Soup Season!

Ahh, October rain is here on the West coast.
The rain began again. It fell heavily, easily, with no meaning or intention but the fulfillment of its own nature, which was to fall and fall.  - Helen Garner

This year I'm set on trying my darnedest to embrace the wet winter weather.  Case in point - yesterday I managed to not only run in the rain but to garden!  My awesome department at UBC has successfully integrated two lasagna-style box gardens outside of our building - already home to a few winter crops like garlic, kale and cabbage.  It's getting on the late side of things, so hopefully they thrive and do their part in showcasing our efforts to the land planning folks at UBC (who may or may not have been completely on board with the idea). 

It's probably not the same way for everyone, but I've learned that going outside on a daily basis is imperative to my health and happiness.  Although, when the forecast is looking particularly menacing, there's no question that hiding from the weather can also be fun.  A particularly tasty way to enjoy an escape to the indoors is getting your cook on.  I nominate Sundays as the best days for this activity...I'm always excited when I've got arse-kicking lunches for the week to come.  It's also nice to be able to take time trying new or more difficult recipes (I took out 5 soup, etc. cookbooks at the library yesterday...the bookshelves swallow me up every single time).  This time I chose a vegetarian chili.  My inspiration was a can of red kidney beans in my cupboard and a hankering for eggplant. I added ground turkey to half and figure I can use the rest of the vegetable-hearty stew to bolster other splendid dishes, pureed into a sauce perhaps...I have already frozen two yogurt-containers for those lazy days. 

I feel good that I now have a clean home and good food in the fridge.  All the peace I need to write this paper... right? Right.  I meant for this weekend to jolt me towards making serious typing progress...turns out this week is going to have to be a long, tough one if I'm going to produce that draft by the 22nd.  It's time to get out of that head-space that wants everything to be done perfectly and get on that get'r done as best you can gear.  I hate that gear! If I have it my way, I'm a take your time and 'do it right' kind of person, and sometimes it's actually painful to just let it go.  But, I guess can also be sort of dramatic (I will promptly deny it if you ever bring it up).
Annnnnyway.
Love love love,
Meggy

Chili. (Lots of veggies, but not vegetarian. I added ground turkey)

What to do with leftover eggplant? Roast! Topped with goat cheese, toasted walnuts and balsamic.