Great Northern beans
carrots
celery
potatoes
red onion
garlic
ham shanks
comfort
Please bear with me while I love winter a little longer. (I really wasn't trying to escape it with my walking out of winter poem, but how could you know that? I just wanted to be like a bird in it: warm, light, industrious and with a broad vantage point.)
We who love winter love it not only for the beauty of snow blanketed landscapes, snowflakes falling softly on our faces, ice crystals in the air sparkling like a million diamond suns, blizzards, north winds, sledding, sliding, tobogganing, skating, downhill skiing, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, the squeaky crunch of boots plodding in snow, red cardinals scattering snow on a spruce bough, frosted skeletal flower stalks, snowmen, icicles, drifts, shadows, snow angels, snow forts, snowball fights, quirky hats, rosy cheeks, blue nights, moon haloes, and bare black tree limbs against pink sunrises.
We also love winter for Christmas, pink grapefruit, oblique daylight, Vivaldi, candles, the scraping sound of snow plows heard from bed after school was cancelled due to inclement weather, building sizzling fires in the woodstove or fireplace, reading by lamplight under a handknitted afghan, gingerly sipping hot cocoa, and . . .
. . . eating hot soup
after smelling it
simmering
in the crock pot all day.
If you love food and cooking, here is that Website again that I shared before: Laylita's recipes. Wonderful!
I do love winter for all the reasons you stated, however I like it in Canada, not in Japan. Here there is no insulation and no central heating. Going to the toilets means walking through frozen hell, and showering is even worse T_T
ReplyDeleteYou can love winter as long as you want! The bean soup looks delicious (without the ham because I'm a vegetarian).
ReplyDelete... to get cozy and watch the entire series of "Jewel in the Crown" or "Brideshead Revisited"...or any warm and rich fantasy; it keeps the cold at bay and creates little imaginative topiaries of life in an otherwise barren winter.
ReplyDeleteRuthie, once again your prose is poetry. And you actually made me not hate winter as much. :) That's a good thing since we are getting lots and lots of winter today!
ReplyDeleteThat bean soup looks wonderful. I can almost taste it.
Winter sounds poetic ... from your point of view. That "deepening low from Texas" however, that is spinning its way here, just takes a bit of the shine off it. Oh. but thanks for that link. Now if only I didn't have to venture out in this mess to get the ingredients...
ReplyDeleteword verification: soar as
I live in Ireland and its very cold here too. And i just love to come home and eat a hot soup too. With carrots:D
ReplyDeleteooo I couldn't have said it better myself...why we who love winter do!! wonder + full...
ReplyDeleteand your soup!! OMGosh it looks delicious! I could live on soup...
Hello from a new reader in Iowa. Thanks for the reminder of winter's beauty... winter is wearing out its welcome here!
ReplyDeleteWord painting is definitely your thing, Ruth!
ReplyDeleteSnowy days are fleeting, at least in our neck of the woods. Your words remind me just how much I love them!
Thanks!
Debbie
Oooo, yum. I just may have to break out the beans. Yesterday I made a wonderful veggie soup. Check out my blog for the yummy how to pic's. Thanks for the idea for dinner tonight.
ReplyDeletemy favorite reason to love winters as I do, is the snuggling part.......but it's so tough to drag oneself out of the warm bed every morning!!!! I keep dreaming of taking a sabbatical in my career and I haven't even been working for a year!!!!! :)
ReplyDeleteLove the colorful, soup. I love the feel of piping hot soup flowing down my gullet :D
Ruth, we were in Ann Harbor this weekend and I thought of you and Crazy Wisdom and Ginnie :)
Ah Ruth, what about winter...? Our winter here is so gray and humid. Not the smaller snowflake and so much rain...Yes, a good soup is welcome and I cook it too, even if I make mine in a pressure cooker! And my bowls are blue!
ReplyDeleteAnd you know what? Just in a minute, I'm going to strike a match and to enjoy a fire with a mug of tea...
Hi, Ruth!
