Autumn Daze and Purple Soup

So, there you have it. Summer has officially come

to and end. On the calendar anyway. I however plan on taking just a bit of summer with me through at least the first couple of weeks of autumn. As long as the tomatoes last and the blackberries keep ripening. Ah, the tastes of harvest. I think fall might actually be my favorite season. Well, my favorite weather anyway. I have rhapsodized about the spring thaw and championed the cause of those lazy summer days, but really the autumn with its crisp, clear mornings and warm, bright afternoons is a delight almost incomparable. Take time to notice. This is one of our last nice days for a while. The high tomorrow is supposed to be 45 with some rain and snow. Therefore, this will be a short post, so I can get out on the porch with my book. Ok, you caught me...bookS! What I really want to share is the fun I have been having experimenting with all those yummy veggies that are so abundant right now. When mom said, "eat your greens!" she left out a whole rainbow amiable esculents. I have discovered that... Asparagus is heavenly in omelets. Tomatoes go

with everything. Zucchini is probably the hardest working veggie out there. Broccoli is yummo cooked, raw and everwhere in between. You can grow eggs in the garden. And kids have a really

hard time eating purple hashbrowns now matter how good they taste.

Last night we had purple soup for dinner. See these adorable purply spuds! Ok, so I do not have a recipe because I really cook better on the fly and the rules are more like guidelines anyway, right?

Seasonal Purple Soup

So, I started with a pot of boiling broth and water. Added some salt and pepper. Threw in cubed purple potatoes, shredded purple cabbage, and a big chopped up leek. Added a couple of cloves of garlic (which happened to also have purple skins) and a sprig of fresh rosemary cuz I had it in the garden. I let that cook down until the potatoes were soft. Then I pureed about two cups of the soup and added it back in for some thickness. It was purple. We ate it with some whole wheat flatbread and a tomato sprinkled with salt and pepper and drizzled with olive oil. Seriously, does not get better this time of year. I think the soup would be good with left over chicken or even a bit of a quality sausage if you like things spicy! Go to the market and see what is fresh, then just start throwing things together. You might be surprised at how much you like this way of cooking. Happy eating...

Quote of the day: "Everybody needs beauty as well as bread; places to play in and pray in; where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul."

--John Muir naturalist and explorer