, or top with hot water. 

ADD: pepper, parsley, basil... THEN add the cooked hamburger meat. You can also use ground turkey, or chicken. Or just add more veggies, if you prefer. Sometimes, I add squash, turnips, parsnips.......

To keep the acid of the tomatoes at bay, sprinkle in a tsp of sugar......the flavours meld well. I've tried baking soda, and it's okay, but the sugar seems to work better. 

* you can even add a touch of chili powder , to your liking. but NOT cabbage or broccoli, or it will smell, dreadfully, like socks boiling....

Let it cook on high for about 4-5 hours till you can see the soup bubbling up through the glass lid. Serve over rice, or plain with buns or scones......

I remember one instance, years ago, on a freezing January night, in Petawawa, Ontario, there was a gathering for a group of military wives.  We were each supposed to bring a main dish. I decided not to make  hamburger soup, which was the going "thing" for these things. I figured someone else would bring it.  Instead, I made a chicken curry.  WHY? I have no idea.  Fifteen wives arrived that night. Each one with a curry of some sort. No soup. Nothing but curried dishes as far as the eye could see. Curried veggies, curried chicken, curried eggs, curried scones, curried potatoe salad, curried  everything. I never made curry again.......

"Soup is a lot like family. Each ingredient enhances the others; each batch has its own characteristics, and it needs time to simmer to reach full flavour..." 

                                                                                                            - Marge Kennedy

Photographs 2025

GOLDEN WINTER DUNDEE CAKE.....

Finally, I can stand long enough to BAKE! Yay me. It's been almost five years since I've actually been able to do this. So exciting.  The hardware in my leg is daunting, but I can walk between counters, furniture, etc. doors, windows, with more independent walking, every day.  I can  last about 20 minutes. Yay! Four months ago, couldn't get anywhere. Wow, it's great to be standing up again.  I can reach the baking cupboard once more (Double yay).......so HERE is my own version of Golden Dundee Tea Cake.....

Prepare five small loaf pans: Greased and lined with greased parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 F.

You can use a couple of medium sized loaf pans, or a round cake pan  if you wish instead.

                                          I like the small loaf pans, as they freeze well......

Combine 3 cups Golden Raisins in a saucepan, cover with water and boil about 5 mins . This will soften the raisins. 

Drain liquid from the raisins.

Add to the still warm raisins: 1 cup of margarine , cut up  into pieces,  beating well after each one. The warm raisins will melt the margarine.

Then to this mixture: add 3 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one. 

Add : 1 1/4 cup white sugar and beat into the raisin/margarine/sugar mixture. Beat with a large spoon or large fork. 

Add a 1/2 teaspoon of lemon/or almond flavouring , if you wish. Sometimes, I add a couple of tbsps of marmalade, if you wish...just for something different. But I didn't this time.

In a separate bowl: 3 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder, pinch salt.

COMBINE: Raisin mixture with the dry ingredients. Mix well.

Plop batter into the five loaf  pans , all ready and lined with parchment paper. 

Put loaf pans on a cookie sheet  and then into oven . I baked these for about 40 minutes. (I started at 30 minutes then added time, till a sharp knife inserted into centers came out clean.)

Take a piece of margarine and paint the warm cake tops with the margarine. It just gives a nice sheen. Freeze in the loaf pans. Slice and serve with a hot cup of tea and share with friends. WONDERFUL!

"

"There is nothing better  than cake, but MORE cake..." - Harry S. Truman

Photographs 2025 
                                       

SNOW DAY.....

"A snow day literally and figuratively falls from the sky...unbidden...and seems like a thing of wonder.." -Susan Orlean

"It is growing cold. Winter is putting footsteps in the meadow.." -Roman Payne

"Snow is a beautiful reminder of life, and all its quirks. It makes me pause. Think. Stay still..." -R.B. O'Brien

                  "Do you remember your first snow?" -Lara Biyuts

"Snow is falling outside and all is peaceful and still. In such moments it is possible to believe that the world could still be good...." -Richard Paul Evans

                                      "The snow was endless..." -Cambria Hebert

"The snow did not even whisper its way to earth, but seemed to salt the night with silence..." -Dean Koontz

"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer..."-Albert Camus

Vibernum.....flowers in winter

"The very fact of snow is such an amazement.." -Roger Ebert

"It is the life of the crystal, the architect of the flake, the fire of the frost, the soul of the sunbeam. the crisp winter is full of it...." - John Burroughs

"Snow provokes responses that reach right back to childhood..." -Andy Goldsworthy

"And finally Winter, with its bitin', whinin' wind, ad all the land will be mantled with snow..." -Roy Bean

                                                      "With every falling flake...." -P. Miller

"Imagine if fire extinguishers were full of snow. Imagine the fun we could have.." 

                                                                                                               -Neil Hilborn

          "Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius...." -Pietro Aretino

              "Winter is for wondering....." -Debasish Mridha

"Welcome, Winter. Your late dawns and chilled breath make me lazy, but I love you nontheless..." -Terri Guillemets

"Only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savour belonging to yourself..."  -Ruth Stout

"Snow flurries began to fall and they swirled around people's legs like house cats. It was magical, this snow globe world..." -Sarah Addison Allen

Mini, from across the way, visits at 1 am...

Photographs 2025