ReplyDelete"bare black branches against pink sunrises." For that, and your avatar, here is another Basho haiku:
"Winter retreat--
how old the pine traced
on the golden screen."
Soup sounds great; it is the perfect day for that here.
P.S. Thanks so much for the lovely words you left for me. Hope you will finish your thoughts re Alice.
ReplyDeleteGreat post and I can see why you love winter, you make it appealing to me by reading you.
ReplyDeleteYou drew me into an imaginative world! I really sensed warm feelings, although my winter experience is different here in Athens. Great imagery!
ReplyDeleteAs for the soup, we cook it once a week in my family. We don't use ham or potatoes though. I'll try to make it your way for a change.
That cup of soup looks so inviting. Last week I made green split pea. Since it has been snowing here today the idea of making another soup in the crockpot seems like a great idea. Just the smell of soup cooking makes for a cozy, homey feeling.
ReplyDeleteWinter in the Northeast has many advantages; beauty and slowing down.
Mmmm, I can smell that soup all the way over here in California!
ReplyDeleteI peeked over at Laylita's recipes. Good lord, that all looks delicious.
Mmmmm.... the bean soup looks so good.
ReplyDeleteYour words are a wonderful tribute to winter. Love "bare black tree limbs against pink sunrises."
That is a pretty picture!
The winter like you describe sound really nice and reminds me - without too much nostalgia - of my Swedish years! The problem is that when you live in Paris, there is hardly any real winter (except maybe for a day or two), it's just a bit cold and grey!
ReplyDeleteBut there is always a good excuse for a good soup!!
Thank you Ruth to drop by Healthy Wealth recently. Hope you make more visit there and spread the water-cure protocol to outreach more netizens for the beneficial to all.
ReplyDeleteDuring winter, the human body need more plain water(at normal temperature) to generate the body(core) temperature) for internal optimum functions.
Every 90 minute, just drink 10 % of your own personal daily water quota. This water quota is calculated by using 31.42 (ml) multiply with your own body weight (in kilogram).
Bye, have a healthy seasons through.
from Its me (smile)
Very slippy 10-degree snow yesterday, but I had saved up enough for new radials on the Prius, and I went zipping through everything while cars were sliding everywhere. Particularly gratifying when they're SUVs!
ReplyDeleteThat's an awesome looking tasty soup. Thank you! :) We're having an ice storm here. This might be just the thing.
ReplyDeleteSpare a thought for us poor fools over in Australia.
ReplyDeleteWe are suffering through the worst heatwave in 100 years.
Think 110-115 degrees for 7 days running.
I think I'm starting to bleed from my eyes and ears!
It's so, so nasty.
You have written exactly what I love about winter - thank you for this wonderful post! The soup sounds great...and I Love pink grapefruit...and your tablecloth...and..and...and..!
ReplyDeleteOur snow today has turned to rain:(
I guess the soup must be delicious...I am a huge fan of soup...
ReplyDeletewowowow!!! looks so YUMmmmmmmm!!!!
ReplyDeletei always think of spending a american winter by the fireplace in one of those lazychairs!!
sadly here the winter 'if u may call 20 DegreeC as winter' is almost over and now it's time for Hot Hotter and Hottest sun!!! *sigh!*
Thank you for reminding me of winter's beauty.
ReplyDeleteAfter last nights snow storm and hours spent in tangled traffic I was beginning to forget.
Wow, I think the pictures on your blog are just so crisp and vibrant, great to look at!
ReplyDeleteHi Ruth, I was thinking about winter the other day when it was snowing. I was leaving for work as the snowflakes fell,it was still dark, I thought, snow is silent which is wonderful for a solitary walk but i wish that I could hear the snow,like rain, when I am lying in bed at night.
ReplyDeleteHi Ruth,
ReplyDeleteHope you are doing well. Thanks for your warm compliments about me and my tamil. As a token of appreciation, i did something for you. Please go to my blog and see for yourself =) Hope you like it.
