Brrr……is it cold in New England today! This kind of day reminds me of a place called “Duck Soup” it was a small cafe type restaurant in downtown Providence in my high school years. I remember getting off the bus in the morning to make my connector and smelling fresh baked bread and onions simmering in sauces and stocks as I walked by their window and watched the prep cooks preparing for the day and the steam inside made condensation on the windows due to it being so cold outside. On my way back home in the afternoon as the sun warmed the air and they had been cooking and serving lunch by that time, the smell was even more intense. Their soups were delicious and that smell is in my memory forever and reinforces my absolute love of soups! I eat soup all year around no matter the weather.

However, the cold weather (reminding me of snow) today puts soup on my mind even more. And although I love the kind of soup that needs to be simmering all day, sometimes I wake up wanting soup for breakfast and NOT out of a can. My “Quick Pick Me Up, Anytime  Soup” recipe is fun, a take on ramen noodles, and it’s quick, fast, and easy on top of yummy and nutritious. What makes it most easy is having a good meal left over from the night before for protein and starch (like chicken and rice).

Speaking of settling in, I know I’ve been M.I.A. since last April and sooo much has been going on but we’ve moved into a new place and time in our lives and we are easing into our surroundings. We are still in our beautiful New England and not too far from our last residence but in an all new development that we love very much. I finally have a little dream kitchen that I’m in love with! 🙂 And as you can see from my header photo above, a great patio that fits a full size kitchen table set. We got here in mid September while the foliage was so pretty and got to enjoy it even up until last week (there was a warm fall day and I got to sit out) but with a great big french door view like that, we will even enjoy seeing the scene filled with snow on the trees this winter. And I have a nice big fireplace that will go great with the view.

I missed all of you and missed writing and sharing thoughts and ideas. I found it helped me express myself and let things out of my head to be “released” in a sense. I think us Blog people have a lot of “stuff” inside and this is an avenue of clearing the catacombs to make room for our never ending thoughts and I thank you all that take the time to read them. Until next time….