a home for all seasons

This is a great little book I picked up this week for $4. (When I say 'little', I mean physically little. It's very cute.) It is full of beautiful pictures and inspiration. I've been gazing longingly at the light, bright, summery images. Although I do enjoy winter, too.

It's snowing today; beautiful, fat, wet flakes. I'm hoping to take a few more pictures later on.

Tomorrow, I'll share the next Recipe-a-week, from Barefoot in Paris! It's a dessert, so save some room!

pretty paperwhites

Look what's open! Phillip loves them ("paper-WHITES! Ooooooh") as do we. Except for the stink - but it's worth suffering through for the lovely pictures, don't you think?

I'm heading away tomorrow for work, so I'll be back on the weekend with a new recipe. Enjoy the last few days of January!

recipe-a-week #4: broccoli soup

This week's recipe is for Creamy Broccoli Soup, from Great Food Fast and it takes 30 minutes, start to finish. It's quite yummy, although I would make a few minor modifications to it next time.
Here is is:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, halved and sliced
1/8 tsp nutmeg
4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth (I used vegetable broth)
1/3 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 pounds broccoli, florets separated, stems peeled and cut into 1/2 inch rounds
salt and pepper

1. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add onion, cook until softened, 5 minutes. Add the nutmeg and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds.

2. Stir in the broth, 1 1/2 cups water (I would use 1 next time), the oats, and broccoli. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer until the broccoli is tender, 5-10 minutes.

3. Puree the soup in batches, and blend with a stick blender, or a regular blender in batches. Return soup to the pot and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
What's that? Oats in soup? Yup. It thickens the soup without adding cream, and you don't see or taste the oats in the finished soup.
We served it with pitas brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with fresh parmesan, and broiled for a couple of minutes. Yum!

Happy Monday! Hope your week is off to a good start.

winter morning, and the comfort week winner!

Phillip and I made a short documentary of our play time outside this morning to share with you.

The winner of the three bars of my fabulous soap, for participating in Comfort Week, is right here in Nova Scotia! Yay, Andrea! I had a list of participants, and had Adam pick a random number without telling him why. He chose Andrea's number! E-mail me your address (and last name, too, to grahamsherrie at yahoo dot ca) and I'll send the soaps your way. Thanks again to everyone for playing along, and the gears are turning to come up with something for Spring. Which, thankfully, isn't far away!

Oh, and lastly - thanks so very much for all of your sweet well-wishes. I am feeling much, much better. I think this prescription is doing the trick!