Inbtwn. pls convey my warmest regards to Don =)
Kanmuri, winter is no fun if you are cold. I find myself at the very beginning of a longing season for spring because I am feeling cold outside. I think I am getting old.
ReplyDeleteWe are lucky to have central heating here and in Canada.
Hi Helena, please add salt then.
ReplyDeleteMontag, I have fallen in love with your poetry peace blog. I have added it to my sidebar. Tell me if you mind.
ReplyDeleteOh, "Brideshead Revisited," the 1981 version - it's been so long. Never saw "Jewel in the Crown."
Whatever happened to Anthony Andrews? Last time I saw him on film he had gained a lot of weight and I almost didn't recognize him.
Susie Q, I had no idea you had gotten that much until I went over to bear swamp. Did the grandkids get outside in it? It's so much work dressing and undressing, yikes.
ReplyDeleteSanna, that was a big storm, and we only got a few inches from it. But the ice really hit hard in the mid-section. I think we need to work a little better at keeping good food and water stores in our basement in case we can't get out.
ReplyDeleteHi Busi! I think you're my first visitor from Ireland. That's exciting! I love Ireland. You can click on the "Ireland" label near the bottom of the page and look at the pictures I took a couple of years ago. I love Ireland, especially Tara.
ReplyDeleteI only had soup once in Ireland, in Dublin, and it was Moroccan.
Oops, Buxi, I apologize for misspelling your name. :|
ReplyDeleteJ and Z, glad to know we think alike about winter. Are you, like me, starting to think about spring?
ReplyDeleteHi there, Judy from Iowa! I just loved reading about "White Christmas" at your blog, loving it as I do. Believe it or not, my love of winter is wearing a wee bit thin today. It's supposed to get up to 40 Sunday. Yippee!
ReplyDeleteThis is what I LOVE about winter, Ruth...making hearty soups/stews. I then eat off of it for days. :) Sometimes I just buy all the fresh veggies I can find, add barley and either chicken or beef. Yum-yum.
ReplyDeleteHope of warmer days to come itself makes you warm in winter. Thank goodness the earth is not standing still, hanging is the right word ? You don't have to wait for long to have lemonade Ruth.
ReplyDeleteDebbie, 'word painting' is a lovely thing to say, thank you.
ReplyDelete'Fleeting' sounds rather pleasant to me now, I confess.
Jill, that was very serious veggie soup you made, and helpful photos and instructions too. You must have been chopping all day.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on being a "blog of note." This is how I hopped into your site. Good work. You must visit My Muskoka, though. I, too, have a yucca, buried under 3' of snow. Gald to see another 52-year old likes winter. Snowshoeing on our frozen lake yesterday. It was great.
ReplyDeleteMoi! Yes, and you were in Benton Harbor too? Your lighthouse pic looks like a master painting.
ReplyDeleteI think everyone should have a sabbatical, I've been saying it for years. To be able to go off for a month, two months, 6 months, and do whatever you feel like. Like stay under the covers.
Dear Alice, of course you would have French blue bowls. I have never used a pressure cooker, and I am afraid to. Only because I don't know how.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope for some sun for you soon. I wonder what will bloom first in France in spring?
DS, hello! That Basho has haiku down. What a twist, I love it.
ReplyDeleteI may need another decade for synchronizing the two Alices.
Auntie Sandy, I do admit that it is starting to wear me down. If I could stay inside and look out at the beauty, I would be happy.
ReplyDeleteγεια! MAXIMUS. I forget about soup, and every winter I say I'm going to make it more often. We eat it for days, I think this bean soup lasted 4 days. There are only two of us now. I don't usually add potatoes either, but we had so many in the house, I decided they needed to go in.
ReplyDeleteHi there, Dakota Bear! I decided between split pea and bean, but I also love split pea.
ReplyDeleteI remember heavy winters like this when I was little, then we went a long time with bare ground for many weeks every winter.
Dutchbaby, I know, Laylita's food blog is inspiring. Even if I feel overwhelmed by the recipes, I get a fresh jolt from the photos. Food is beautiful.
