It's cold. Time for soup...

I didn't go to the farmer's market this weekend. So, it got to be supper time, and I looked through the refrigerator and cupboard to see what odds and ends could come together into something warm to eat. Over medium heat, I sauteed a scant half cup of diced red onion and two small sliced leeks in my cocotte. I added some diced carrots and let all of that sweat for a while until I moved it all over to a pile on the side of the pot and added five quartered Brussell's sprouts to the clear area. When they had browned a bit, I added one cup of chicken broth and one cup of water all at once. I made a bouquet garni with pepper corns, a sage leaf, some sprigs of thyme, and a bay leaf and added that, bringing it all to a boil. Then I added maybe a quarter cup of wheat berries, lowered the heat, and covered the pot, letting it all simmer for an hour or so. Once the wheat berries were soft, I chopped up the last bits of spinach I had. I stirred that in along with the juice of a lemon slice that had been sitting all alone in the refrigerator. It tastes really good, and it made just enough soup to fill one of my low pasta bowls. So, now it's cooling a bit on the counter while I write this.

Ginger and lemon

I cut up a few chunks of raw ginger and lemon, put them in a big Ball jar, and poured boiling water in. I forgot about it, and it sat there for fifteen minutes or so. I guess it can't be called "tea" since there were no tea leaves involved and "hot ginger lemonade" doesn't sound that appealing. But it was so good, I want to call it something.