ReplyDeletenice pics
ReplyDeletegood one, it would be great if you could post at http://www.eopenmindz.com this way more people can read it
Just letting you know that your blog site has been added to:
ReplyDeletewww.geocities.com/mymessages2008/Chapter_02A.htm.
This web site is mostly for research and it is advertiesed by word of mouth and sometimes submited to the search engines. You can consider the author and editor of this site (one person at the moment) to be a fan of your blog site, so thank you ahead of time for a good read and/or pictures.
I do not personally feel that my web site has a large readership, but you are welcome to browse its contents.
I often like to read:
the news (http://www.geocities.com/mymessages2008/Chapter_02.htm#the%20news )
or just do research http://www.geocities.com/mymessages2008/Chapter_02
Best of luck in the future. There is no need to reply to this email.
Gharr
mymessages2008@yahoo.com
Please note: I do not regualy check this email, so please do not be disapointed if I do not answer back.
I love winter too! I wish it would snow some more here in Denver. I think I need some soup!
ReplyDeleteHi, Anet! I wonder if you are getting a little weary of the cold and white stuff like me? It sounds like it might get a little sloppy Sunday since it's warming up to 40. You and Noah should go sledding before the snow melts!
ReplyDeletePeter, why no nostalgia? I have great images in my head of Swedish kids skating. In Paris, I suppose an occasional dusting of snow makes everything more picturesque, but if it is only grey, that can dampen the spirits.
ReplyDeleteI hope Mr. Sarkozy will do something to satisfy the masses there. We need to do more street protests here, we have a lot to learn from the French about that.
Oh thank you for the tips, Its ME. I appreciate it. I have a stainless steel water bottle at my desk at work and I drink all day. Keep providing the information at your site, thank you.
ReplyDeleteLoring, exactly! Good for you. Don bought me new radials last summer, and that has made a huge difference this winter. And I learned how many miles I lost on my old ones because I didn't rotate them. :| So now even rotating every 6,000 miles seems to give me a little more traction (or is it my imagination?). I wonder which Prius model you have.
ReplyDeleteLetty! Yikes! You can't do much except lounge by your Yucca and order Vincent around in that kind of heat. I hope he fans you. I wish you could come cool down in the snow bank here outside my window. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteHello Oliag, kindred spirit. I know, spring thaws and rains are coming, and it will be ugly. Stick it out a few weeks and we'll see some crocus, tulips and daffodils. And green!
ReplyDeleteDeepak, the soup was good, and it got better every day, for about 4 days. I imagine you eat lentil soup (dahl, right?), which I love.
ReplyDeleteOh Prasad, I do feel for you in Chennai. rauf says it's been hotter than usual for the winter. I can see why you would fantasize about winter and sitting by a fire. It's very soothing, right now I'm listening to the fire sizzle, in fact I need to add a log.
ReplyDeleteI know from your post that you're drinking lots of water, that's good. Sort of. :)
I know, Barry, I'm beginning to forget too. Maybe that's why I've been so focused on the praises!
ReplyDeleteLateral Drawer, thank you.
ReplyDeleteI am in awe. First, great idea for your posts. Second, I have no clue how you managed to set that up! That is brilliant! Wow. But my brain was fuzzy this morning, and I guessed an easy one. :|
Wow, Cathy, strange you would say that. It's a great observation, and as I wrote this post, I was "listening" for winter sounds in my head. But there are so few, just as you say. The silence of snow is nice on the one hand, but I agree that the sound of rain against the window or roof is comforting and satisfying.
ReplyDeleteRiche, I wish I could translate that.
ReplyDeleteNoorul, as I said in my comment to you on the dedication post, thank you, and it feels like a birthday I didn't know I had! I have told Don, and he was very pleased too.
ReplyDeleteBoots! Oh yes, barley! We did eat this soup for days, and it kept getting better tasting.
ReplyDeleteYou need someone to make you soup during all that work you're doing.
I am from India and its really very cold here too. And we do n'joy hot corn soup .
ReplyDeleterauf, likewise for you, hope of cooler days maybe cools you down. But you are heading for hotter days.
ReplyDeleteI've been digging for a short story "The Day the Earth Stood Still" that I read in my youth, and I can't find anything but the movies, one from the '50s and a new one in 2008.
Hi there fellow 52-year-old, Jenn, welcome! Thank you for taking time to comment.
ReplyDeleteI have never been snowshoeing, even though I included it in my list. There have been many times I felt I needed them, since snow was up to my knees.
Thanks, Varun, for the suggestion.
ReplyDeleteHow nice, Gharr, thank you.
ReplyDeleteBlogstiny, it surprises me that you don't have much snow in Denver. Please eat some soup to comfort yourself in that lack.
ReplyDeleteSharada, really? I'm very surprised it is cold there in India! Corn soup, I never heard of it so I Googled it and found this recipe.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!
hi ruth,
ReplyDeletei, too, love the winter. having grown up in upstate ny but now reside in eastern ky. it brings back fond memories of my mom's favorite "white beans" as she called them. she was canadian, died 20 years ago, and i will try this recipe in her honor! i would like to use your pics too, i love those frosty, snowy, glassy and wonderful images of winter! takes me way back. we are having a bit of a nippy spell here too. but i love winter so much. i am glad it isn't over yet. thanks for the "warm" thoughts. jo
Ruth, in answer to the Prius question, standard model, mid-range options package (nicer stereo, backup camera, but no GPS).
ReplyDeleteI saw with dread and trepidation that UAW is on a "Buy American" kick again, and some of its members are urging people to sabotage foreign cars. Short-sighted jingoism - there are no "US-made" cars, no "foreign" cars, just transnational cars. Don't they get it?
Thank you for the comments, and the honor. I am overwhelmed.
ReplyDeleteThe business about fasting and poetry...you know, it is a lot easier not to eat than it sometimes is to come up with something vaguely resembling a poem once a week.
This is quite obvious in some of mine.
Thank you again.
All of that sounds yummy! I love Winter. That soup looks so delicious...its time for me to go make something for dinner.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, Jo.irish.rose, you must have gotten hit with the ice, hope you're ok. Wow, and upstate NY, now there's some winter!
ReplyDeleteLoring, tell me! My Chevrolet Aveo was built in Korea. I'd love to buy American products, but it's pretty tough to find much in that category. I try not to buy food shipped over an ocean, or very many states if I can help it.
ReplyDeleteMontag, I'm very touched by your efforts and purpose. And you are a wonderful poet.
ReplyDeleteHi there, Tiffany! Yay, another winter lover.
ReplyDeleteThat looks so delicious Ruth! Thanks for the recipe :)
ReplyDeleteThe best part of winter is coming inside to a warm car or house when it's cold outside, it doesn't hurt coming into get a bowl of your awesome soup, great shot.
ReplyDeleteWhat I would give for a bowl of that soup right now.. it looks delicious!!!
ReplyDeletebut I'll hold any comments on Winter... my mother always told me... if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all!!!
joking, sort of...
Oh my Ruth I am hungry now, lol. I myself love winter very much, but the cold sometimes gets me to the bones, I guess I little too cheap to invest in warmer clothing, lol. Anna :)
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Mystic. :)
ReplyDeleteBob, you are far more dedicated than I am to stay out in the cold. I tried it one day and gave up (for bird shots). I'm taking more inside shots like this one these days. :)
ReplyDeleteGwen, hehe, you're funny. That's a pretty good motto. :)
ReplyDeleteI imagine when you put a pot of soup or stew on in the house, you all enjoy the smells all day while you're working on your art. How satisfying!
Anna, I know what you mean. I need better gloves, my hands are always cold. And if I dress right, then I do enjoy even going out in it. There are so many great fabrics now! Like 'smart wool' socks. But you must know all about them in Ontario.
ReplyDeleteAh Ruth, cute! I see you must follow the same motto!!! haha
ReplyDeleteOh honey, you do know how to get me to running over here to visit. Yum!
ReplyDelete